Research
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
awarded BAE Systems a $3.1 million contract to continue developing autonomy software
for air mission planning for the military.
BAE Systems has created software called the Distributed,
Interactive, Command-and-Control Tool (DIRECT)... Read More »
A new global index offers an original way to monitor national-level preparedness for infectious disease, providing a holistic view of a country’s capacity to mitigate the spread of illness and pandemics.
Created by researchers at Metabiota, the Epidemic Preparedness Index (EPI) factors... Read More »
A study conducted by Australia’s University of Queensland and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute recently uncovered the Zika virus’s evolutionary processes, allowing access to the genetic factors responsible for Zika’s dangerous spread.
The technique used in the study utilized... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions said on Tuesday it will begin a Phase 3 trial of a new anthrax vaccine it is developing.
The Phase 3 trial will evaluate the lot consistency, immunogenicity, and safety of the vaccine, called AV7909. AV7909 is designed to elicit a faster immune response than other anthrax... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a series of recommendations to aid agencies in identifying critical workforce needs and categorize IT and cyber-related positions.
The analysis, which resulted in 28 recommendations, stemmed from having a qualified, well-trained... Read More »
In a randomized trial, the antimalarial effects of ivermectin showed that the drug has the potential to reduce malaria episodes among children aged five or younger by as much as one-fifth.
Repeated mass administration of ivermectin could reduce those episodes from 2.49 to 2 cases per child... Read More »
The Department of
Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) are researching Internet of Things (IoT) as it relates to emergency
communications for first responders.
S&T is
testing a multicomponent communications system... Read More »
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials recently launched this year's initial Innovation Challenge, which organizers said seeks to find ways for NATO to respond to security challenges and crises.
NATO officials said they are seeking solutions from entrepreneurs, designers,... Read More »
An influenza season forecasting challenge issued annually by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown the value of cooperation among international researchers working to forecast influenza outbreaks.
The influenza season forecasting challenge is one issued annually by... Read More »
A new vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been designed from nanoparticles, and its efficacy against the illness in mice and monkeys has opened the path to human trials.
RSV is respiratory virus that causes mild, cold-like symptoms in most people, and has a relatively... Read More »
The Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking innovative technologies and
methodologies to map and survey subterranean environments for its Subterranean
Challenge.
Most underground environments are either uncharted or
inadequately mapped. The technologies could improve... Read More »
An international team of researchers have statistically predicted where mosquitoes will spread through the use of 35 years of data and 17 climate change models.
That spread data includes everything from short to long-term timeframes and, the scientists note, is precise within 5x5 kilometers.... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recently announced a new, $10 million partnership with Public Health Vaccines LLC to study potential vaccine treatments for the Marburg virus.
Through the Biomedical Advanced research and Development Authority (BARDA), the DHHS will work... Read More »
The Department of
Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have collaborated to develop the
Opacity and Complexity Analysis Software Tool (OCAST).
OCAST will be
used to assist X-ray operators in determining possible... Read More »
Scientists from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute are developing a new approach to tuberculosis (TB) protection -- one that provides a better, safer defense and is deliverable by spray instead of shot.
These represent major changes to the vaccine, but the scientists are seeking to... Read More »
Human vulnerability remains a major opening for cybersecurity incidents, according to a 2019 incident response report released last week by BAE Systems.
The report surveyed numerous organizations through engagement with board level executives, IT decision makers, and information security... Read More »
The United States is not as prepared as it could be in key areas of public health disaster management, according to a recently issued report by Trust for America’s Health.
In Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, the report’s authors... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and biopharmaceutical company CureVac AG recently announced a partnership worth up to $34 million for the development of a vaccine-boosting creation known as The RNA Printer.
The RNA Printer is a mobile, automated printing facility for... Read More »
Several federal government agencies, including the
Department of Homeland Security, introduced a program this week called the
Opioid Detection Challenge, a $1.55 million competition to develop opioid
detection technologies.
The Opioid Detection Challenge calls upon innovators
to submit plans... Read More »
A vaccine contract potentially worth as much as $31 million was recently awarded to the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), to counteract the bat-borne Nipah virus.
Nipah is a highly virulent disease, with a fatality rate that, according... Read More »
As the political situation in Venezuela
deteriorates and a humanitarian crisis blooms, health experts warn that
epidemics could push beyond the nation’s borders and potentially bring a
hemisphere-wide health emergency.
Such were the conclusions of a review published
in a recent edition of The... Read More »
Smallpox, although eradicated, has joined the growing list of potential biosecurity threats, according to experts, who say preparedness for the possible return of the virus should be prioritized around the world.
Smallpox, a contagious, disfiguring and often deadly disease, was eradicated... Read More »
As an African swine fever outbreak has moved rapidly through China and threatens to spread through new European countries, a Kansas State University researcher has studied possible routes for disease transmission and introduction, including primarily through shared feed.
Megan Niederwerder, a... Read More »
Department of Defense (DOD) officials have released a summary outlining the agency's intent to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) into the future.
Critical elements of Harnessing AI to Advance Our Security and Prosperity include accelerating the delivery and adoption of AI; establishing a... Read More »
A collection of international researchers recently developed a mathematical framework to estimate the global value of investing in bacterial infection antibiotics.
Specifically, the research pertains to Staphylococcus aureus infections, a drug-resistant infection that could potentially fuel... Read More »
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have conducted a detailed blood sample analysis of Ebola patients that is shedding light on the roles a molecular pathway and microvesicles play in both the virus and potential treatments.
The study turned... Read More »
The Boston University global partnership CARB-X has earmarked up to $4.4 million in non-dilutive funding for the development of a new antibiotic that will target infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria.
CARB-X officials said the funds would be allocated to Recida Therapeutics, based in ... Read More »
Preclinical trials shone for a new synthetic DNA vaccine developed by the Wistar Institute this week when results published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases showed complete protection offered against the mosquito-borne Mayaro virus (MAYV).
"Although MAYV was discovered a long time ago and... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently offered an assessment regarding the Army's progression toward rebuilding readiness and implementing transformation goals by 2022.
The GAO said the analysis involved providing information on the Army's progress and challenges in readiness... Read More »
Though strides have been made in the antibiotic pipeline in the last few years, a review released in Clinical Infectious Diseases this week found that they are not enough to combat multidrug resistance.
The report is an update on progress made under the Infectious Diseases Society of America's... Read More »
A University of Kansas geologist recently determined that antibiotic-resistant microbes have spread to the remote arctic soil of Norway and could have severe implications for global human health.
The discovery -- published in the journal Environment International -- found that... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently announced two recommendations for how the Air Force can retain aircraft maintenance personnel.
The Air Force’s largest enlisted career field is aircraft maintenance, and there are more than 100,000 active and reserve maintenance... Read More »
A new study, published in Nature Biotechnology, reveals scientists from the Broad Institute have found a way to examine any human virus more efficiently, cost-effectively and on large scales than previously known.
The CATCH method (Compact Aggregation of Targets for Comprehensive Hybridization),... Read More »
In an effort to raise health care workers’ awareness of and safety around Ebola, the Medical University of South Carolina has launched a new online training program.
The simulation seeks to train health care workers about the potential tolls the disease could take on a population and warns... Read More »
An international effort has created a new model for the identification and study of hosts critical to the spread of infectious diseases.
Such hosts are known as superspreaders, but their superpower is their role in epidemics. Not every infected person has the same potential to damage. Take the... Read More »
