News
U.S. Sens. Warren, Rubio reintroduce legislation enforcing study of pharmaceutical supply chain’s reliance on foreign countries
U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) reintroduced last week the U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Review Act to demand a study of the nation’s reliance on foreign nations for the pharmaceutical supply chain. The bill would require a study produced by the Federal Trade... Read More »
House advances Rep. Garbarino’s transit security legislation
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced Wednesday legislation, introduced by U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), that would provide transit security grant recipients flexibility in how they use the grants while establishing performance periods. The Transit Security Grant Program Flexibility... Read More »
Senate Foreign Relations Committee leaders call for Syrian chemical weapons accountability
Senate Foreign Relations Committee leaders have expressed support for enforcing the international norm against chemical weapons, particularly the Assad regime’s illegal use of chemical weapons in Syria. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jim Risch (R-ID), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)... Read More »
Legislation introduced to address foreign adversary land purchases near U.S. military installations
A group of lawmakers recently introduced a measure designed to prevent adversaries from acquiring land near military bases, which they use to finance regimes and place military installations at risk. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Tony Gonzales... Read More »
Senate legislation would create scholarships to encourage AI students to join federal workforce
A bill introduced by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and John Thune (R-SD) this week seeks to maintain the U.S. government’s edge in the modern world by establishing scholarships to encourage students enrolled in artificial intelligence programs to join the federal workforce. Endorsed by the... Read More »
NIH begins enrolling non-hospitalized volunteers for Phase 2/3 trial of COVID-19 antibody therapeutic
Hundreds of non-hospitalized volunteers are being enrolled in a Phase 2/3 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-run trial of the SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. creation SAB-185, a polyclonal antibody therapeutic meant to counter COVID-19. The trial is known as ACTIV-2, part of the Accelerating COVID-19... Read More »
New tech makes detecting airborne Ebola possible
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) have successfully designed and conducted a study to optimize methods for collecting and measure small amounts of the Ebola virus in... Read More »
Lawmakers seek expanded Russia nuclear weapons dialogue
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to President Joe Biden encouraging the expansion of nuclear weapons dialogue with Russia. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), as well Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and John Garamendi (D-CA) are spearheading a congressional push... Read More »
Sens. Wicker, Hyde-Smith tout amphibious warship funding contract awarded to Huntington Ingalls
Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) are espousing the benefits of the Navy awarding a contract to Huntington Ingalls that will result in an amphibious warship. Officials said $107,194,022 has been earmarked to purchase long-lead-time materials in advance of the construction of... Read More »
Center for American Progress, McCain Institute issue strategy to suppress white supremacist violence
Responding to the rise in white supremacist and racist violence in the United States over the last few years, the Center for American Progress (CAP) and McCain Institute for International Learning have issued a joint, national strategy to curb the domestic threat. “It’s time to get serious... Read More »
Valneva turns to bilateral discussions for supplying COVID-19 vaccine candidate by country
Valneva SE announced this week that it will no longer prioritize centralized discussions with the European Commission regarding the distribution of its inactivated, adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine candidate VLA2001 but instead move to bilateral, country-by-country discussions. “We’ve committed... Read More »
Sens. Collins, Carper introduce legislation securing federal firefighter benefits for disease contracted in line of duty
U. S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tom Carper (D-DE), co-chairs of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, introduced legislation Monday to ensure federal firefighters receive financial benefits if they contract a disease in the line of duty. The Federal Firefighter Fairness Act of 2021 would... Read More »
CBP initiates reimbursable service agreements
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have made 11 tentative selections for new reimbursable services agreements, noting the effort would enhance security, promote cross-border trade and facilitate domestic essential travel. “Reimbursable services agreements are a fundamental... Read More »
AI innovation enables COVID-19 conspiracy theory tracking
Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers are espousing the benefits of a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool capable of identifying COVID-19-related conspiracy theories on social media. The AI models how the conspiracy theories evolved and how they could someday help public health officials... Read More »
DARPA awards contracts to reduce protective equipment demand, increase protection against chemical, biological threats
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently awarded contracts to FLIR Systems, Leidos, and Charles River Analytics to create lightweight materials and more adaptable countermeasures for equipment protective against chemical and biological threats. The problem is, while... Read More »
NIH invests $155M into Phase 3 clinical trial for repurposing drugs to treat COVID-19 symptoms
Several over-the-counter drugs could potentially find new lives treating COVID-19 symptoms, as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced this week that $155 million would be invested into a phase three trial of up to seven self-administered medications to that end. It will be a... Read More »
United States, Sudan working to strengthen nuclear safeguards, security
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Acting Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Kasia Mendelsohn met virtually with the Sudanese Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority on Thursday to discuss Sudan’s efforts to effectively and safely regulate that... Read More »
Rep. Krishnamoorthi examines domestic violent extremism foreign support
During the recently conducted House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s World Wide Threat hearing, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) raised questions that included examining domestic violent extremism foreign support. The effort in which Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril... Read More »
Sens. Thune, Hassan introduce bills supporting quantum information science
Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced last week bills to enhance the nation's ability to be globally competitive within the quantum information science (QIS) realm. Sen. John Thune's (R-SD) Quantum Network Infrastructure and Workforce Development Act would strengthen... Read More »
Biden administration lays out $1.7B plan to fight COVID-19 variants as part of American Rescue Plan
In response to the $1.7 billion investment tacked onto the American Rescue Plan to address COVID-19 variants, the Biden administration last week released a plan to rapidly invest those funds into genomic sequencing, innovation partnerships, and a new health data infrastructure. From the total,... Read More »
FDA revokes emergency use authorization for bamlanivimab as COVID-19 treatment
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revoked last week the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the sole use of the monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab against COVID-19. “Based on its ongoing analysis of emerging scientific data, specifically the sustained increase of SARS-CoV-2... Read More »
Sens. Rubio, Hawley and Scott introduce legislation banning TikTok from government devices
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Rick Scott (R-FL) joined forces to introduce legislation Thursday that would ban all federal employees from using TikTok on government devices. While the U.S. Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and... Read More »
WHO report indicates need for antibiotics with antimicrobial resistance
A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that there remains a relative dearth of antibacterial treatments in the pipeline, despite the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. The WHOʻs annual Antibacterial Pipeline Report found that of the 43 antibiotics that are currently in... Read More »
Bill targets border drug trafficking
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) introduced last week the Eradicate Crossing of Illegal Tunnels (EXIT) Act, which expedites efforts to address cross border tunnels, removing red tape preventing law enforcement from acting. Hartzler said the bill would empower Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)... Read More »
Lawmakers reintroduce nuclear weapons use bill
A group of lawmakers recently reintroduced the No First Use Act, which establishes that U.S. policy is not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare first. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), chairman of the House Armed... Read More »
Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense launches interactive tracker of federal biodefense actions
To provide real-time updates on federal actions that could help defend against biological threats, the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense has created an interactive recommendations tracker of completed, in-progress, and items of inaction. “This new and interactive tracker will build on the... Read More »
INOVIO vaccine candidate maintains antibody response against COVID-19 variants
Amid rising fears that variants of COVID-19 may already be reducing the efficacy of vaccines, INOVIO provided some good news last week, with news that its vaccine candidate produced neutralizing antibodies and T cell responses against all three major variant strains. INO-4800, a DNA vaccine... Read More »
GAO: USAID, CDC spent $1B to assess countries’ abilities to address infectious disease threats
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office has found the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spent nearly $1 billion assessing whether other countries’ capacity to address infectious disease threats before the... Read More »
Biden nominates Jill Hruby as under secretary at NNSA
President Joe Biden nominated Jill Hruby as under secretary for nuclear security and administrator of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Hruby is a mechanical engineer who joined Sandia National Laboratories as a member of the technical staff in 1983 and... Read More »
Measure bolsters federal cybersecurity workforce
Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) recently reintroduced the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act, which seeks to develop and retain highly-skilled federal workforce cybersecurity professionals. The senators maintain that agencies throughout the... Read More »
Rep. Higgins seeks northern border reopening plan
Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY) has forwarded correspondence to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas Higgins, seeking advanced proposals to reopen the United States-Canada border. “I write you to advocate that the Department immediately advance concrete proposals for a phased... Read More »
New FDA guidance stresses necessary role of remote drug facility oversight during pandemic
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new guidance this week to clarify how it will request and conduct remote interactive evaluations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, noting how critical such evaluations will be to operations. This was meant for any FDA-regulated facilities,... Read More »
NIAID funds $24M CEIRR program to fuel influenza research network
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will invest approximately $24 million into the first year of contracts for the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR) to aid a network of research sites investigating influenza. These institutions cover... Read More »
Trust for America’s Health approves of Biden FY2022 budget’s public health investments
Officials with Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) said the increases for public health programs in President Joe Biden’s FY 2022 budget are an important step in the country’s future. The budget request includes a 23 percent increase to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)... Read More »