Research
During a live active shooter exercise at George Mason University’s Eagle Bank Arena, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) evaluated a suite of in-building sensors.
The exercise demonstrated how smart building technologies could inform daily operations and improve public safety and... Read More »
Cases of Rift Valley fever in Sudan have now reached 293 people, according to data gathered by the Program for Monitoring Emergency Diseases (ProMED) between Sept. 19, 2019, and Nov. 11, 2019.
The cases, which have led to 11 associated deaths, were reported in six states: the Red Sea, River... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have begun to recognize eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus as an emergent threat, as an especially deadly year in the United States winds to a close.
As of Nov. 12, there were 36 confirmed cases of EEE across eight states,... Read More »
Department of Defense (DoD) officials said the agency has earmarked nearly $49 million for university research endeavors through the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP).
“These awards provide research infrastructure to enable the most creative scientific minds in the... Read More »
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on a report on a Chinese program that captures U.S. Intellectual property.
Through its “talent recruitment plans” launched in the 1990s, China began recruiting U.S.-based scientists and researchers and providing... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a recommendation regarding creating a federal transportation security national strategy governing document.
GAO officials said after researching the issue, it has recommended DHS should, in... Read More »
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has released findings regarding Iran’s military capability, providing details on that nation’s defense and military goals, strategy, plans, and intentions.
“As Tehran expands its capabilities and role as both an unconventional and conventional threat... Read More »
Researchers at Colorado State University were awarded a $1.2 million subcontract from the Infectious Disease Research Institute in Seattle for immunology research to accelerate progress in tuberculosis vaccine development.
The institute is part of the National Institutes of Health, which gave a... Read More »
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week issued final guidance for developing smallpox treatment studies, providing clarity to drug manufacturers.
“Despite recent advances in developing an effective treatment for smallpox, drug developers still face challenges in bringing... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate awarded $199,984 to Digital Bazaar, a company based in Blacksburg, Va., to develop blockchain security technology.
The award was made by S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP). The Phase 1 award... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded a $6 million contract to Burlingame, Calif.-based Inflammatix Inc. to develop a new testing technology that reads gene expression patterns in the immune system.
The innovative technology, known as host-response testing,... Read More »
An online platform launched earlier this year crowdsources intelligence to predict the outcomes of disease outbreak.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security implemented its publicly available disease prediction policy dashboard 10 months ago, and officials hope forecasting efforts might... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) released the Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report this week, showcasing the effects recent federal investments have had in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
Since 2013, the annual number of antibiotic resistant infections in the... Read More »
Looking for ways to diagnose and treat infectious diseases in regions with limits health care and laboratories can yield some interesting results, but researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are working on the development of a lab-on-a-smartphone to help expand the currently... Read More »
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has been designated as a Collaborating Center for Global Health Security by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Collaborating Centers are institutions that are selected to carry out activities and... Read More »
Techulon Inc. was awarded $785,000 to develop an antimicrobial that would kill drug-resistant bacteria by targeting specific genes critical to the bacteria’s survival.
The funding was from Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) – a global non-profit... Read More »
A study conducted by Stanford University under contract with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been expanded to include new technologies capable of identifying viral reservoirs for both Ebola and Zika infections.
The study is part of a larger international effort to research how... Read More »
Researchers from Kansas State University say that a new risk assessment model for Ebola transmission accurately predicted the disease’s spread into the Republic of Uganda, opening the possibility of a better means of predicting disease spread.
"This is a very new type of model," Caterina... Read More »
More than 40 experts from nine Central African nations met in October at an event hosted by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to advance biosafety and biosecurity in the region.
The event, held in Libreville, Gabon, was the... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said an Austin, Texas-based start-up has secured funding designed to enhance security checkpoint operations.
S&T officials said the agency awarded $199,961.29 to Synthetik Applied Technologies to develop a... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense announced the U.S. military installations that will be used to test 5G technology.
The bases picked include Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington; Hill Air Force Base in Utah; Naval Base San Diego; and Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga.
The four bases... Read More »
Bat hunters in Nagaland, India, were found to have likely been exposed to filoviruses, according to a study from Duke-NUS Medical School researchers.
Filoviruses are part of a family that includes things like Ebola and Marburg viruses. This case continues to highlight the risks such viruses pose... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate recently developed a suite of models at its Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC) to help federal agencies analyze threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences of potential chemical attacks.
The Chemical Consequence and... Read More »
With the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded still ongoing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the nation has opened itself to a second, large-scale vaccine trial backed by a global consortium.
The new vaccine candidate was created by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies and... Read More »
Research efforts led by the Universities of Washington and Stanford have demonstrated that efficient tracking of widespread tropical disease spread could benefit from satellite images and drone photos.
"This is a game-changer for developing-country public health agencies because it will make it... Read More »
A new vaccine candidate -- MV-LASV -- for Lassa fever has started clinical trials, according to Themis Bioscience and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
A Phase 1 trial is currently underway, with the vaccine administered to healthy volunteers. The vaccine used comes... Read More »
Legislation that would create a new Department of Defense Regional Center in the Arctic was introduced in the U.S. Senate this week.
The center, the Ted Stevens Arctic Center for Security Studies, would be named after the longtime Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. The Defense Department has five... Read More »
Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) recently introduced a measure reauthorizing Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) funding, noting it advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies in early development stages.
The ARPA-E... Read More »
Under a $36.7 million contract awarded to them by the U.S. Navy, BAE Systems intends to create a dual band Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy (FOTD) system that will act as a countermeasure against threats to aircraft.
These FOTDs are radio-frequency and are intended to supplement any aircraft: fighters,... Read More »
The Air Force has launched an initiative designed to streamline its cyber weapon systems tools.
Sixteenth Air Force personnel, also known as Air Forces Cyber, said the 12N12 project, which launched July 1, seeks to replace, reduce and consolidate the tools, systems and applications operators and... Read More »
Three agencies within the Department of Commerce have initiated a $1 million initiative they said is designed to accelerate disaster response and resilience technology.
The Economic Development Administration (EDA), in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)... Read More »
A set of three antibodies, recently identified by researchers sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), hold the promise of better treatments and vaccines for the flu.
In a paper published in Science last week, the researchers noted that the antibodies... Read More »
Scientists are rushing to find a vaccine for Lassa fever, and their efforts may have borne fruit in the form of a measles-platform based concoction that they now intend to put through human clinical trials by the end of the year.
Lassa, which infects up to 300,000 people per year and kills... Read More »
Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory won the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s FluSight Challenge by providing the most accurate state, national, and regional flu forecasts in 2018.
The lab beat out 23 other teams with its probabilistic artificial intelligence computer... Read More »
Countries are not prepared for the possible international spread of new or emerging pathogens or for the deliberate or accidental release of dangerous agents, according to a new index that assesses the capabilities of 195 nations.
The Global Health Security Index is a joint project by the... Read More »
