The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced that reports produced by the System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) Program are now available for download on the S&T website, as a one-stop shop for resources to help responders make better purchasing decisions.
Federal Resources has acquired Marley International Group, a global product marketing firm with focused operations in the Arabian Gulf. Marley International Group was founded as a multinational partnership of professionals from the medical, defense, and energy industries. Specializing in all aspects of the contract selling process, the team of experts provides strategic advice to U.S. manufacturers who wish to expand in the Arabian Gulf.
A tool to assess and address cyber and physical security issues and an inexpensive way to create a microscope out of a cellphone are being used by businesses and individuals, thanks to teams who have moved them out of the laboratory and into the marketplace. These technologies were developed at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) plans to expand its Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project, a genomics resource used by many scientists to study human health and disease. Funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of NIH, the ENCODE Project is generating a catalog of all the genes and regulatory elements in humans and select model organisms.
What Silicon Valley is to technology, Kansas State University is to biodefense. When former Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle and the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense recently visited the Manhattan campus for a series of agrodefense discussions, the university cemented its status as a national leader in animal health, biosciences and food safety research.
Hazards associated with radiological or nuclear incidents are uniquely challenging for first responders. The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate has developed the Radiological Operations Support Specialist (ROSS) Program as a field solution to make recommendations, interpret models, and analyze data for the incident commander.
Scientists at U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) are studying how to stop the spread of pandemic disease and infection. Using network science and numerous mathematical computations, the study observes how social behaviors can enhance or even reduce the transmission of disease in a population.
To detect an outbreak early, healthcare workers must have a local, trustworthy diagnostic laboratory. For the past five years Sandia’s International Biological and Chemical Threat Reduction group has served as a trusted adviser for design of diagnostic labs around the world that are safe, secure, sustainable, specific and flexible.
Since technology can play a pivotal role in how first responders perform on the job, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate’s First Responders Group relies on first responder input throughout the research and development phases and beyond. Several technologies developed to meet the critical needs of first responders are now available for agencies to purchase and use.
A three-year grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences provides funding for biological safety training. Fire and emergency medical services and law enforcement personnel throughout the mid-Atlantic learn how to protect themselves during infectious disease outbreaks or pandemics thanks to training from George Mason University’s Office of Safety, Emergency, and Enterprise Risk Management.
