GEIA Homeland Security Special
Studies
Government Electronics and Information Technology
Association (GEIA) represents the “high tech” industry doing
business with government. GEIA Vision Meetings are
prestigious annual events at which a group of noted industry
experts working over a period of six months present a forecast of
government programs in the high technology areas of the healthcare,
homeland security, information technology and the electronics
industry.
Dr. Rao is a
key GEIA team member on the homeland security team and heads the
science and technology related industry forecast activities.
His team, a part of over 30 industry leaders studied the enabling
technology requirements for the Department of Homeland Security
Special Study and Analysis and presented findings at the GEIA’s Vision
2003 meeting, held October 28-30, 2003, at the Reagan Center,
Washington, DC
Dr. Rao was
also a key member of the GEIA’s 2002 special homeland security
initiative. In the aftermath of 9/11, Bush Administration had
just undertaken a major reorganization of the federal government
focused on consolidating disparate homeland security related
elements under one department. During 2002, a bare
outline emerged from the White House of what was to become the new
Department of Homeland Security. GEIA compiled a team to
review this major development in the federal sector landscape to
assess the nature of planned consolidation, organizations involved,
key technology areas, and opportunities for the industry to support
this important national initiative.
As a key
member of GEIA team, Dr. Rao focused on the emerging requirements
in the chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological
countermeasure areas identified under the homeland security
programs. He was part of the panel of industry experts
presenting the findings at the GEIA’s Vision 2002 Conference
October 29-31, 2002, in McLean, Virginia.
Homeland Incidence Response Tracking
System
DynCorp developed a web-enabled early warming system termed, Homeland
Incidence Response Tracking System, or HIRTS for short that
uses the public communications infrastructure to report, chemical,
biological, radiological, nuclear and conventional
incidence.
Dr. Rao was
part of the HIRTS team since its inception. He was involved
in the development of the conceptual framework for the
early warning system and led the development of decision
systems for chemical-biological incidence detection and
identification. Since HIRTS system was configured to allow a variety
reporting options for first responders and the decision tree
was so designed to meet the reporting options.
Dr. Rao was
the DynCorp key senior scientist in the concept formulation and
identification of other systems for chemical-biological incidence
detection identification and geographic representation of the data
from passive sensor-based as well as active reporting
mechanisms.
Biodefense Vaccine Program:
Biosafety-Biosecurity
DynPort Vaccine Company LLC (DVC), a DynCorp joint venture,
is a leader in the advanced development of vaccines and other
countermeasures against bio-warfare agents. The biotechnology
development activities include process refinement, cGMP production,
pre-clinical testing, clinical studies and regulatory submission
related activities.
Biosafety and
environmental affairs of facilities involved in the program are
critical to the program success. Dr. Rao is involved in the
leadership role on the biosafety and environmental affairs of this
major program since inception (1998). In this capacity, he
and his team are involved in every aspect of biosafety and
environmental regulatory requirement for the entire program with
seven active vaccine projects currently underway.
He oversaw
the development of the DVC’s standard operating procedures for
shipping CDC Select Agents for program wide
application
As part of
this effort, Dr. Rao and his team publish a monthly update
(Biosafety and Environmental Affairs Update) on the latest
scientific and regulatory developments in biosafety, Biosecurity,
occupational health and bioterrorism preparedness. So far
three volumes (1-3) of the Update covering 35 numbers have been
published.
For the first
time, a 2002 Summary of Trends and Development in Biosafety and
Environmental Affairs were published.
As part of this effort, a vast number of published resources are
tracked on a daily basis for possible inclusion in the monthly
update. Published information from on-line and hard copy sources on
new regulatory guidelines, federal register notice, scientific
reports, industry updates, and federal agency
announcements.
The 2002
Summary of Trends and Developments covered (a) biosafety advisories
and guidelines, (b) bioterrorism countermeasures, (c) patient
safety and clinical data security, (d) biotechnology/information
technology and (e) FDA regulatory affairs.
Chemical Biological Medical Treatment Symposia
(CBMTS)
CBMTS Series offers a unique opportunity for professionals
in science and medicine around the world to discuss chemical and
biological medical treatment.
The week long
meeting, patterned along the famed Gordon Research Conference
Model, held its first meeting in 1994, at one the world’s most
beautiful and serene locations, Spiez, Switzerland. The 1994
meeting was hosted by AC-Laboratorium (Spietz).
As a DynCorp
corporate representative, Dr. Rao was a member of the CBMTSIII
(2000) and CBMTS-Industry II (2001).
Dr. Rao was
invited to speak at the 2000 CBMTSIII (Spietz, Switzerland) on the
challenges to chemical biological risk assessment of long-term
toxic effects of chemical weapons and medical treatment
interventions.
The 2001
CBMTS-Industry II (Dubrovnik, Croatia) expanded the scope of the
chemical and biological medical treatment to include discussion
across the CB terrorism and preparedness issues such as
pharmaceutical and vaccine stockpiling, local and regional
emergency preparedness plans, and potential dual uses of industrial
chemicals as weapons of mass destruction.
Recognizing
the potential impact of bioterrorism thereat on the public health
systems, Dr. Rao developed a compendium of globally reported
bioterrorism events and an evaluation of the impact on the medical
treatment (interventions) as well as on the ill-prepared public
health system.
Dr. Rao
developed institutional relationships between DynCorp and the
University of West Virginia’s Center for Rural Emergency Medicine
(CREM). Dr. Rao teamed up with CREM in bioterrorism hospital
preparedness and rural emergency medicine related
projects.
The West
Virginia University Center for Rural Emergency Medicine (CREM) is
dedicated to improving the delivery of emergency medical and trauma
care in rural areas. The broad spectrum of outreach,
education, and research programs focuses primarily on public health
and acute care.
In a closely
related area, Dr. Rao was invited to serve as a member of a task
group by the Washington Hospital Center’s ER-One project team in a
bioterrorism hospital preparedness initiative. The ER-One
project is considered to be one of the most comprehensive
initiatives undertaken by a major hospital network in the
Washington Metropolitan Area.
