Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson has secured $5 million from the Department
of Defense budget authorization and will earmark the money as a building
block for UNMCs goal to establish a national bioterrorism center on campus.
In a news release issued by Sen. Nelsons office on Friday, Nelson said
UNMC is the only higher education institution in North America that has
developed comprehensive clinical laboratory automation technology, and
he hopes UNMC can use the Department of Defense money as a first “building
block” to take that technology to the next level.
The money will be used to develop portable and networked automation
testing technology to efficiently and rapidly process specimens to detect
the existence of biological agents in the event of a biological attack.
“UNMC is leading the way in developing technology to detect and react
to a biological attack,” Nelson said. “Securing authorization for $5 million
is the first building block to making it a reality. I am proud to have
been able to include this important program in this legislation, and I
am pleased to assist UNMC’s continued excellence in this area of expertise.”
Rodney S. Markin, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of University Medical
Associates, the UNMC physician practice group, associate dean for clinical
affairs in the UNMC College of Medicine, and chairman of the board of LAB-InterLink,
a UNMC technology transfer company that makes automated laboratory technology,
said, “This funding will enable UNMC to develop the technology to enhance
our country’s Homeland Security as well as the safety of our troops in
battlefield conditions.”
Dr. Markin said the automated laboratory technology provides UNMC with
the tools it needs to perform mass screenings of people in the event of
a bioterrorism incident.
We can do these screenings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Dr. Markin
said. The system is capable of testing 1000 specimens per hour, so that
means we can do up to 24,000 specimens in a day.
Dr. Markin said the automated laboratory technology is similar to the
unit that was used in a demonstration in the Durham Outpatient Center last
November when Gov. Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania and advisor
for the Office of Homeland Security, visited UNMC.
Dr. Markin said in the event of a bioterrorism event, such as the release
of the smallpox virus, the automated laboratory technology could be put
on a truck, a ship or plane and within hours be at the site of incident.
We would package it in some sort of isolated shipping container, and
it would be anchored to the floor of the container, he said. Once we
delivered the equipment to the site of the incident, all we would need
to start running specimen tests is electricity and a connection to the
Internet.
In essence, with the Internet connection, you can run the system and
monitor it by remote control from Omaha. This minimizes the potential exposure
to any harmful agents and creates a level of bio-safety that you wouldnt
have with other laboratory systems.
UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said: “UNMC is especially grateful
to learn of this development. We appreciate Sen. Nelson’s assistance in
securing this critical funding which will strengthen our efforts to become
a national bioterrorism center.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), of which Nelson is a member,
has oversight responsibilities for the Department of Defense. Each year,
the SASC develops the legislation that authorizes the Defense budget. The
committee completed its work on the fiscal year 2004 Department of Defense
Authorization Act last Thursday. The bill now moves to the floor of the
Senate.