Secretary Betsy DeVos announced the rescission of and replacement for the 2016 Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting (Handbook). The Department determined that “much of the guidance provided was outside of the scope of the relevant statutory and regulatory authority.” The announcement also provided an overview of a new Clery-related Appendix of the Federal Student Aid Handbook.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Inmazeb (atoltivimab, maftivimab, and odesivimab-ebgn), a mixture of three monoclonal antibodies, as the first FDA-approved treatment for Zaire ebolavirus (Ebola virus) infection in adult and pediatric patients.
Michael Breslin, strategic client relations director for federal law enforcement at LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Advisor to Preparedness Leadership Council has been selected to serve on the newly established cyber investigations advisory board of the U.S. Secret Service.
FLIR Systems Inc. announced it has been awarded a $26 million contract modification in support of the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle Sensor Suite Upgrade (NBCRV SSU) program for the U.S. Army. FLIR is the lead integrator in modernizing the Army’s NBCRV system with improved and autonomous chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) sensors.
Under an agreement between the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Vaxxas, the company will undertake Phase 1 clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an easy-to-use, high-density micro-array patch (HD-MAP) and other development activities for the patch. Micro-array patch technology has the potential to reduce the amount of vaccine required, which would help healthcare professionals provide vaccine to more people, an important consideration in a public health emergency.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program (P25 CAP) has recognized a Department of the Interior (DOI) laboratory to perform independent third-party assessments of first responder equipment, enabling them to expand interoperable communications capabilities and coverage. Through this open-standards testing process, P25 CAP provides responders with confidence that the communications equipment they use will be interoperable, regardless of the manufacturer.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, alongside 4 bipartisan U.S. senators and 3 former federal government public health officials, have launched a new educational initiative: The Capitol Hill Steering Committee on Pandemic Preparedness & Health Security. The Committee is a nonpartisan “off-the-Hill” group that convenes educational policy briefings and technology demonstrations for Capitol Hill offices, federal agencies, and the invited public focused on strengthening U.S. health security.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) awarded Denver Health and Hospital Authority a $3 million cooperative agreement to demonstrate how a Regional Disaster Health Response System (RDHRS) can improve medical surge and clinical specialty capabilities – including trauma, burn or other specialty care – during a national emergency and save more lives.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a five-year, $100 million project called Strategies to Prevent Spillover (STOP Spillover). Tufts University will implement STOP Spillover with a consortium of wildlife and human-disease experts to anticipate and address threats posed by the emerging zoonotic diseases that pose the greatest risk of jumping from animals to humans.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published its disaster preparedness survey, and the trends show Americans are becoming better prepared. The annual survey assesses how the culture of disaster preparedness and resilience has changed since 2007, and the 2020 survey results suggest that the public is experiencing a wave of culture change in disaster preparedness.
