Research Initiative to Target Biosecurity Threats

The Kansas Bioscience Authority (KBA) has launched a $2.5 million initiative that will bring together researchers from across the nation to find ways to protect Americans from the intentional use of animal-borne diseases.

According to an article on the Security Products website, the new Collaborative Biosecurity Research Initiative (CBRI) will work to develop countermeasures for foreign-animal diseases, provide advanced test and evaluation capability for threat detection of these diseases, support the work to find vaccines and strengthen the biosecurity of many of the country’s institutions.

KBA president Tom Thornton told the publication that either a deliberate assault or a natural outbreak could damage the public trust in agricultural safety and the national ability to provide food and other agricultural products.

“The CBRI will introduce the unique biosecurity research capabilities and facilities at Kansas State University to investigators nationally and develop strategic alliances to promptly confront animal and public health threats by leveraging multidisciplinary expertise,” the article says.

The initiative will allow academic, federal-agency and nonprofit researchers to collaborate with KansasState scientists to perform research not possible at their home institutions.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.secprodonline.com/articles/57456/