News
FEMA awards Phoenix $1.5 million in terrorism prevention grant funds
The City of Phoenix. Arizona received a boon for its terrorism preparedness efforts last week with the announcement that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would be providing them $1,565,000 in grant funds for that purpose. The funds were provided through the 2016 Complex Coordinated... Read More »
Sri Lankan Ministry of Health reports dengue fever outbreak
The Epidemiology Unit of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health (MoH) recently reported a total of 80,732 cases of dengue fever throughout the first six months of 2017, a figure that is 4.3 times higher than the average number of cases reported from 2010-2016 and includes 215 deaths. According to the... Read More »
Battelle receives $13 million contract to assist CBRNE teams to combat weapons of mass destruction
Battelle recently received a Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Homeland Defense and Security Technical Area Task (HD TAT) award with a total value of $13,781,575 to support the National Guard Bureau’s (NGB) Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Division initiative. The... Read More »
House committee advances bill to combat international foreign terrorist fighter travel
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade recently advanced legislation that aims to establish international border security standards to close security gaps that could potentially allow foreign terrorist fighters to travel internationally. ... Read More »
Hetner to remain as senior advisor for cybersecurity policy at SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that Christopher R. Hetner will remain as senior advisor for cybersecurity policy to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. Hetner, who served under previous SEC Chairman Mary Jo White and Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar, will continue his... Read More »
Sen. Cantwell questions Cheney on US energy cybersecurity
During a recent hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) questioned Ret. Brigadier General Stephen Cheney on how much the United States needed to be thinking about upgrading the security of critical energy infrastructure as it related to recent... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions to acquire GSK’s inhalation anthrax treatment
Emergent BioSolutions said on Wednesday it plans to acquire GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) raxibacumab, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of inhalation anthrax, in an all-cash transaction valued at up to $96 million. Raxibacumab is approved... Read More »
House Appropriations Committee approves FY2018 DHS Appropriations bill
The House Appropriations Committee recently passed the FY2018 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill, which contains a number of provisions for critical programs related to aviation security, border enforcement, natural disaster response, cyberattack mitigation, and illegal... Read More »Iowa set to become fifth state to opt-in to nationwide public safety broadband network
Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) recently announced that the state of Iowa would become the fifth state in the country to opt-in to the nationwide public safety broadband network that is currently being developed by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T. As part of the agreement,... Read More »
NSA honors cyber security and mathematics researchers at ISEF 2017
Shining a spotlight on future generations of researchers, the National Security Agency (NSA) Research Directorate (RD) awarded creators of cyber security and mathematics research projects at the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The event--an annual fair which brings... Read More »
Two Los Alamos researchers recognized for contributions to nuclear safeguards
The Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) recently recognized Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) researchers Nancy Jo Nicholas and Martyn Swinhoe for their contributions to the nuclear safeguards profession at its 58th annual meeting in Indian Wells, California. Nicholas, who... Read More »
GAO report seeks to aid lawmakers weighing DOD’s development, manufacturing of medical countermeasures
In a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress, GAO identified additional information that lawmakers may find useful as they consider the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) public-private partnership for its advanced development and manufacturing (ADM) facility. ADM... Read More »
New study focuses on growing enzymes on International Space Station to help develop nerve agent antidotes
The International Space Station’s (ISS) microgravity environment could provide a means of improving the understanding of toxic nerve agents, such as sarin and VX, and how to combat them, according to a researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported Countermeasures Against... Read More »
IU researcher awarded two grants for work in abating mosquito-borne illnesses
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recently awarded two multi-year grants to Molly Duman Scheel, associate professor of medical and molecular genetics at the Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, to assist her work in abating mosquito-borne illnesses in order to keep military... Read More »
McAuliffe highlights successes of his state-based cybersecurity initiative at NGA meeting
At a recent meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA), outgoing NGA Chair Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) provided an update to his year-long initiative on strengthening state cybersecurity defenses. Beginning in 2016, McAuliffe launched a project, titled Meet the Threat: States Confront... Read More »DynCorp’s Von Thaer appointed president and CEO of Battelle
Nonprofit science and technology development company Battelle has a new head as of last week, following the appointment of Lewis Von Thaer as the company’s president and CEO. Von Thaer comes to the company from DynCorp International, where had had served as CEO since July 2015. He is... Read More »
House Intel Committee unanimously passes FY2018 Intelligence Authorization Act
By a unanimous voice vote, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last week sent the FY2018 Intelligence Authorization Act to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration. While funding for the bill was slightly lower than in the Trump Administration’s FY2018 budget... Read More »
DHS presents plan to educate nuclear forensic experts for witness testimony to international partners
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) recently participated in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) workshop in Karlsruhe, Germany, where DHS personnel delivered a presentation on preparing U.S. scientists to serve as expert... Read More »
Zika vaccine candidates shown to protect mice fetuses from infection, birth defects
Two Zika virus vaccine candidates were shown to protect the developing fetus of female mice from infection and associated birth defects, according to a recent study conducted by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). The findings, which were published in a recent issue of... Read More »
Researchers discover how influenza virus repackages genetic material to create new strains
A recent discovery made by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) Schools of the Health Sciences revealed a loophole in which the influenza virus packages its genetic material to give rise to new strains of the flu. The research, detailed in a recent issue of the journal Nucleic... Read More »
Regional medical professionals convene for Ebola treatment, preparedness summit at Emory University
More than 135 researchers, representing 10 medical centers designated by the U.S. government as a Regional Ebola and other Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC), recently convened at the National Ebola Treatment and Education Center (NETEC) at Emory University in Atlanta for a two-day event to... Read More »
Rep. McSally introduces bill to reimburse border states that incarcerate ‘criminal illegal aliens’
In response to fiscal concerns raised by a number of sheriffs in Arizona, U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently introduced legislation that would reauthorize a program to reimburse state and local governments for incarcerating undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in the United States.... Read More »
OPCW course educates chemists on controlled chemical agent analysis
Fifteen analytical chemists representing Latin American and Caribbean member states to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), recently convened at the Laboratory for the Verification of Chemical Weapons (LAVEMA) in Madrid, Span for a two-week training course on the analysis of controlled chemical... Read More »
Kentucky, Arkansas to opt-in to nationwide public safety broadband network for first responders
The states of Kentucky and Arkansas recently announced that they will become the third and fourth states, respectively, to opt-in to the nationwide public safety broadband network currently being developed by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T. As part of the agreement,... Read More »
Sen. McCaskill seeks answers regarding multiple Electronic Immigration System errors
In the wake of reports that the Electronic Immigration System (ELIS) issued more than 20,000 green cards in error, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) sent a letter to Acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director James McCament, requesting information regarding his department’s... Read More »
CBP officers seize 195 pounds of cocaine from fishing boat along Miami River
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents recently made a large seizure of cocaine after intercepting a fishing vessel along the Miami River. The incident began as CBP agents, along with one Border Patrol agent, boarded the vessel to process four crew members and their cargo as they... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions to acquire Sanofi’s smallpox vaccine business
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. said on Friday it plans to acquire Sanofi’s ACAM2000 business, the only vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for active immunization against smallpox, in an all-cash transaction totaling up to $125 million. ACAM2000 is the primary smallpox... Read More »
San Diego area Border Patrol agents seize more than $560k worth of illicit narcotics in single traffic stop
Border Patrol agents stationed along Interstate 5 near San Clemente, California recently made a seizure approximately 58 pounds of illicit narcotics during a single traffic stop. The incident began as agents stopped a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox SUV driven by a 45-year old U.S. citizen. During... Read More »
Interpol emphasizes importance of actionable intelligence for global police forces ahead of international meeting on defeating ISIS
Prior to an international conference of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Secretary General Jürgen Stock emphasized the need for military successes to be translated into actionable intelligence for global police forces. The information... Read More »
Sen. Tester urges CBP Commissioner to address reports of inoperable communication equipment
Following reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have been working with inoperable radios and associated communications equipment, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) sent a letter to Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, asking if his department was doing enough to ensure that CBP... Read More »
IDSA criticizes repeal of Prevention and Public Health Fund
In response to the recent Senate introduction of the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, which would effectively repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund in FY2018, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) came out strongly against the legislation, citing the detrimental effects... Read More »
Wyoming becomes 2nd state to opt-in for FirstNet’s public safety broadband network
Gov. Matthew Mead (R-WY) recently announced that Wyoming will be the second state in America to opt-in to the nationwide public safety broadband network for first responders, which is being developed by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T. As part of the agreement,... Read More »
NIH awards $12 million to Tulane University for preclinical research for Lassa virus treatment, vaccine
Tulane University was recently awarded $12 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test a potential new drug treatment against the Lassa virus and to develop a vaccine candidate against the disease. The awards were issued through NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and... Read More »
Reps. Walden, Murphy push for stronger reporting, investigation practices for pathogen incidents
U.S. Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Greg Walden (R-OR) recently sent a public letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), regarding the Blue Ribbon Panel’s review of the 2014 smallpox virus incident on the NIH campus that called into question a number of missed opportunities to discover vials... Read More »