The mission of the Scientific Center for Biodefense is to develop strategies, techniques, interventions, and tools to prevent or reduce the impact of a bioattack within the large population centers and military installations encompassed in the Hampton Roads area.

Our research goals are to develop specific diagnostic tools and therapies based on the genomes and proteomes of potential bioterrorism organisms on the NIAID's list of Priority Pathogens for Biodefense. This will be accomplished by combining broad interdisciplinary research and clinical skills to interface with the biotechnology needed to address issues of biodefense preparedness, homeland security and public health.

Research Assets

The Center is uniquely positioned to address national and regional problems, with expertise and capabilities that include:

• Physician-researchers who provide expertise in vaccine development and clinical trials of therapeutic agents, applied to the pediatric, adult and geriatric populations.
• Extramurally funded researchers actively engaged in viral and bacterial diagnostics, viral immunology and molecular biology, providing unique reagents and assays.
• Internationally recognized expertise in proteomic analysis of clinical samples for detection of diseases and discovery of diagnostic biomarkers.
• Extensive academic partnerships with multiple biotechnology corporations.

Available Technologies:

• Proteomics capabilities to detect and validate infections and prognostic response to infection.
• Novel, third-generation antisense technology. This technology has proven to be a safe and effective approach in veterinary and human applications. The development of this technology, from genomic sequence selection to a therapeutic product, has been established on a proof-of-concept basis.
• Vaccine platforms and immune system function. The evaluation of novel vaccines against influenza are ongoing.
• Bioinformatics, epidemiology, and biostatistics infrastructures.

These resources place the Center at the cutting edge for developing interventions and diagnostics for the biodefense threat.