Research
Two institutions are taking up the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) call for more affordable, improved and adapted antibiotic formulations for children in low and middle-income countries, with an agreement focused on enhancing generic antibiotics and access.
The participants are the... Read More »
Whether for search and rescue or warfare operations, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced last week their efforts to advance current understanding of underground environments, and the formation of a competition of nine teams to do so.
The recently selected teams... Read More »
In 2015 it was discovered that a U.S. laboratory spent more than a decade inadvertently sending the bacteria that causes anthrax to 194 laboratories worldwide.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has recently released its findings regarding how effective the U.S. Department of Defense has... Read More »
A recently released Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) report suggests nuclear weapons and related systems are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks and implores nuclear-armed states to take measures to prevent attacks.
“Nuclear Weapons in the New CyberAge: A Report of the Cyber-Nuclear Weapons... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) introduced new technology designed to protect first responders at incident scenes by alerting them to potentially hazardous motorists.
The Automated Driver and Responder Alert System (ADRAS) has two main components... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) unveiled a new partnership with SeLux Diagnostic, Inc. this week with the goal of developing faster tests for bacterial infection identification and matching those individual infections with appropriate antibiotics.
The Biomedical Advanced... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is teaming up with Israeli company MediWound Ltd. in the creation of a new treatment of skin injuries resulting from exposure to sulfur mustard.
Sulfur mustard, more commonly known as mustard gas, has seen devastating use since World War I,... Read More »
Fiji is subjected to a smallpox outbreak where social norms breakdown and medical experts scramble to get the outbreak under control.
This wasn’t reality, but it was the simulation exercise for participants of a workshop held last month at the University of New South Wales Sydney. The event... Read More »
During the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Sept. 25, Alex Azar, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary, will call on world leaders to address the evolving threat of antibiotic resistance.
Failure to prepare for and reverse antibiotic resistance could lead to... Read More »
Researchers from Harvard University urged government officials this week to develop new measures to detect and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, like dengue fever, in Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics.
In a report published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the researchers --... Read More »
As part of an effort to counter multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the TB Alliance are collaborating -- with monetary support from the Medical Research Council (MRC) -- to investigate new combination TB therapies.
A £1 million ($1.3... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has made a series of recommendations for evolution within the Department of Homeland Security, better defining its roles and responsibilities to make it less of a risk due to lack of cohesiveness.
Efficacy is a huge issue within the department. DHS’... Read More »
Researchers from Imperial College London are taking a new tack in the battle against malaria, focusing on
the compounds that could prevent malaria parasites from being able to infect mosquitoes, halting the spread of disease.
As a disease delivery system, mosquitoes are infamous, but... Read More »
BAE Systems sealed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to begin transitioning military-developed semiconductor technology to their Advanced Microwave Products (AMP) Center for enhancement and cost-cutting.
The U.S. Air Force created gallium Nitride (GaN)... Read More »
A Phase 1 trial is underway for a new nasal flu vaccination designed for ages 9 to 17 years old.
Testing is taking place at Saint Louis University, with support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Unlike traditional flu vaccines, which must be reformulated... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has developed an online tool to help security professionals for commercial office buildings perform assessments.
The web-based tool streamlines from the application process for building owners applying for... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) provide funding estimates for its mandated nuclear proliferation plan.
A federal law introduced in 2015 and 2017 directed the President to submit a proliferation plan to Congress. A... Read More »
A new test, according to information presented to the European Respiratory Society International Congress, can identify viral infections in just 50 minutes -- something that could save hospitals approximately €2,500 ($2922) per patient prevented from requiring admission.
The other advantage of... Read More »
A research team has uncovered how W protein -- a viral protein that factors into both Nipah and Hendra virus infections -- targets critical cell functions, leading to suppression of immune responses and spreading of these viruses.
W protein binds to proteins in the host cells and allows for... Read More »
Tuberculosis (TB) has been successfully treated in animals utilizing a non-antibiotic drug, according to scientists at the University of Manchester.
The success makes the drug the first non-antibiotic to successfully treat TB -- a disease that kills around 1.7 million people worldwide each year.... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in conjunction with the Duke University School of Medicine, has begun enrolling for a Phase 1 clinical trial of a new antimalarial drug and its efficacy in humans.
This early stage trial is being led by Dr. Michael... Read More »
At a meeting of the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV) Joint Working Group in Seoul earlier this summer, experts announced their intentions to take ideas for the nuclear dismantlement lifecycle into exercises and technology demonstrations.
This second phase is... Read More »
An international team of researchers published a report last week that analyzed economic and public health data to determine factors that lead to curbing antibiotic resistance throughout the world.
The researchers, which included experts from the Center of Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy... Read More »
A cooperative agreement will join Bell Helicopter, Textron Systems, Xwing and the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Center with NASA for a flight demonstration of unmanned aircraft systems in the National Airspace System (NAS).
The drone in question will utilize vertical take-off and... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released three recommendations to improve the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) risk-based grant assessment model.
Risk models are used to determine how to allot preparedness grants. States and urban areas considered higher... Read More »
Investigators from the Baylor College of Medicine began phase 1 clinical trials this week for a topical cream designed to enhance immune response granted by an influenza vaccine.
The cream, known as imiquimod, is more commonly known for its use on genital warts and skin cancers because of its... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently participated in a demonstration of the New York Police Department’s FIDO X-3 Explosive Trace Detection (ETD) system.
The demonstration was part of an event, funded by the National Institute of... Read More »
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, released Tuesday its latest report documenting terror threats from Islamist terrorists, noting the efforts are growing.
McCaul presented the September Terror Threat Snapshot as part of an ongoing effort to highlight... Read More »
Concern over the neurologically disastrous -- and sometimes fatal -- effects of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) has prompted the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to invest $2.5 million into a related, five-year research grant.
Leading the team is Kylene Kehn-Hall, an associate... Read More »
Despite the deadly reach of diseases like tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria, the world is not likely to develop vaccines to fight them, according to a financial analysis of the current research and development pipeline.
The analysis was conducted by Duke University’s Center for Policy Impact... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued recommendations regarding the U.S. Coast Guard’s and Navy’s plan to invest up to $9.8 billion to build and maintain three heavy polar icebreakers.
The ships would be used to conduct missions in the Arctic and Antarctic, and a... Read More »
Scientists across the world are struggling to find ways to combat the spread of antibiotic resistance among bacteria, but rather than make something new, UCLA biologists say the solution could be in combining four or five existing medications.
The UCLA study starkly contrasts the traditionally... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently awarded nearly $3.5 million to three new research and development projects, which will examine ways improve the threat detection capabilities of current X-ray technologies for checked baggage... Read More »
Mosquitoes could be responsible for the outbreak of yet another disease in North America, according to five researchers from Kansas State University studying the emerging pathogen known as Usutu virus.
That virus has been responsible for the spread of neurological disorders -- such as brain... Read More »
Protect the Force, Inc. was awarded $199,260 this week by the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for their efforts to create energy harvesting fabrics.
The photovoltaic (PV) materials generate electricity through exposure to light, taking it... Read More »
