Jackson State University, Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center Lead Government, Commercial and Academic Team in Defending Against Bioterrorism
JSU, MSU and UMMC are lending their research and development expertise to the fight for homeland security.
September 25, 2003 - Jackson State University (JSU), Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, today announced the formation of the National Center for Biodefense Communications (the "Center"). The Center's principal objective is to utilize Internet-based technologies for the early detection of major human and animal health events, especially those driven by significant nuclear, biological and chemical incidents. Upon event detection, the Center will issue Internet-based notifications to appropriate policymakers, healthcare officials and first-responders. In addition to providing a critical first-responder function, this data capability provides a foundation for enhanced teaching in health informatics, information assurance, information sharing between organizations and the sociology of bioterrorism.
Dr. Anthony Mawson of JSU and Principal Investigator for the Center said, "Jackson State has long upheld its tradition of leadership and support of research and development and giving back to the community. The opportunity to lead this program, effectively combining the fight against bioterror with high technology and rural development, was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up."
One of the premier goals of the program is to develop collaborative relationships between public and private entities that will enable the Center to quickly become a nationwide program. JSU will collaborate with the Science & Engineering Alliance, which includes Alabama A&M University, Southern University at Baton Rouge, and Prairie View A&M University (TX), with support of Lawrence Livermore National Lab. In addition to the universities and federal labs, technology companies such as Circadence Corporation, Dell, and MaxIT are also working with the Center. Jackson State is deploying Dellâ„¢ PowerEdgeâ„¢ servers to support this program.
"We are extremely pleased that JSU, MSU-CVM and UMMC are working together to provide the Center with a strong leadership function. The three universities all have outstanding research and development departments and, coupled with their desire to facilitate multi-state sharing of essential homeland security information, they provide the Center with the leadership this type of program demands," said Stanley R. Robertson, Associate Professor of MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, and a Co-Principal Investigator for the Center.
About Circadence Corp.
Circadence Corporation, founded in 1993 as VR•1, Inc., has its origins in the massive multi-user online simulations industry. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Circadence grew through several acquisitions, successful product launches and the formation of strategic partnerships including Microsoft, Deutsche Telekom, and Hewlett Packard. The Company's proven Transport Morphing Protocol TM (TMPTM), built into the Company's Web Assured Response Protocol solution, enables efficient use of bandwidth with additional data transport speed, reliability and consistency.
About the National Center for Biodefense Communications
The Center is a strategic initiative to bring to bear Internet-based technologies for early detection of significant human and animal health events, and to issue authorized, secure, non-public, bioterror alerts and notifications to authorized and appropriate recipients. In addition to surveillance, the work of the Center includes basic and applied research related to biodefense and disaster preparedness, skills training and risk communications for diverse populations across America.
