Research
Research teams at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center recently developed a new detection test for Zika virus that is faster and more accurate than contemporary tests.
“The new diagnostic test was designed to more... Read More »
A team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently studied a new mouse model that shows how early responses of the immune system can affect the development of the Ebola virus disease (EVD).
Researchers said the model could help identify protective... Read More »
Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), along with colleague Catharine I. Paules, recently published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association calling for continued research into the Zika virus even as individual diagnoses... Read More »
The U.S.-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation recently issued a call for proposals of next-generation first responder technologies to promote joint development ventures for first responder training and development.
"The BIRD Foundation is happy to accelerate... Read More »
Safariland, a company specializing in body armor, recently selected Honeywell’s Spectra Shield and Gold Shield ballistic composite materials to produce a thin, lightweight vest specifically designed for female law enforcement officers.
Safariland selected Honeywell’s Spectra Shield 5000... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently awarded a grant worth $10 million to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) to establish a new center to help combat the spread of diseases carried by mosquitos and ticks.
“With UTMB’s unparalleled... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently awarded a $10 million grant to four Florida-based universities to collaborate on a newly-formed research center that will focus on combating diseases such as the Zika virus.
The facility, called the Southeast Regional Center of... Read More »
According to a recently published study, an experimental Ebola virus vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, was highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial that took place in Guinea.
The study was conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with Guinea’s Ministry of Health,... Read More »
A research team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai recently published two studies that identify the three-dimensional shapes of two enzymes critical to replication and survival of the Zika virus.
The first study, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, examined... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, recently awarded a series of contracts for various technology initiatives related to border security.
DHS first awarded $162,302 to Tamr, a Cambridge,... Read More »
The U.S. Navy recently awarded a $32 million production contract to Raytheon Company for next-generation encryption systems to safeguard tactical military data transmissions across air, surface, subsurface and group assets.
Raytheon’s Link Level Communication Security 7M encryptor (LLC 7M)... Read More »
Soligenix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products to treat rare diseases, recently extended its collaboration with IDT Biologika for the manufacture of RiVax, Soligenix’s proprietary heat-stable ricin toxin vaccine.
Ricin toxin is a by-product of castor oil... Read More »
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) recently released a study using DNA markers to discern coccobacillus Francisella bacteria to provide a means to distinguish them from the harmful F. tularensis, a virulent pathogen that causes the disease tularemia.
“This large study is particularly... Read More »
A research team at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston recently developed the first vaccine for chikungunya fever, which was made in part from an insect-specific virus that does not have any effect on people.
The new vaccine quickly produces a strong immune defense and... Read More »
Battelle, Inc.’s David Winkel was recently recognized by the Nuclear Biological and Chemical (NBC) Industry Group with the Dr. Billy Richardson Award, which recognizes young leaders who are committed to NBC-related defense initiatives.
Winkel is the third Battelle researcher overall to win... Read More »
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee released last week a comprehensive review of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) use of intelligence to counter terrorist threats and activities.
The report, “Reviewing the Department of Homeland Security’s Intelligence Enterprise... Read More »
Bavarian Nordic A/S recently completed its enrollment of a Phase 3 clinical study designed to demonstrate non-inferiority between the company’s investigational, non-replicating smallpox vaccine called Imvamune and ACAM2000, the current U.S.-licensed and replicating smallpox vaccine.
The U.S.... Read More »
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) is collaborating with renowned researcher Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, on a project to help combat the effects of chemical and biological agents.
The project, called Ex Vivo Console of... Read More »
The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), in conjunction with the Southwest University in Chongqing, China and the University of Lueven in Belgium, recently developed a way to replicate the basic structure of the Zika virus without the genes that make the virus infectious.
The research... Read More »
According to a recent study by the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, a particular malaria parasite affecting children in Africa is evading rapid diagnostic tests (RDT), threatening malaria eradication efforts.
Most RDTs rely on the detection of histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2),... Read More »
According to a new study conducted by the Stanford University School of Medicine, approximately 25 percent of individuals in a Sierra Leone village were infected with Ebola virus disease but showed no symptoms, which suggests a broader transmission of the virus than originally thought.
The... Read More »
According to a recent clinical trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the experimental Ebola virus disease (EVD) treatment ZMapp was found to be safe and well-tolerated amongst participants.
NIH said that while the treatment appeared to be effective for participants, the... Read More »
The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) recently awarded $596,533 to Collaborations Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CPI) to develop a partnership with the Texas Biomedical Research Institute to repurpose an antimalarial for use against the Ebola virus disease.
Since the beginning... Read More »
The George Washington University (GW) Center for Cyber and Homeland Security recently released a report that offers an assessment of the legal, policy and technological issues that involve private sector cybersecurity and active defense measures in response to cyber threats.
The report said a... Read More »
The U.S. government is funding the late-stage development of tests that would quickly determine how much radiation a person has absorbed in the event of a catastrophic nuclear explosion.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently launched the MD5 National Security Technology Accelerator to create solutions for humanitarian issues and natural disaster relief challenges.
The MD5 program was launched by a public-private partnership between the DoD, New York University, Columbia... Read More »
Soligenix, Inc. was recently invited to the annual Radiation Research Society meeting to present preliminary results from its gastrointestinal acute radiation syndrome (GI ARS) program.
Soligenix’s OrbeShield program is being evaluated as a potential medical countermeasure for both civilian... Read More »
A group of international vaccine experts recently shared a series of requirements for the development of a safe and effective Zika virus vaccine.
The research group features experts from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and... Read More »
Soligenix, Inc. was invited to the National Organization for Rare Disorders’ (NORD) Rare Diseases and Orphan Products Breakthrough Summit on Tuesday to present preliminary data on the Dusquetide and RiVax programs.
NORD’s Rare Diseases and Orphan Products Breakthrough Summit brings together... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) recently demonstrated its new augmented reality technology at the Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition.
ECBC’s augmented reality technology utilizes a head-mounted display to enable users to see virtual images for use as a... Read More »
A Sandia National Laboratory research team recently used high-speed cameras, imaging techniques and advanced computer modeling to study fragmenting explosives.
The Sandia research team wanted to study how improvised explosive devices (IEDs) come apart in explosions in order to lessen the damage... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ) recently said that continuing to improve interoperability among first responders and ensuring that they have access to the best equipment and technology are his top goals.
Payne, who serves as the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response recently entered into a $24.75 million contract with BioProtection Systems Corp. for the development of an Ebola vaccine.
The contract comes in the wake of a two-year long battle... Read More »
A team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other research institutions recently developed a DNA vaccine to combat the spread of Zika virus.
Research teams with the Kansas State University (KSU) Biosecurity Research Institute, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro,... Read More »
An Upstate Medical University research team recently began utilizing a social-ecological systems (SES) approach to study mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika, chikungunya and dengue fever.
The SES approach builds upon new information as it becomes available to the multi-disciplinary research team... Read More »
