The new Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) will be directed by world renowned leaders in the field and will have the prestige, experience and international reputation necessary to make major contributions to regional and national biodefense needs. It will actively compete for the grants, federal funding and foundation awards being made available to address an array of local and federal biodefense priorities.
Available Funding
The federal government has made funding for bioterrorism research and response a national priority. Major potential funding sources include competitive grants available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as several other agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal biodefense research dollars also are available through the Departments of Defense and Justice, and most directly through the Department of Homeland Security. Several congressional appropriations subcommittees have dramatically increased their attention to, and financial support for, bioterrorism preparedness and research, and a number of private foundations have shown their intention to provide financial support for bioterrorism research and prevention activities. UPMC will provide the Center for Biosecurity with an initial $12 million endowment.
Development of Export Products
Model programs for biodefense, such as how regional health care systems could care for mass numbers of critically ill, or how mass vaccination might be undertaken across a city or region, will be developed in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania, and the usefulness of these programs will be demonstrated and shared with other regions. The existence of workable model programs will help demonstrate the great importance of regional biopreparedness programs and will show the value making national security investments in health care systems as they prepare to provide the front-line response to bioattacks and other mass casualty terrorist scenarios.
UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh are strongly positioned to make major contributions in biodefense research and development. The University of Pittsburgh already ranks eighth in terms of research funding from the NIH. It has research strengths in vaccine development, and is in the process of building a major new research facility, one of the purposes of which will be to pursue biodefense-related research. The close relationships that UPMC and the University have with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry will be key factors toward translating basic research findings into products, such as vaccines, drugs and other biodefense countermeasures.
Finally, the Center for Biosecurity will work with the many experts already working at UPMC and University of Pittsburgh to build world-class clinical training programs in disaster response in Pittsburgh and the region.
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