Research
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently indicated its PreCheck program has reached a milestone of 10 million members, adding the landmark figure is essential to aviation security.
TSA PreCheck is an expedited screening program enabling low-risk travelers to undergo screening... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced its third Biometric Technology Rally this week, allowing submitters to show off improved biometric recognition capabilities.
Those capabilities could improve security and use of checkpoint... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) recently announced plans to introduce legislation to conduct or support comprehensive research for the creation of a universal coronavirus vaccine.
The bill calls for an investment of $1 billion, which breaks down to $250 million for each of fiscal years 2020... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking proposals from technology companies to develop a system to mark and track objects in the water more clearly.
The solicitation – called the Maritime Object Tracking Technology initiative – was posted this week by the DHS Science and... Read More »
The new open access journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the JACEP Open, is kicking things off with dual analyses of COVID-19 -- both its transmission risk factors and the public health concerns such outbreaks spur.
To date, notes the article Novel Coronavirus 2019:... Read More »
The U.S. Marine Corps recently awarded BAE Systems a $113.5 million contract for 26 additional Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) under the Low-Rate Initial Production phase of the program.
BAE Systems and Iveco Defence Vehicles are replacing the corps’ Assault Amphibious Vehicles with ACV, a... Read More »
An apparent bottleneck has emerged in U.S. capabilities to test for the novel coronavirus, with the much-awaited release of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) test kit scrapped this week after performance issues emerged.
While this has not hindered the CDC’s testing... Read More »
Under the newly launched Technology Accelerator Challenge, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering $1 million for those capable of designing and developing handheld, digital technologies capable of detecting and diagnosing high impact diseases.
Bolstered by support from the Bill &... Read More »
Harvard University scientists will work with researchers from China to develop coronavirus therapies and treatments designed to prevent new infections and alleviate existing ones.
The effort will be led by Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley, working with colleagues from the Harvard T.H.... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has begun a clinical trial of experimental drug remdesivir in Nebraska, to see its potential abilities to treat the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
“We urgently need a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19. Although remdesivir... Read More »
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is seeking answers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on how it will mitigate potential drug and medical device shortages.
The inquiry follows a recent report that the recent outbreak of novel coronavirus has threatened the domestic supply of some 150... Read More »
In three weeks, researchers at Australia’s University of Queensland have produced a vaccine candidate for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and have moved it to further development.
Part of the larger Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) rapid response program, the effort has... Read More »
In an effort to push forward research that could yield a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, the Tulane Primate Research Center (TNPRC) announced plans to develop a nonhuman primate model focused on the disease’s clinical progression, transmission, and effects on aging populations.
The... Read More »
The Jack Ma Foundation recently awarded four research teams at Columbia University $2.1 million for their efforts to identify potential antiviral drugs and antibiotics for use against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The Chinese-based foundation awarded the funds to Columbia with the... Read More »
The United States is struggling to implement a National Biodefense Strategy, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review, but there are additional efforts that could make the strategy more effective.
GAO first recommended that the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary should... Read More »
According to Dr. Amos Danielli, of the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University, 15 minutes may be all it takes to diagnose cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), thanks to a new diagnostic technology.
While existing methods of diagnosing COVID-19 take around one hour,... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force recently completed flight testing of the Collins Aerospace Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System (SYERS) sensor, SYERS-2C, on the U-2.
The entire U-2 fleet has been upgraded with this sensor capability, which provides increased optical performance and accurate... Read More »
In March, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and the International Alliance for Biological Standardization (IABS) will co-host a Brussels-based meeting on the licensing of vaccine platform technologies, to consider the potential benefits of the new registration procedure.
This, the... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has announced it is teaming up with Sanofi Pasteur to mix the authority’s expertise and funds with Sanofi’s egg-free, recombinant DNA platform to try and produce a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine... Read More »
A new milestone in the fight against Ebola was achieved last week with the announcement that Merck’s injectable vaccine, Ervebo, has been licensed for use against Ebola in four nations: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Ghana, and Zambia.
Additional registrations of the... Read More »
Officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) authored an article in The Journal of Infectious Diseases that updates the institute’s progress on tuberculosis (TB) research.
Specifically, the article summarizes recent progress in improved TB diagnostics,... Read More »
Since the rapid outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Wuhan, China, and beyond, numerous governments have restricted travel to and from China, but a new university-run study reminds one and all that the effectiveness of travel bans remains unknown.
While the World Health Organization... Read More »
Implementing autonomous-vehicle technology would make U.S. Army convoys safer by reducing the number of service members needed to operate the vehicles, according to a study by RAND Corp., a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges.
“With current technology,... Read More »
U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office awarded a contract to BAE Systems to develop technology to help detect weapons of mass destruction (WMD) activity.
The analytics technology will leverage multiple data sources and uses data fusion, adversary... Read More »
Over the course of a two-day forum this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) brought together leading health experts and major research funders to discuss COVID-19.
They addressed the novel coronavirus from all angles: assessing current knowledge, identifying gaps, and collaborating on the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to add a new layer to its relationship with Janssen Research & Development as part of efforts to contain COVID-19 -- the 2019 novel coronavirus -- through shared R&D costs on the company's investigational vaccine.
The Biomedical... Read More »
The FBI Internet Complaint Center’s (IC3) 2019 Internet Crime Report found that last year, internet-enabled crimes spawned the highest number of complaints and losses since May 2000.
In all, IC3 took in 467,361 complaints in 2019 and tracked more than $3.5 billion in losses among individuals... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created the first Foundry for American Biotechnology to produce technological solutions to enhance medical care and respond to health security threats.
The Foundry will be located in Manchester, N.H., and managed by the Advanced Regenerative... Read More »
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma received a $730,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) last week, to aid their investigations of emerging diseases -- research made all the more timely by the emergence of the Chinese novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
The... Read More »
University of Cincinnati (UC) engineers have developed a portable lab that plugs into smartphones and can be used to diagnose health conditions and infectious diseases including HIV, Lyme disease, malaria, depression, anxiety and coronavirus.
The lab is the size of a credit card and connects... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently selected four new industry partners to participate in a new wildfire sensors workstream of the Smart Cities Internet of Things Innovation (SCITI) Labs.
SCITI Labs will work with the Federal Emergency... Read More »
The second wave of Americans arrived in California on Wednesday, traveling from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic. They will spend days on military bases in quarantine as public health officials determine if there are any cases of the virus and to treat those... Read More »
An existing relationship between the U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will be extended under a new arrangement to develop a treatment for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
"Emerging infectious diseases can present... Read More »
Pattern Bioscience was awarded $6.8 million in funding to develop a test to diagnose drug-resistant infections quickly.
The rapid identification and antimicrobial susceptibility test (ID/AST) will provide health professionals with information about which pathogen is causing the infection and... Read More »
Forty-eight members of Congress recently sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking the agency to quickly distribute its rapid diagnostic test for coronavirus to state and local officials nationwide.
Currently, samples must be sent to the CDC in Atlanta for... Read More »
