Rich Cooper

Washington
,
Jun 10, 2009
 –
While the American public’s attention has moved on to focus on the opening days of summer and vacation planning, researchers have begun to assess the lessons learned from the recent H1N1 Flu outbreak.  

Last week “the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Trust for America’s Health and the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, released a new report, The Pandemic Flu: Lessons from the Frontlines, detailing 10 early lessons from the recent H1N1 outbreak, as well as 10 core areas that must be addressed to strengthen U.S. preparedness for future potential flu outbreaks and other national health emergencies.”

Of particular note about the report’s authors, Dr. Tara O’Toole, the Obama Administration’s nominee to be the next DHS Under Secretary for Science & Technology, serves as the CEO and director of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) which played a central role in the report’s formation.  

It will be interesting to see if this topic is raised during her confirmation hearing which is slated for 10:00AM today before the US Senate’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.  

[Author’s Note:  Thanks to Dr. Donna Barbisch of Global Deterrence Alternatives, LLC for sharing the report with me.]

This piece was originally posted on Security Debrief.