Countermeasures
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Joint Science and Technology Office, along with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, announced this week that a compound demonstrated no adverse effects in its Phase 1 trials against the Ebola virus.
The compound, GS-5734,... Read More »
Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced this week that they have developed a new simulation for drug-membrane permeability, increasing the production speed for nerve agent treatments.
By using in-house supercomputers, LLNL researchers are simulating the energy... Read More »
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Wednesday about the continuing danger posed by Zika virus to the Americas and plans to respond to the virus both nationally and internationally.
Zika virus is primarily spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. Such... Read More »
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced on Monday the discovery of one of the key ways the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) changes and adapts between patients, allowing for even more research on the complex condition.
MERS-CoV is a deadly... Read More »
The Departments of Defense (DoD) and Homeland Security are developing a new system that allows researchers to scan the planet for anomalies in human and animal disease prevalence.
The Biosurveillance Ecosystem (BSVE) is a program from the DoD’s Threat Reduction Agency’s Joint Science and... Read More »
Tenable Network Security, Inc., released on Monday its latest security solution - a series of dashboard useable across multiple platforms that allow governments and other organizations to keep track of its cyber security status in real time - on Monday.
The dashboards are configured according to... Read More »
The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced a discovery last week that a single monoclonal antibody isolated from a human Ebola virus disease survivor protected non-human primates from the virus.
The antibody can now advance to testing in humans as a potential... Read More »
R3 Technologies, a company specializing in radar detection systems, recently announced that its CBD-1000 concealed bomb detecting device is close to commercialization.
“The suicide bomber can walk into a crowded place unnoticed and inflict a horrifying amount of death and destruction,”... Read More »
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) recently announced that it has developed a device known as SmartCAR that uses colorimetric assay to identify such dangerous chemical compounds as anthrax, ricin and plague.
“Although much of the technology in SmartCAR is commercial off-the-shelf, it... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced a collaborative effort on Thursday to establish the “Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB) Biopharmaceutical Accelerator” to help fight against antimicrobial resistance.
The collaboration involves the... Read More »
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) announced the signing of a series of licensing agreements on Thursday with Biodetech, LLC, allowing the company to utilize the Agents of Biological Origin Identifier (ABOid).
ABOid is a pathogen identification platform developed by... Read More »
A subcommittee hearing chaired by U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) on Thursday heard testimony from leading cybersecurity experts on the serious national security threats currently faced by the U.S. from other nation states and malicious cyber actors.
The hearing, held by the House Homeland... Read More »
The Preparedness Summit announced on Thursday that it would hold a plenary session titled “Making Smart Choices: Disaster Risk Reduction at Home and Abroad” based on disaster risk prevention.
The plenary session will be held on March 20 and will be hosted by leading experts on disaster risk... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed three key Homeland Security Committee bills on Tuesday.
Rep. John Katko (R-NY) introduced two bills, the Transportation Security Administration Reform and Improvement Act and the National Strategy to Combat Terrorist Travel Act of 2016. The former passed... Read More »
Tenable Network Security, Inc., announced on Monday that it is expanding its focus on the federal market by adding a new sales division to see the unique cybersecurity needs of federal customers.
Tenable also announced that it has hired Darron Makrokanis to lead the new sales division.... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) responded to concerns on Thursday regarding questions it received on its request for proposal (RFP) and the deployment of the nationwide public safety broadband network.
“We are pleased with the interest and questions we received from industry,... Read More »
Symantec Corp. announced on Friday that the Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) won AV-TEST’s “Best Protection 2015 Award” for corporate products, and scored high performance grades in each of the award’s cyber security certification areas.
SEP consistently lead the field in the... Read More »
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) on Wednesday praised the addition of Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to the list of countries of concern.
“I commend Secretary Johnson for adding Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to the list of countries of... Read More »
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Gil Kerlikowske gave a speech on Wednesday at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg highlighting the future of the CBP and the day to day operations it faces.
“So what does a typical day look like?” Kerlikowske said. “On a... Read More »
Meetings of the Five Country Ministerial and the Quintet of Attorneys General meetings were jointly held on Feb. 16-17 by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to discuss the latest issue surrounding international security.
Lynch and Johnson’s... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently highlighted the first response role of career epidemiology field officers (CEFOs) in the event of a viral outbreak of pandemic.
The CEFO program was instituted by the CDC in 2002 as a response to Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the anthrax... Read More »
U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) announced on Tuesday that approximately $6.85 million in federal grants will go to North Dakota to support homeland security and emergency management.
Heitkamp, a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said that the... Read More »
The Conference of the States Parties announced on Wednesday that it would host an event to celebrate the inaugural International Day for the Foundation of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), or “OPCW Day,” from May 2-4 at OPCW headquarters.
Deliberations over... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently detailed the extensive security effort in securing the site for Super Bowl 50.
Among the agencies involved in the effort were the Travel Safety Administration (TSA), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),... Read More »
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced the release of FY 2016 Notices of Funding Opportunity on Tuesday for 10 DHS preparedness grant programs totaling more than $1.6 billion.
The programs provide funding to state, local, tribal and territorial governments, as well as... Read More »
Guidelines and procedures laid out by the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 were issued on Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security.
Federal agencies and private businesses are provided with a clear understanding of how to share cyber threat indicators with DHS’s National Cybersecurity and... Read More »
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) announced on Tuesday that Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) has been named chairman of the Border and Maritime Subcommittee, while Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) will become the chairman of the Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications... Read More »
The American Society for Microbiology sent a letter this week in support of President Barack Obama’s request to the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations for a $1.8 billion fund for emergency Zika relief.
The letter was signed by Lynn Enquist, president of the American Society for... Read More »
The European Union announced on Monday the creation of the European Medical Corps (EMC), a special agency dedicated to providing medical assistance as well as first response expertise and technology from across the EU to threats both within and without the EU.
The foundations for the EMC was... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) announced at the end of January that it will create open-access datasets for researchers and industry.
To fund this venture, the DoE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) $3 million for two projects... Read More »
More than 200 industry leaders convened in Pittsburgh in early February to discuss the region’s role in cybersecurity information and innovation at the inaugural Cyburgh, PA Initiative Event.
Among those attending the meeting, former Pennsylvania Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., announced on Wednesday that its ruggedized, military-grade auto-injector platform will be tested and developed as a platform for nerve agent antidote delivery by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Battelle.
Emergent’s Emergard platform, selected from several... Read More »
The Brazilian Ministry of Health announced a letter of intent on Friday to collaborate with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston to research and develop a Zika virus vaccine
The initiative of the collaborating will be directed toward the development of joint research... Read More »
INTERPOL announced the completion on Monday of a second training program aimed at providing frontline police officers with the appropriate skills needed to conduct high-level port security in the Philippines.
The training course brought together 28 law enforcement officers from various national... Read More »
The U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Friday to learn from experts about current preparedness shortcomings and to assess the types of biological threats facing the United States.
The hearing, chaired by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), was entitled... Read More »
