Biosecurity center plans to open Nov. 1
Editor's note: This article was modified Thursday, Sept. 18, 2003, to correct the location of the center's headquarters.
The country's only think tank and research center devoted to the prevention and handling of biological attacks will open in Pittsburgh on Nov. 1.
Three of the world's leading experts on bioterrorism and biosecurity joined University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and UPMC President Jeffrey Romoff on Wednesday to announce the opening of the Center for Biosecurity at UPMC, which they said will place Pittsburgh at the forefront of biosecurity research.
The center will become the operations arm for the five-year-old Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense in Baltimore.
"We have a risk today of bioterrorism that has not diminished," said Dr. D.A. Henderson, the center's senior adviser and the former chief bioterrorism adviser to President Bush. "From the national level, the threats are there today as they ever were."
The general mission of the center will be to develop strategies for dealing with biological attacks.
Its research will encompass areas such as developing and distributing large amounts of vaccines, as well as dealing with an influx of people infected by a biological attack. It also will focus on the training of first responders in the event of a biological attack.
"Preparation matters a lot in being able to handle an epidemic," said Dr. Tara O'Toole, chief executive officer for the center. "If you're ready for an epidemic, you can really make a difference."
For the doctors involved in bringing the center to Pittsburgh, UPMC became an obvious choice because of its association with the University of Pittsburgh and its extended network of hospitals and doctors.
O'Toole said UPMC provides an "enormously advantageous platform where we can design and test the response systems," and touted UPMC's vast resources and its ability to reach a large number of people. UPMC has 20 hospitals and 37,000 employees.
The center will maintain its headquarters in Baltimore for lobbying purposes, but its 20 employees will be constantly shuttling between the two cities.
The center receives $4.5 million annually from private and federal grants. UPMC has made a $12 million endowment to the center.
"We believe (the center) will play an extraordinary role in the future of our country and our region," Romoff said. "This region is now poised to meet the national need and serve the national need (for biosecurity)."
