Preventing bioterrorism requires consensus action by the entire global community. The mission of Interpol, the world’s largest international police organization, is to help police and law enforcement officers cooperate and work together to combat crime. It offers three core services: a unique global police communication system, a range of criminal databases and analytical services, and proactive support for police operations throughout the world. This grant enables Interpol to develop its capacity to counter bioterrorism by raising awareness, developing police training programs, and strengthening law enforcement. A conference will be held in 2005 to launch the program to senior police officials. Conference participants will include professionals from a wide range of disciplines involved in preventing or responding to bioterrorism. Interpol will produce training materials to form the basis for conference discussions. Based on the conference, Interpol will draft the Police Training Course for Bioterrorism. During the second year, Interpol will hold three workshops to  train regional leaders — in Asia, the Americas, and Africa — at which it will use the course materials, adapting them as needed by special circumstances present in a particular region. Following the regional workshops, the training materials will be prepared, published, and distributed worldwide. Interpol will establish in-house capability to develop training materials and to provide technical assistance and backup to trained officials. A consortium of professionals will be developed with different types of expertise in bioterrorism (public health, science, legal, etc.) upon whom Interpol can call. A strategic plan will be developed for implementing and funding national police training programs in bioterrorism in order to sustain the program beyond the term of this grant. Project Director: Ronald K. Noble, Secretary General.

This grant supports a project by the National Academies to engage the international scientific community in making a sustained commitment to address the potential misuse of biotechnology research. To begin the engagement process, the Academies expect to be able to get biosecurity issues on the agendas of three planned international activities: The UN High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change (April 2004), The Science and Technology for Society Forum (November 2004), and the Amaldi Conference on Global Peace and Security (late 2004). They have partnered with the Inter-Academy Panel to develop a statement of issues in biosecurity and will work to develop the steering committee and host committee to organize a major 2005 International Forum on Biosecurity. The Academies will publish proceedings of the forum and a summary report to highlight accomplishments and gaps in the response of the international scientific community. Project Director: Jo L. Husbands, Director, Committee on International Security and Arms Control.

A 2000 Foundation grant of $3.5 million supported the work of the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at Johns Hopkins University. At the time, a year before 9/11, the Center was one of the few institutions in the country trying to improve the country’s preparedness for bioterrorism attacks and the only one with substantial expertise in medicine and public health. The Center became the international leader in civilian biodefense. They wrote the definitive papers on the medical and public health management of the six principal threat agents: anthrax, smallpox, plague, tularemia, botulinum toxin, and hemorrhagic fever viruses. The Center authored “Dark Winter,” an interactive fictional scenario depicting smallpox attacks that led to the realization that the country was not prepared and paved the way for many changes, including the procurement of 300 million doses of smallpox vaccine. They created the only peer-reviewed journal devoted to biodefense, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science. They convened many meetings, provided expert testimony to Congress, briefed numerous senior government officials, and played a significant role in increasing federal funding for bioterrorism. In November 2003, the entire staff “left” Johns Hopkins University, affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and became the Center for Biosecurity, all without leaving Baltimore. UPMC provided the Center with a $12 million endowment. This renewal grant will enable the Center to continue to provide national and international leadership in reducing the threat of bioterrorism. The Center will conduct independent analyses of the U.S. biodefense strategy and of the major biodefense initiatives of the federal government. It plans to initiate prototype biodefense response programs in Pittsburgh, such as commercial building filtration, mass casualty care, and regional mass vaccinations. The Center will expand its efforts to build a multidisciplinary biodefense professional community through further development of the Dinner Series, the biosecurity and bioterrorism journal, and its website. It plans to analyze the U.S. biodefense countermeasure development and acquisition process and make practical recommendations for the acceleration of countermeasure development and the process by which large-scale acquisitions are made for the U.S. National Pharmaceutical Stockpile. Project Director: Tara O’Toole, M.D., CEO and Director, Center for Biosecurity.

The following seven grants were funded from an appropriation approved by the Board of Trustees for support of short-term projects and the planning stage of larger projects to reduce the threat of bioterrorism.

To support the workshop “Bioterrorism Preparedness: The Imperative for a Public-Private Partnership.” Project Director: William J. Long, Professor and Chair, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement
of Military Medicine, Inc.
Rockville, MD 20852

To prepare citizens for terrorism through workplace preparedness. Project Director: Professor Robert J. Ursano, Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

To improve terrorism preparedness by educating the law enforcement community about the analyses and recommendations of the Center for Tactical Counterterrorism. Project Director: R. P. Eddy, Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism.

To provide partial support for the 4th Technology and Policy Forum. Project Director: Professor Dava J. Newman, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

To conduct planning activities for the development of a terrorism preparedness initiative for New York City’s cultural institutions. Project Director: Kate D. Levin, Commissioner, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs.

To assess the operation of the World Health Organization’s oversight of variola (smallpox) virus research. Project Director: Jonathan B. Tucker, Senior Researcher.

To conduct planning activities for the development of an Interpol police training program to prevent bioterrorism. Project Director: Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, Dean, McGeorge School of Law.

National Foundation for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Inc.
Atlanta, GA 30303

To convene a meeting of key stakeholders to reexamine the SARS outbreak for lessons learned regarding business and public health preparedness. Project Director: Gene W. Matthews, Director, Institute of Public Health Law.

For support of “Project Safe and Secure: Summer 2004” to train building service workers to prepare and respond to terrorism. Project Director: Linda G. Nelson, Director.

To examine the effectiveness of UV air disinfection on pathogenic respiratory viral aerosols. Project Director: Professor Gwang-Pyo Ko, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health.

To support a disaster preparedness fair to take place in New York City on August 13, 2004. Project Director: Lisa Orloff, Founder and Executive Director.