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Confronting Terrorism College of Medicine conference focuses on biodefense issues By Melissa W. Kaye
Lee Groff, manager of Prehospital Services at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, demonstrates decontamination equipment at the Conference on Biodefense and Homeland Security. Ken Smith—Biomedical Photography, Hershey Medical Center	The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center recently held the second annual Conference on Biodefense and Homeland Security, providing an educational opportunity for individuals from many professions—from doctors to law enforcement officials—to learn about the latest information related to bioterrorism.   “Biodefense is an area that’s fast-moving,” said Dr. Stanley J. Naides, Thomas B. Hallowell Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Pharmacology in the Penn State College of Medicine, who developed the conference in collaboration with the Medical Center’s Bioterrorism Task Force and Continuing Education. “It’s receiving a good deal of focus and attention in terms of developing new approaches to homeland security.”   The first conference was held in December 2002. Dr. Luanne Thorndyke, associate dean for Professional Development and associate professor of medicine at the College of Medicine, noted, “There is clearly a need to continue to provide up-to-date and topical coverage of this critical and rapidly evolving area of great importance to the public’s health and well-being.”   She added that the first conference was organized relatively quickly after the events of September 11, 2001, to respond to public and professional concerns about bioterrorism. The second conference focused on biodefense and biopreparedness.   Conference planners said that by the end of the program, participants would be able to summarize the roles of government agencies in responding to chemical and biological terrorism, list the pathogens that can be potential terrorist weapons, describe safety and decontamination measures and identify when a patient may be the victim of a terrorist attack.   During the conference, Naides presented a session on smallpox vaccine basics: its history, how it is administered and the expected response and side-effects. Dr. Michael Katzman, Penn State associate professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology in the Division of Infectious Diseases, gave a talk called “The Anthrax Experience.” Robert A. Gatter, assistant professor of law, and Larry C. Backer, professor of law, both at The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University, discussed public health policy and quarantine law, respectively. Dr. Kirsten Waller from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, covered recent developments in disease detection.   “We try to focus on the issues that are at the forefront of discussion,” Naides said.   Other speakers included Dr. Cynthia Whitener, assistant professor at Penn State’s College of Medicine, who discussed smallpox vaccination policy; Lee Groff, manager of the Hershey Medical Center’s Prehospital Services, who discussed chemical suits; and Dr. Bhushan Jayarao, Penn State associate professor of Veterinary Sciences, who discussed agricultural security.   Naides reported that feedback has been positive. “Bringing people together with different perspectives and professions allowed participants to see things in a new light.” An outreach program of the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and the Department of Continuing Education
	HOMELAND SECURITY BRIEF | Information overload   Penn State researchers, headed by Dr. John Yen, professor of information sciences and technology, have developed new software that can help teams in combat or homeland security situations handle information overload. The agent called CAST (Collaborative Agents for Simulating Teamwork) anticipates the information needs of teammates and highlights relevant data, which helps improve a team’s decision-making process, as well as enhance collaboration. CAST was originally developed by a team of researchers at Texas A&M University, where Yen was a key figure, to train teams in the best ways to perform certain tasks together.   Since joining Penn State in 2001, Yen has been working with his research team and Lockheed Martin to develop an application of CAST for assisting in antiterrorism analysis.   In this version, CAST software agents support team activities with computational “shared mental models,” Yen explained. “The inspiration came from psychologists studying the behavior of human teams that were required to process incoming information under the pressure of time constraints.”