Recommending and promoting changes to U.S. policy and law to strengthen national biodefense while optimizing resource investments.

  • In an effort to better track action taken by the federal government to strengthen the Nation’s defense against biological threats, the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense today launched its new interactive recommendations tracker. Found on the Commission’s website, https://biodefensecommission.org/recommendation-status, the tracker comes on the heels of a new Commission analysis called Biodefense in Crisis, which found the United States remains at catastrophic biological risk.

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    15 April, 2021

Commission Announces New Position to Lead Biodefense Policy and Research Efforts.

 

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is seeking a Director of Policy and Research to develop and supervise the Commission’s biodefense policy and research agendas. The Commission, established in 2014, assesses the state of U.S. biodefense efforts and recommends changes to U.S. policy and law to strengthen national biodefense while optimizing resource investments. The Commissioners, all former high-ranking government officials, and the staff of four have conducted more than 20 public meetings and produced six reports, including the seminal A National Blueprint for Biodefense: Leadership and Major Reform Needed to Optimize Efforts. The pandemic of 2020 has shined a spotlight on the Commission’s work and this new Director of Policy and Research joins at an exciting time of high-intensity focus and rapid-growth. If you are interested, please send your resume to admin@biodefensecommission.org.

At this March 2021 meeting, the Commission examined first responder needs to address biological threats. More details on this meeting can be found here.

At this March 2021 meeting, the Commission examined first responder needs to address biological threats. More details on this meeting can be found here.

Commission
Senator Joe Lieberman
Co-Chair
Now Senior Counsel at the law firm of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres, and Friedman in New York, Joseph...
Governor Tom Ridge
Co-Chair
Tom Ridge is Chairman of Ridge Global. He provides clients with solutions to cyber security, international security...
Dr. Donna Shalala
Commissioner
Donna E. Shalala is Trustee Professor of Political Science and Health Policy at the University of Miami....
Senator Tom Daschle
Commissioner
Senator Daschle is the Founder and CEO of The Daschle Group, A Public Policy Advisory of Baker...
Representative Jim Greenwood
Commissioner
James C. Greenwood is a Senior Policy Advisor at the DLA Piper law firm, chairing its Life...
Honorable Ken Wainstein
Commissioner
Ken Wainstein is a partner in Davis Polk & Wardwell Litigation Department, where he focuses his practice...
Asha M. George, DrPH
Executive Director
Dr. Asha M. George is a public health security professional whose research and programmatic emphasis has been...
Commission Publication
Biodefense in Crisis - Immediate Action Needed to Address National Vulnerabilities

Despite warnings from public health professionals and the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, the country was caught unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. A new analysis from the Commission finds that the United States remains at catastrophic biological risk. Called Biodefense in Crisis: Immediate Action Needed to Address National Vulnerabilities, the report closely examines the extent of progress that has been made since the Commission released its seminal National Blueprint for Biodefense in 2015. Biodefense in Crisis provides a fresh assessment of governmental efforts to implement the Commission’s recommendations to prevent, deter, prepare for, detect, respond to, attribute, recover from, and mitigate biological threats. It also includes eleven updated recommendations based in-part on real-time learning during the pandemic.

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Commission Publication
The Apollo Program for Biodefense - Winning the Race Against Biological Threats

The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark wake-up call for the United States to take biological threats seriously. The virus is on track to take the lives of more than 400,000 Americans and cost our economy trillions of dollars. The risks of future pandemics increase as technological progress eases barriers to modifying pathogens, raising the specter of novel biological agents causing diseases much worse than humanity has ever faced. Meanwhile, U.S. vulnerabilities to biological attacks have never been clearer to our adversaries.

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Special Focus
Diagnostics for Biodefense - Flying Blind with No Plan to Land

In this special focus report, Diagnostics for Biodefense – Flying Blind with No Plan to Land, the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense provides an approach that would ensure the United States can rapidly develop innovative point-of-care and point-of-need diagnostic tests for COVID-19 and other novel, emerging, and reemerging infectious diseases when they occur. The United States failed to develop and distribute a reliable diagnostic test when COVID-19 first struck. While the country stumbled for weeks, others such as Germany, South Korea and Taiwan developed diagnostic tests and established testing infrastructure that allowed them to control the spread of the virus and reduce death rates..

Report of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, formerly the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.

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Special Focus
Holding the Line on Biodefense: State, Local, Tribal, And Territorial Reinforcements Needed

In Holding the Line on Biodefense, the Commission shines a light on the capabilities and policy needs of the non-federal governments, responders, and healthcare workers responsible for safeguarding U.S. public health.

Report of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, formerly the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.

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Special Focus
Budget Reform for Biodefense: Integrated Budget Needed to Increase Return on Investment

The report finds that the ad hoc and stovepiped approach to budgeting across multiple federal agencies is preventing strategic, long-term, and cohesive progress toward bolstering America’s vulnerable biodefense posture.

Report of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, formerly the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.

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Special Focus
Defense of Animal Agriculture

Defense of Animal Agriculture provides specific recommendations for protecting one of the largest sectors of U.S. economy.

Report of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, formerly the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.

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Commission Publication
Biodefense Indicators: One Year Later, Events Outpacing Federal Efforts to Defend the Nation

The Commission's first progress report reviews the status of implementation of each recommendation from the Blueprint for Biodefense as of December 2016.

Report of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, formerly the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.

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Commission Publication
A National Blueprint for Biodefense: Leadership and Major Reform Needed to Optimize Efforts

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense was established in 2014 to assess gaps and provide recommendations to improve U.S. biodefense. The Commission is supported by a suite of distinguished ex officio members and staff with deep expertise in science, policy, intelligence, and defense.

Report of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, formerly the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.

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