Pandemic policy and planning considerations for universities: findings from a tabletop exercise

The potential for a novel influenza virus to cause a pandemic represents a significant threat to global health. Planning for pandemic flu, as compared to planning for other types of hazards, presents some unique challenges to businesses, communities, and education institutions. To identify and address the challenges that may be faced by major metropolitan universities during a flu pandemic, a tabletop exercise was developed, offered, and evaluated. Its purpose was to assess existing University of Washington (UW) plans and policies for responding to an influenza pandemic. On May 31, 2006, more than 50 participants, including UW administrators and unit leaders and a number of key external partners, participated in a tabletop exercise designed to simulate all phases of an influenza pandemic. This exercise revealed existing gaps in university pandemic influenza plans and policies, including issues related to isolation and quarantine, continuity of operations, disaster mental health services, integration of volunteers into a disaster response, tracking travel of university students and personnel, communication problems, and ways to meet the needs of resident and foreign students and faculty during an outbreak. Policy and planning recommendations are offered that address each of these challenges faced by UW as well as other major research universities and colleges.     

Biosurveillance where it happens: state and local capabilities and needs

In recent years, improved biosurveillance has become a bipartisan national security priority. As has been pointed out by the National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee and others, building a national biosurveillance enterprise requires having strong biosurveillance systems at the state and local levels, and additional policies are needed to strengthen their biosurveillance capabilities. Because of the foundational role that state and local health departments play in biosurveillance, we sought to determine to what extent state and local health departments have the right capabilities in place to provide the information needed to detect and manage an epidemic or public health emergency-both for state and local outbreak management and for reporting to federal agencies during national public health crises. We also sought to identify those policies or actions that would improve state and local biosurveillance and make recommendations to federal policymakers who are interested in improving national biosurveillance capabilities.     

Lessons learned from North Carolina public health regional surveillance teams' regional exercises

All-hazards exercises bring together emergency response partners at the local, regional, state, and federal levels for the primary purposes of testing response plans, defining roles and responsibilities, assessing capabilities, and making necessary improvements prior to an actual incident. To better understand the benefits and challenges of conducting regional (ie, multicounty) exercises, a study was carried out by the North Carolina Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. This article describes 5 all-hazards regional exercises conducted by Public Health Regional Surveillance Teams (PHRSTs) in North Carolina in 2009 and highlights 4 unique benefits that resulted from the exercises beyond meeting explicit objectives to test plans and identify areas for improvement: (1) building relationships among response partners, (2) promoting public health assets, (3) testing multiple communications systems, and (4) training exercise evaluators. Challenges of planning and conducting regional exercises also are addressed, followed by recommendations for maximizing the effectiveness of regional public health exercises.     

Developing a regional recovery framework

A biological attack would present an unprecedented challenge for local, state, and federal agencies, the military, the private sector, and individuals on many fronts, ranging from vaccination and treatment to prioritization of cleanup actions to waste disposal. To prepare for recovery from this type of incident, the Seattle Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) partners collaborated with military and federal agencies to develop a regional recovery framework. The goal was to identify key information that will assist policymakers and emergency managers in shortening the timeline for recovery and minimizing the economic and public health impacts of a catastrophic anthrax attack. Based on discussions in workshops, tabletop exercises, and interviews with local, state, federal, military, and private sector entities responsible for recovery, the authors identified goals, assumptions, and concepts of operation for various areas to address critical issues the region will face as recovery progresses. Although the framework is specific to a catastrophic, wide-area biological attack using anthrax, it was designed to be flexible and scalable so it could also serve as the recovery framework for an all-hazards approach in other regions and jurisdictions. Benefits from this process include enhanced coordination and collaboration across agencies, a more thorough understanding of the anthrax threat, an opportunity to proactively consider long-term recovery, and a better understanding of the specific policy questions requiring resolution.     

The Wilderness Act and Fish Stocking: An Overview of Legislation, Judicial Interpretation, and Agency Implementation

Many high-elevation lakes in designated wilderness are stocked with native and nonnative fish by state fish and game agencies to provide recreational fishing opportunities. In several areas, this practice has become controversial with state wildlife managers who support historical recreational use of wilderness, federal wilderness managers who assert that stocking compromises some of the ecological and social values of wilderness, and different public groups that support one or the other position. Herein we examine this controversy from the perspective of the 1964 Wilderness Act, its judicial interpretation, the policies of the federal agencies, and formal agreements between federal and state agencies. Although some state stocking programs restore native fish populations, other programs may compromise some of the ecological and social values of wilderness areas. Further, although current federal regulations recognize state authority for fish stocking, judicial interpretation gives federal agencies the authority for direct involvement in decisions regarding fish stocking in wilderness. Where there are differences of opinion between state and federal managers, this judicial interpretation strongly points to the need for improved cooperation, communication, and coordination between state wildlife managers and federal wilderness managers to balance recreational fishing opportunities and other wildlife management activities with wilderness values. Received 28 March 2000; Accepted 16 August 2000.     

Best Practices for Core Facilities: Handling External Customers

This article addresses the growing interest among U.S. scientific organizations and federal funding agencies in strengthening research partnerships between American universities and the private sector. It outlines how core facilities at universities can contribute to this partnership by offering services and access to high-end instrumentation to both nonprofit organizations and commercial organizations. We describe institutional policies (best practices) and procedures (terms and conditions) that are essential for facilitating and enabling such partnerships. In addition, we provide an overview of the relevant federal regulations that apply to external use of academic core facilities and offer a set of guidelines for handling them. We conclude by encouraging directors and managers of core facilities to work with the relevant organizational offices to promote and nurture such partnerships. If handled appropriately, we believe such partnerships can be a win-win situation for both organizations that will support research and bolster the American economy.     

Assessing a decade of public health preparedness: progress on the precipice?

September 11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks marked the beginning of significant investment by the federal government to develop a national public health emergency response capability. Recognizing the importance of the public health sector's contribution to the burgeoning homeland security enterprise, this investment was intended to convey a "dual benefit" by strengthening the overall public health infrastructure while building preparedness capabilities. In many instances, federal funds were used successfully for preparedness activities. For example, electronic health information networks, a Strategic National Stockpile, and increased interagency cooperation have all contributed to creating a more robust and prepared enterprise. Additionally, the knowledge of rarely seen or forgotten pathogens has been regenerated through newly established public health learning consortia, which, too, have strengthened relationships between the practice and academic communities. Balancing traditional public health roles with new preparedness responsibilities heightened public health's visibility, but it also presented significant complexities, including expanded lines of reporting and unremitting inflows of new guidance documents. Currently, a rapidly diminishing public health infrastructure at the state and local levels as a result of federal budget cuts and a poor economy serve as significant barriers to sustaining these nascent federal public health preparedness efforts. Sustaining these improvements will require enhanced coordination, collaboration, and planning across the homeland security enterprise; an infusion of innovation and leadership; and sustained transformative investment for governmental public health.     

The State of Social Media Policies in Higher Education

This paper presents an analysis of the current state of development of social media policies at institution of higher education. Content analysis of social media policies for all institutions listed in the Carnegie Classification Data File revealed that less than one-quarter of institutions had an accessible social media policy. Analysis was done by institution and campus unit, finding that social media policies were most likely to appear at doctorate-granting institutions and health, athletics, and library units. Policies required that those affiliated with the institution post appropriate content, represent the unit appropriately, and moderate conversations with coworkers and external agencies. This analysis may inform the development and revision of social media policies across the field of higher education, taking into consideration the rapidly changing landscape of social media, issues of academic freedom, and notions of interoperability with policies at the unit and campus levels.     

Conducting a school-based mock drill: lessons learned from one community

Over the past decade, school districts have been required to develop comprehensive emergency management plans designed to effectively coordinate resources to respond during a range of crisis situations. Although many school systems have implemented school safety plans, few have systematically evaluated the short-term or long-term effectiveness of the plans.This study proposes a model for planning, executing, and evaluating a multiagency mock drill. METHOD: A school-based mock drill was conducted to examine a systematic process of planning, executing, and evaluating a multiagency mock drill exercise, and to evaluated the ability of one school district's administrators to respond during a crisis situation. More than 500 people participated in the drill from local, state, and federal agencies, and 26 district and school administrators took part in the study. RESULTS: All local and federal agencies received positive evaluations based on their ability to secure both students and staff in the event of a crisis. The results show differences between written procedures and actual practices used during the mock drill. CONCLUSIONS: Notwithstanding the positive benefits of the mock drill, feedback from participating school personnel demonstrated a need to strengthen communication and coordination between school personnel and outside agencies so that future crisis events are handled more effectively.     

Local IRBs vs. Federal Agencies: Shifting Dynamics, Systems, and Relationships

how IRBs relate to federal agencies, and the implications of these relationships, have received little, if any, systematic study. I interviewed 46 IRB chairs, directors, administrators, and members, contacting the leadership of 60 U.S. IRBs (every fourth one in the list of the top 240 institutions by NIH funding), interviewing IRB leaders from 34 (response rate=55%). IRBs describe complex direct and indirect relationships with federal agencies that affect IRBs through audits, guidance documents, and other communications, and can generate problems and challenges. Researchers often blame IRBs for frustrations, but IRBs often serve as the "local face" of federal regulations and agencies and are "stuck in the middle." These data have critical implications for policy, practice, and research.     

Dinosaur Ramblings

Abstract: Over the last 35 years there has been a shift in university wildlife and fisheries academic programs away from management and toward an ecology or conservation ethos. These university changes have been in both research and education. A similar change has occurred in direction among state and federal natural resource agencies. However, the changes exhibited by both groups have not been to the same degree. I believe university academic programs are now scaled more to the ecology—conservation side, while agencies still average to the management side. This represents a disconnect because university academic programs conduct research for these agencies (and others) and also educate future agency employees and provide technical services to agencies.     

Dual-use review policies of biomedical research journals

To address biosecurity issues, government agencies, academic institutions, and professional societies have developed policies concerning the publication of "dual-use" biomedical research-that is, research that could be readily applied to cause significant harm to the public, the environment, or national security. We conducted an e-mail survey of life science journals to determine the percentage that have a dual-use policy. Of the 155 journals that responded to our survey (response rate 39%), only 7.7% stated that they had a written dual-use policy and only 5.8% said they had experience reviewing dual-use research in the past 5 years. Among the potential predictors we investigated, the one most highly associated with a journal having a written dual-use policy was membership in the Nature Publishing Group (positive association). When considered individually, both previous experience with reviewing dual-use research and the journal's impact factor appeared to be positively associated with having a written dual-use policy, but only the former remained significant after adjusting for publishing group. Although preventing the misuse of scientific research for terrorist or criminal purposes is an important concern, few biomedical journals have dual-use review policies. Journals that are likely to review research that raises potential dual-use concerns should consider developing dual-use policies.     

A Perspective on the History and Evolution of an Oceans and Human Health “Metadiscipline” in the USA

We review recent history and evolution of Oceans and Human Health programs and related activities in the USA from a perspective within the Federal government. As a result of about a decade of support by the US Congress and through a few Federal agencies, notably the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, robust Oceans and Human Health (OHH) research and application activities are now relatively widespread, although still small, in a number of agencies and academic institutions. OHH themes and issues have been incorporated into comprehensive federal ocean research plans and are reflected in the new National Ocean Policy enunciated by Executive Order 13547. In just a decade, OHH has matured into a recognized “metadiscipline,” with development of a small, but robust and diverse community of science and practice, incorporation into academic educational programs, regular participation in ocean and coastal science and public health societies, and active engagement with public health decision makers. In addition to substantial increases in scientific information, the OHH community has demonstrated ability to respond rapidly and effectively to emergency situations such as those associated with extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes, floods) and human-caused disasters (e.g., the Deep Water Horizon oil spill). Among many other things, next steps include development and implementation of agency health strategies and provision of specific services, such as ecological forecasts to provide routine early warnings for ocean health threats and opportunities for prevention and mitigation of these risks.     

A review of recent activity in the United States.

Either an overabundance or a deficiency of trace metals in the food chain can ultimately affect adversely the health of livestock and man. Increasing interest in the United States in the distribution of metals in the environment and in metal pollutants has led to widespread interdisciplinary research sponsored by governmental, private and academic groups concerning the availability of trace elements for absorption by plants and animals, and the effects of trace elements throughout the food chain. The state of the art and the needs for research are reviewed by interdisciplinary committees in the National Academy of Sciences and in many government agencies. Research is encouraged through contracts and grants awarded by federal and state agencies and the National Science Foundation to universities for studies of specific metals, specific diseases and correlations between metals and health in specific geographic areas. Effects on the environment of coal-fired power plants, the mining and processing of metals, asbestos, and phosphate, and the disposal of industrial and nuclear wastes have also received much attention in the past few years.     

COVID-19 threatens faculty diversity: postdoctoral scholars call for action

Despite substantial investment and effort by federal agencies and institutions to improve the diversity of the professoriate, progress is excruciatingly slow. One program that aims to enhance faculty diversity is the Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of General Medical Sciences. IRACDA supports the training of a diverse cohort of postdoctoral scholars who will seek academic research and teaching careers. The San Diego IRACDA program has trained 109 postdoctoral scholars since its inception in 2003; 59% are women and 63% are underrepresented (UR) Black/African-American, Latinx/Mexican-American, and Indigenous scientists. Sixty-four percent obtained tenure-track faculty positions, including a substantial 32% at research-intensive institutions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic crisis threatens to upend IRACDA efforts to improve faculty diversity, and academia is at risk of losing a generation of diverse, talented scholars. Here, a group of San Diego IRACDA postdoctoral scholars reflects on these issues and discusses recommendations to enhance the retention of UR scientists to avoid a “lost generation” of promising UR faculty scholars.     

Mass vaccination for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic: approaches, challenges, and recommendations

The 2009 H1N1 pandemic stimulated a nationwide response that included a mass vaccination effort coordinated at the federal, state, and local levels. This article examines a sampling of state and local efforts during the pandemic in order to better prepare for future public health emergencies involving mass distribution, dispensing, and administration of medical countermeasures. In this analysis, the authors interviewed national, state, and local leaders to gain a better understanding of the accomplishments and challenges of H1N1 vaccination programs during the 2009-10 influenza season. State and local health departments distributed and administered H1N1 vaccine using a combination of public and private efforts. Challenges encountered during the vaccination campaign included the supply of and demand for vaccine, prioritization strategies, and local logistics. To improve the response capabilities to deal with infectious disease emergencies, the authors recommend investing in technologies that will assure a more timely availability of the needed quantities of vaccine, developing local public health capacity and relationships with healthcare providers, and enhancing federal support of state and local activities. The authors support in principle the CDC recommendation to vaccinate annually all Americans over 6 months of age against seasonal influenza to establish a standard of practice on which to expand the ability to vaccinate during a pandemic. However, expanding seasonal influenza vaccination efforts will be an expensive and long-term investment that will need to be weighed against anticipated benefits and other public health needs. Such investments in public health infrastructure could be important for building capacity and practice for distributing, dispensing, and administering countermeasures in response to a future pandemic or biological weapons attack.     

The Civil Air Patrol's role in medical countermeasure distribution in Michigan

Michigan's unique geological features and highly variable climatic conditions make distribution of medical countermeasures during a public health emergency situation very challenging. To enhance distribution during these situations, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has agreed to support the state of Michigan by transporting life-saving medical countermeasures to remote areas of the state. The Michigan Strategic National Stockpile (MISNS) program has successfully developed, exercised, and enhanced its partnership with the CAP to include distribution of federally provided Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) assets. The CAP has proven to be a reliable and valuable partner, as well as a cost-effective and time-efficient means of transporting vital resources during a public health emergency.     

50 years of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR): 1953-2003

The history of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) begins, as does all of laboratory animal science, with the ancient philosophers, anatomists, and physiologists whose work presaged the use of animals in biomedical research and the institutions that arose due to this use. Modern laboratory animal science and medicine began in the late 1940s and early 1950s as five Chicago-area institutions hired veterinarians to manage their animal facilities. Each of these men became instrumental in the founding of the organizations that collectively make up the laboratory animal science and medicine organizations. Nathan Brewer, one of the "Chicago five," was particularly influential in the founding of ILAR. His boss at the University of Chicago, Dr. Paul Weiss, a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), asked him to help establish a committee with the stated purpose of preparing recommendations to the NAS to develop an office to obtain information on sources of supply for research animals. This office became ILAR, and Brewer was chairman of its first report on the diseases of laboratory animals. He was also a founding diplomat and first president of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. This history recognizes the thoughtful and energetic contributions of scientists and veterinarians to ILAR. It provides a 50-year overview of the programs and reports of ILAR and highlights examples where these reports have been adopted by scientists and federal agencies and incorporated into national laws and policies governing the use of animals in research both in the United States and in other countries.     

Protecting subjects' interests in genetics research

Biomedical researchers often assume that sponsors, subjects, families, and disease-associated advocacy groups contribute to research solely because of altruism. This view fails to capture the diverse interests of many participants in the emerging research enterprise. In the past two decades, patient groups have become increasingly active in the promotion and facilitation of genetics research. Simultaneously, a significant shift of academic biomedical science toward commercialization has occurred, spurred by U.S. federal policy changes. The concurrent rise in both the roles that subjects play and the commercial interests they have presents numerous ethical challenges. We examine the interests of different research participants, finding that these interests are not addressed by current policies and practices. We conclude that all participants should be given a voice in decisions affecting ownership, access to, and use of commercialized products and services, and that researchers and institutions should negotiate issues relating to control of research results and the sharing of benefits before the research is performed.