CDC designates UofL as a national biodefense center
Jerry Hauer, assistant secretary for public health at the U.S. Department of Public Health, examines a computerized mannequin while UofL's Paul McKinney observes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated a UofL program as one of seven specialty centers in the nation for public health preparedness.
UofL's Center for the Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism, which formally opened in 2001, has trained more than 1,000 physicians, health care workers, emergency response personnel and medical students on the proper response to bioterror attacks.
The training is conducted in part on sophisticated, computerized mannequins that can mimic the symptoms of patients infected with biowarfare agents like anthrax and smallpox.
Other training employs highly skilled actors, called standardized patients, who have been taught to exhibit the symptoms of various diseases.
The center also is beginning epidemiological and communications research to ensure a quick regional response to potential terror-induced epidemics.
"Louisville is unique in its resources and capabilities to research and prepare for a terror-related biological disaster," said Jerry Hauer, assistant secretary for public health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"The center's faculty expertise ranges from identifying and developing vaccines against potential bioterrorism organisms to training emergency personnel to properly respond to an attack."
Five of the center's faculty -- co-directors Ron Atlas, Ph.D., and Rick Clover, M.D., and fellow faculty members Paul McKinney, M.D., Bill Smock, M.D., and Jim Snyder, Ph.D. -- play a significant role nationally in bioterrorism and biowarfare issues. Each serves on a national advisory council to the federal government.
The UofL center received its initial funding through a $1.5 million appropriation from the CDC, secured by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.
"CDC's designation of UofL as a specialty center for public health preparedness means that the school's talented researchers will be on the front lines in protecting our communities," McConnell said.
"I was proud to secure federal funds for this initiative and look forward to working with UofL and CDC to enhance our homeland security."
