April 19, 2016
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Public Health & Healthcare Preparedness
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REPORT Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Often called "the voice of CDC," the MMWR series is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. (CDC, 4/15/16)
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITY Operations Research (Implementation Science) for Strengthening Global Health Protection Implementation. The purpose of this funding opportunity is to strengthen country capacities and capabilities to prevent, detect, and effectively respond to current and emerging public health threats, including potential outbreaks and the spread of infectious diseases. This FOA supports research that will provide Ministries of Health and other key stakeholders with the data and evidence to support strategies for the development of public health protection systems, interventions, and policies. (Grants.gov, 4/15/16)
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PRESS RELEASE The United States Contributes $421 Million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This contribution will support the protection, local integration, and resettlement efforts of refugees from countries such as Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. US humanitarian aid will also support the life-saving provision of water, shelter, food, healthcare, and education to millions of refugees, internally displaced persons, and other persons under UNHCR's care and protection in countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Colombia, South Sudan, and Kenya. (Department of State, 4/14/16)
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITY Food Safety Outreach Program. Under the National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Competitive Grants Program, NIFA and the US Food and Drug Administration began jointly funding an infrastructure of national and regional centers to extend food safety education, training, education, and technical assistance to those affected by Food Safety Modernization Act. In FY 2016, the Food Safety Outreach Program will build upon that national infrastructure, with a sustained focus on delivery of customized training to members of the target audiences. (Grants.gov, 4/14/16)
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITY USAID Announces $30 Million Grand Challenge to Combat Zika and Future Disease Threats. In support of the Global Health Security Agenda championed by President Obama, the Combating Zika and Future Threats Grand Challenge will invest up to $30 million in groundbreaking innovations and interventions that enhance our ability to prevent, detect, and respond in both the short and long-term by sourcing innovations that mitigate the spread and impact of Zika virus and improve our ability to combat future infectious disease outbreaks. The Challenge specifically calls for solutions that improve and enhance vector control, personal and household protection, surveillance, diagnostics, and community engagement. (USAID, 4/13/16)
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TRANSCRIPT Transcript for CDC Telebriefing: Zika Virus Update. Never before have we seen an illness threat by mosquitos linked to a birth defect. The science now shows what the hundreds of impacted families have suspected all along. Zika virus is causing the tragic increase in microcephaly cases and other serious brain defects. (CDC, 4/13/16)
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REPORT MCMi Fiscal Year 2015 Program Update. The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013, enacted in 2013, requires FDA to issue an annual report detailing its medical countermeasure activities. This report responds to that requirement for fiscal year 2015 (October 1, 2014 - September 30, 2015). (FDA, 4/12/16)
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NEWS Congress Sends Obama Bill on Zika Drug Development. The measure allows the Food and Drug Administration to include Zika drug developers in the agency's priority review voucher program. The program encourages manufacturers to study treatments for diseases that might not be profitable by expediting the regulatory review of a more lucrative drug in their research pipeline. (Reuters, 4/12/16)
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NEWS Using MAPP to Improve Community Resilience. Over the past two years, ASPR and NACCHO have been working together to identify and test ways in which local health departments can improve resilience in their communities. In March 2015, three local health departments were selected as test sites for a pilot program designed to test whether "Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships" (MAPP) could be used as a strategy to improve community resilience at the local level. (NACCHO, 4/12/16)
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STATEMENT FDA and the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA). This statement expresses the intent of the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency to offer mutual support and to collaborate to address the public health emergency presented by the Zika virus disease outbreak in the Americas. (FDA, 4/11/16)
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NEWS DARPA INTERCEPT Program for Biodefense Countermeasures. DARPA's Biological Technologies Office is hosting a Proposers Day in advance of a planned Broad Agency Announcement for the INTERfering and Co-Evolving Prevention and Therapy (INTERCEPT) Program. The goal of the INTERCEPT program is to explore and develop a new therapeutic platform to outpace fast-evolving viral pathogens, based upon virus-based therapeutic particles that interfere with viral infection and co-evolve with viral targets. (Global Biodefense, 4/11/16)
See also: INTERCEPT Proposers Day (DARPA, 4/16)
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PRESS RELEASE NIH Sequences Genome of a Fungus that Causes Life-Threatening Pneumonia. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, in collaboration with extramural organizations, have sequenced nearly the entire genome of human, mouse and rat Pneumocystis. This organism causes a life-threatening pneumonia in immunosuppressed hosts. Pneumocystis was one of the first infections that led to the initial recognition of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. (NIH, 4/11/16)
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GUIDANCE Program Improvement Initiatives. The information below is designed to extract and summarize the recommendations relevant to CDC's role within the Federal Select Agent Program, collect them in one place, outline actions that have been identified to address each, and provide an update on progress towards implementation. (CDC, 4/8/16)
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITY Advanced and Innovative Solutions to Improve Public Health. For this announcement, CDC has identified the following research areas of interest: microbiome assessment and intervention to address antibiotic resistance; understanding and prevention of antibiotic-resistant organism transmission and emergence; enhanced understanding of medication safety threats; evaluate the capacity for tracking and preventing antibiotic-resistance threats in non-acute care settings; improve timeliness, accuracy and usability of public health surveillance and survey data; integration of epidemiologic and genomics data. (FedBizOpps.gov, 4/6/16)
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INTERNSHIP Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Project Intern. The Intern will focus on assisting the TB Team with the implementation of selected key activities related to the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. In particular, the Intern will assist the TB Team members with developing and supporting activities related to MDR-TB, helping with data collection and analysis, collecting best practices and lessons learned, helping with consolidation of reports and activities. Applications are due April 21, 2016 (USAID, 4/16)
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CONFERENCE Biodefense World Summit 2016. The Knowledge Foundation's Second Annual Biodefense World Summit brings together leaders from government, academia, and industry for compelling discussions and comprehensive coverage on pathogen detection, sample prep technologies, point-of-care, and biosurveillance. The conference will take place on June 27-30, 2016 in Baltimore, MD. (The Knowledge Foundation, 4/16)
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Homeland Security & Disaster Preparedness
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NEWS Can Silicon Valley Help the State Department Track Weapons of Mass Destruction? Last week, members of the State Department descended on Stanford University to host a daylong brainstorming session on how to contain all sorts of weapons of mass destruction, including nukes. Wireless executives hobnobbed with criminal investigators. Analysts from microsatellite companies traded business cards with military officers. Data-mining experts rubbed elbows with some of the world's top disarmament officials. (Fast Company, 4/14/16)
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Radiological & Nuclear Disaster Preparedness
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Science & Technology Policy
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NEWS Regulators Propose Banning Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes for at Least Two Years. Federal health regulators have proposed banning Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes from the blood-testing business for at least two years after concluding that the company failed to fix what regulators have called major problems at its laboratory in California. (The Wall Street Journal, 4/13/16)
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NOTICE Public Meeting of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (the Commission) will conduct its twenty fifth meeting on May 3, 2016. At this meeting, the Commission will reflect on the past, present, and future impact of national bioethics advisory bodies. Topics will include the history of national bioethics advisory bodies and their contributions to health policy, perspectives about similar bodies elsewhere, and discussion about what the future holds for groups like the Commission. (Federal Register, 4/13/16)
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NEWS The DoD and Synthetic Biology Milestones. The US Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, recently named gene editing as a priority weapon of mass destruction threat; the only biotechnology included in the worldwide threat assessment report, due to recent advancements within synthetic biology. As such, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Joint Science and Technology Office is preparing next generation warfighters to be leaders in this emerging field. (Global Biodefense, 4/12/16)
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How Secure are US Bioresearch Labs? Preventing the Next Safety Lapse. US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. 4/20/16, 10:15 AM, Rayburn 2322. More
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Roundtable: Preventing Drug Trafficking Through International Mail. US Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs. 4/19/16, 10 AM, Dirksen 342. More
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