Threats
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 »
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 »
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 »
OPCW delivers report on 2018 chemical weapon incident in Syria
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released the findings of its investigation on an incident that occurred in Saraqib, Syrian Arab Republic, on Feb. 4, 2018. OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) is charged with identifying the perpetrators of the use... Read More »
DNI report assesses intelligence community threats
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines recently spearheaded an effort in which Congress received a report assessing intelligence community threats. The endeavor examined various threats against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, great power competition, and rapidly evolving... Read More »
CISA, partners execute Indianapolis 500 safety exercise
Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) personnel and partners are espousing the benefits of a recently executed tabletop exercise designed to bolster Indianapolis 500 race safety. CISA joined Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials, state and local... Read More »
UMBC deploys Smiths Detection’s BioFlash technology for airborne detection of SARS-CoV-2
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) has utilized the BioFlash Biological Identifier created by Smiths Detection to successfully identify airborne traces of SARS-CoV-2 inside its campus in real-time. BioFlash is a device that collects and analyses air samples, rapidly sifting... Read More »
NIH begins Phase 2 trial of antibody treatment for COVID-19 respiratory disease
A phase two trial sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has begun to investigate the safety and efficacy of IC14, a lab-created monoclonal antibody meant to treat the respiratory troubles of... Read More »
Congress eyes legislation on preventing next pandemic
A panel of public health experts and U.S. senators agreed on several steps Congress should take to prevent or remediate the next pandemic, basing their proposals on lessons learned during the 14 months working to resolve the COVID-19 health crisis. Among their recommendations, aired during a... Read More »
GAO assesses DHS border security improvement plan
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a recommendation to the Department of Homeland Security regarding its plan to improve border security, including the use of personnel, barriers, and technology. The GAO indicated its assessment of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS)... Read More »
FLIR wins DARPA contract for new Chem-Bio defense fabric
FLIR Systems, Inc. announced Monday that it had won a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop new fabrics embedded with catalysts and chemical agents that can fight and reduce chemical and biological threats on contact. The fabrics will be incorporated... Read More »
Valneva recruits 4,131 U.S. adults for Phase 3 trial of chikungunya vaccine candidate
Specialty vaccine company Valneva SE has concluded recruitment of 4,131 adults for a phase three trial of VLA1553, a single-shot chikungunya vaccine candidate. If approved, VLA1553 would be the first chikungunya vaccine to gain Biologics License Application. This would, in turn, earn its... Read More »
CDC, FDA recommendations lead to pause of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
In a joint statement released today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended a pause in the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine over rare health concerns. Much as has beleaguered the AstraZeneca... Read More »
DHS partnership targets Homeland Security solutions advancement
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) said its partnership with Niceville, Florida-based DEFENSEWERX (DWX) would bolster Homeland Security solutions advancement efforts. DWX is a nonprofit organization focusing on cultivating ecosystems enabling... Read More »
Congress members introduce “No Hate” Act
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of Congress members in announcing the introduction of legislation that would improve hate crime reporting and expand assistance and resources for hate crime victims. The Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to... Read More »
Updated NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines recommend REGEN-COV for non-hospitalized, high risk patients
A mix of casirivimab and imdevimab, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s REGEN-COV, is now strongly recommended by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for high risk COVID-19 patients that are non-hospitalized. The drug was given a strong rate based on randomized trials, which involved more than... Read More »
CDC would gain $1.6B prepare-and-respond funding boost under Biden’s FY2022 budget
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the federal government’s nerve center for its COVID-19 pandemic response, would receive an additional $1.6 billion in funding over last year’s approved levels under President Joe Biden’s mammoth $1.5 trillion federal spending plan for... Read More »