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Science and Technology Enabling Integrative Global Biosurveillance

Description

Life science and biotechnology advances have provided transforming capabilities that could be leveraged for integrative global biosurveillance. Global infectious disease surveillance holds great promise as a tool to mitigate the endemic and pandemic infectious disease impacts, and remains an area of broad international interest. All nations have significant needs for addressing infectious diseases that impact human health and agriculture, and concerns for bioenergy research and environmental protection. In January 2011, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Department of State, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency co-hosted the "Global Biosurveillance Enabling Science and Technology" Conference. Guided by the National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats, and joined by major government stakeholders, the primary objective was to bring together the international technical community to discuss the scientific basis and technical approaches to an effective and sustainable InGBSV system and develop a research agenda enabling a long-term, sustainable capability. The overall objective of the conference was to develop a technology road map for InGBSV, with three underlying components: 1) Identify opportunities for integrating existing biosurveillance systems, the near-term technological advancements that can support such integration, and the priority of future research and development areas; 2) Identify the required technical infrastructure to support InGBSV, such as methodologies and standards for technology evaluation, validation and transition; 3) Identify opportunities, and the challenges that must be overcome, for partnerships and collaborations.

Objective

To review observations and conclusions from a recent Global Biosurveillance conference, provide an assessment of the scientific and technical capabilities and gaps to achieve an effective and sustainable integrative global biosurveillance (InGBSV) system, and recommend research and development priorities enabling InGBSV.

Submitted by elamb on