A new program out of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office could help the Department of Defense enhance and sustain military readiness both by revolutionizing how troops train, perform, and recover, and by mitigating shortages of highly qualified candidates for extremely specialized roles.
Medical countermeasures include vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic equipment that are critical to a multilayered defense strategy to protect warfighters from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. The medical solutions Joint Project Management Office for Medical Countermeasure Systems and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Joint Science and Technology office develop prevent disease, accurately diagnose exposure to biological agents, and provide post-exposure treatments that save the lives of U.S. and allied service members.
FLIR Systems Inc. announced that it has acquired Aeryon Labs Inc., a leading developer of high-performance unmanned aerial systems for the global military, public safety, and critical infrastructure markets for $200 million. Aeryon’s vertical takeoff and landing quad-copter airframes integrate multiple sensors, including FLIR thermal technology, to provide users with immediate high-resolution intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability.
After the incidents in the United Kingdom in 2018 involving a fourth generation agent, the White House National Security Council convened a federal interagency working group to identify and develop resources to help the emergency response community prepare for and respond to a fourth generation agent incident if one ever occurs in the U.S., as well as support the development of specific guidance and training to enhance overall preparedness efforts.
Smiths Detection has been awarded an indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity contract with the Department of Homeland Security Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office to provide radiation portal monitors (RPM). The RPM is a passive checkpoint which can detect potentially dangerous radiation emitting material which passes through its detection zone. The portal is capable of scanning trucks, vehicles, containers, packages and people.
Unlike most medical diagnostic devices, which can perform only one type of test – either protein or nucleic acid tests – Sandia’s SpinDx can now perform both. This allows it to identify nearly any cause of illness, including viruses, bacteria, toxins, or immune system markers of chemical agent exposure.
The Institute for Disaster Management at the University of Georgia College of Public Health has received $1.6 million in civil money penalty funds from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to better prepare certified long-term care facilities’ staff to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies.
The world is facing multiple health challenges. To address these and other threats, 2019 is the start of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) new 5-year strategic plan – the 13th General Programme of Work. Here are 10 of the many issues that will demand attention from WHO and other health partners in 2019.
A group of five graduate students from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) – across the physics, electrical engineering, and defense analysis departments – came up with a new way to acoustically detect small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) when they participated in, and won, the Army Futures Command’s “A-Hack-of-the-Drones” hackathon.
When people are in the early stages of an undiagnosed disease, immediate tests that lead to treatment are the best first steps. A technique using microneedles able to draw relatively large amounts of interstitial fluid – a liquid that lurks just under the skin – opens new possibilities. The new method’s larger draws could be more effective in rapidly measuring exposure to chemical and biological warfare agents, as well as diagnosing cancer and other diseases.
