October 4, 2016
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Public Health & Healthcare Preparedness
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BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT
FY17 DoD Broad Agency Announcement for Medical Research. The US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) will be the awarding and administering office for proposals selected for funding scope of this effort and the priorities attached to specific projects are influenced by changes in military and civilian medical science and technology, operational requirements, military threat assessments, and national defense strategies. (Global Biodefense, 10/3/16)
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REPORT
Morbidity & 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, 9/30/16)
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PRESS RELEASE
HHS Sponsors Next-Generation Genetic Sequencing Platform. To help curb the spread of pandemic influenza and antibiotic-resistant infections, the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) announced today it is advancing the development of a next-generation genetic sequencing platform. This is the first next-generation genetic sequencing platform supported by ASPR's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. (Department of Health & Human Services, 9/30/16)
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COMMENTARY
Considerations for Developing a Zika Virus Vaccine. Drs. Hilary Marston (NIAID), Nicole Lurie (ASPR), Luciana Borio (FDA), and Anthony Fauci (NIAID) explain why scientific feasibility does not always ensure successful vaccine development. An efficient development pathway must be delineated, including the optimal ways to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness of vaccine candidates for intended target populations. (New England Journal of Medicine, 9/29/16)
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BLOG
Ready Now! Preparedness means always thinking about what might happen and how it might affect you and those around you, and then taking steps ahead of time to stay safe and healthy. Everyone faces a unique set of risks and has unique needs. People with disabilities often must rely more on others, especially in emergencies. (CDC, 9/28/16)
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NEWS
CDC Whistleblower Claims Agency Has Been Using Wrong Zika Test. Robert Lanciotti was demoted in May after he raised concerns inside and outside the agency about the CDC's decision in the spring to recommend a new test for Zika. That test is substantially less effective than another established test, he said, and misses nearly 40 percent of Zika infections. He also said the agency withheld information about testing differences from state and local public health laboratories. (Washington Post, 9/28/16)
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COMMENTARY
The End Game - Eliminating Tuberculosis In America. Dr. Jonathan Mermin (Director, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC) writes that while TB no longer takes the toll on Americans that it once did, until the disease is eliminated, it still holds the potential to seriously impact thousands of lives and total millions or even billions in healthcare and societal costs over time. (Huffington Post, 9/27/16)
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PRESS RELEASE
To Slow Spread of Infectious Diseases, NSF, NIH, USDA Invest $16.6 Million. Outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Zika increasingly threaten global public health. Scientists expect five such new diseases to emerge each year. To find out whether our interaction with the environment is somehow responsible, the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program -- a joint effort of the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- has awarded $16.6 million in new grants. (NSF, 9/27/16)
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PRESS RELEASE
BARDA Awards Funding to Speed Development of Zika Vaccine. The US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response today announced a contract to develop an inactivated vaccine candidate to prevent the Zika virus infection and thereby the associated devastating birth defects. Inactivated vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective when given to special populations, including pregnant women and people with immunocompromised conditions. (Department of Health & Human Services, 9/26/16)
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WEBINAR
CMS Webinar: New Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Healthcare Orgs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is hosting a call on October 5, 2016 at 1:30 PM/EST to discuss new emergency preparedness requirements for Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers. CMS will discuss the provisions of the final rule, enforcement process, and available technical assistance. Interested participants must register for the call information. (NACCHO, 9/16)
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Homeland Security & Disaster Preparedness
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PRESS RELEASE
President Declares Major Disaster for Florida. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the state of Florida to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the area affected by Hurricane Hermine during the period of August 31 to September 11, 2016. (FEMA, 9/28/16)
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
Engineering for Natural Hazards. The Engineering for Natural Hazards (ENH) program supports fundamental research that advances knowledge for understanding and mitigating the impact of natural hazards on constructed civil infrastructure. Natural hazards considered by the ENH program include earthquakes, windstorms (such as tornadoes and hurricanes), tsunamis, storm surge, and landslides. (Grants.gov, 9/27/16)
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NEWS
Armor for the Grid. Idaho National Laboratory's ballistic barrier system is designed to protect substations from potential threats as varied as bullets, vehicles laden with explosives and tornado-strength winds. This effort is part of the lab's growing mission to make the nation's critical infrastructure -- including the grid -- more reliable, safe and resilient. (Department of Energy, 9/23/16)
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Radiological & Nuclear Disaster Preparedness
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BLOG
NNSA Stays Prepared with World-Class Response Units. NNSA trains to counter both domestic and international nuclear terrorism, and is prepared to search for radioactive material, support the rendering safe of threat devices, and help manage the consequences of a release of radioactive material into the environment. (NNSA, 9/29/16)
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Science & Technology Policy
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
International Bioethics Research Training Program. The overall goal of this initiative is to support the development of a sustainable critical mass of bioethics scholars in low and middle income country (LMIC) research intensive institutions with the capabilities to conduct original empirical or conceptual ethics research that addresses challenging issues in health research and research policy in these countries as well as provide research ethics leadership to their institutions, governments and international research organizations. (Grants.gov, 9/29/16)
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PRESS RELEASE
NIST Organizes Challenge to Uncover Impacts of Federal Lab Research. The Federal Impact Assessment Challenge (link is external) calls on participants to write an original paper describing a retrospective study of the economic or societal impacts (or both) resulting from any technology developed completely or in part by federal researchers and then transferred outside of their agency. (NIST, 9/27/16)
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Examining the Local Impacts of EPA's Climate Regulations. US Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, Subcommittees on Clean Air & Nuclear Safety. 10/5/16, 1 PM. Chief Logan Conference Center, Logan, West Virginia. More
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