News HighlightBipartisan Commission on Biodefense Highlights Unique Role of Nation’s Land-grant Universities in Safeguarding America’s Food and Agriculture
A new report from the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense finds that America’s land-grant universities can play a critical role in protecting the Nation’s food and agriculture, and details 15 specific recommendations to maximize their effectiveness. Titled "Boots on the Ground: Land-Grant Universities in the Fight Against Threats to Food and Agriculture," the report’s recommendations address the coordination of federal and land-grant food and agro-biodefense efforts, early warning of threats to food and agriculture, and incorporation of land-grant universities into preparedness, response, and mitigation of various possible events.
More09 May, 2022
Commission
The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense discusses the growing pandemic threat and the steps the United States government needs to take in order to keep America safe. Their discussion is moderated by best-selling author Max Brooks.
September 13, 2023
Lack of Standardization Across MDx Infectious Disease Tests Could Undermine Pandemic Preparedness
Ambika Bumb, deputy executive director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, a privately funded organization founded in 2014 to help assess US biodefense capabilities, said that one useful role for the federal government would be to establish guidelines for what information molecular infectious disease tests should provide. She noted that currently the CDC doesn't have the authority needed to require standardized infectious disease data reporting across state and local governments.
August 31, 2023
Biotech promises miracles. But the risks call for more oversight
Now it’s the rise of biotechnology, a sector with its origins in the ability to sequence, synthesize, and edit the genes of organisms, that is joining the pantheon of advances that pose perplexing dual-use implications. Life sciences progress is creating both the potential for unprecedented benefits in medicine (and other areas) as well as new risks of harm from accidents, unforeseen consequences, or even deliberate abuse. There has never been a major technological disruption that countries haven’t sought to use for industrial or military superiority, or for terrorists and criminals in pursuit of their aims. The examples of historical bioweapons programs and bioterrorism suggest that these maxims will likely remain the case as the bioeconomy grows.
National Museum of American History.
August 28, 2023
Millennium | A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine: Dr. Asha M. George
Specializing in national security, intelligence and public health, Dr. Asha M. George has been recognized extensively for her work in strengthening U.S. national security. Joining the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense in Washington, D.C., in 2014, she has excelled as their executive director since 2016. As executive director, she leads the Commission’s assessment of the U.S. government’s biodefense operations and procedures and advises on various strategies to prevent, deter, prepare for, detect, respond to, attribute, recover from and mitigate biological events that may threaten the U.S. Her work and that of the Commission led to the development of a national biodefense strategy, the requirement for which was signed into law by former president Barack Obama, produced for the first time by the Trump Administration and revised by the Biden Administration.
August 23, 2023
Learning from COVID-19, Pentagon’s Biodefense Council to break down stovepipes
“It would be foolish for us to think that just these four countries have decided they’re getting involved and that’s it, there’s nobody else, just these four,” George told the audience. “That doesn’t make sense from a proliferation standpoint, both in terms of the proliferation of weapons, and the proliferation of science and quite frankly, the proliferation of fear.”
(US Army/Sgt. 1st Class Marisol Walker)
August 18, 2023
Commission Commends Department of Defense for 2023 Biodefense Posture Review
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 18, 2023) – Yesterday, the Department of Defense (DOD) released its 2023 Biodefense Posture Review. Requested by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and required by the Secretary of Defense, the Biodefense Posture Review acknowledges: (1) current biological threats to warfighters, America, and its interests overseas; (2) inefficiencies in the DOD biodefense enterprise, and (3) biodefense areas in which DOD must lead or follow. The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense recognizes the value of this effort and the important signal it sends that DOD takes seriously the need to defend against biological threats to our national security.
August 17, 2023
Pentagon biodefense review points to Chinese, Russian threats
“I would not be surprised if by next year they’re saying China has some offensive biological weapons programs. Usually, they just say something like, you are concerned about dual use. And this year they didn’t do that,” said Asha M. George, executive director at the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, who added that Russia remains an equally concerning threat.
(Ng Han Guan/AP)
