National Centre for Biosecurity

Biosecurity News - Issue 34

13 November 2009

Program News
Seminars, Conferences and Journal Issues
Special Coverage: H1N1 Influenza Pandemic 2009
News Articles

HIV
Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases

Biological Weapons
Biosecurity Policy and Ethics
Global Health Governance and Disease Control

Program News

Dr Michael Charleston of the School of Information & Technologies at the University of Sydney has been awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant for his project Modelling disease evolution and emergence.

Summary: Approximately 75% of all emergent diseases have established in humans having switched from other species: HIV, malaria, SARS, Ebola, West Nile virus and many more. Further, cross species infections put our biodiversity and economy at risk: plant and animal diseases entering Australia can destroy crops and at-risk native species. This project will provide for the first time the statistical framework for scientists to assess risk of such diseases entering Australia as a key to combating them.

Congratulations to Dr Charleston.

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Regarding the 3rd Annual Biosecurity Symposium, which will be held at the Australian National University on 1 – 2 February 2010, please note that the deadline for abstracts has been extended to 30 November 2009. The National Centre for Biosecurity invites proposals for presentations addressing the theme Global Health Security in one or more of the following areas:

Responding to infectious disease crises in Australia and the Asia-Pacific
The epidemiology of public health and animal health emergencies
The development and use of biological weapons by state and non-state actors
Ethical dilemmas and security risks of research on pathogenic micro-organisms
International law and domestic regulation
Relevance and applications of new technologies to biosecurity challenges
Ethical, social and cultural dimensions of biosecurity

Abstracts (200 words maximum) should be emailed to Jon Herington, Executive Officer at the National Centre for Biosecurity, Australian National University.

Registration information will be circulated soon. Enquiries may be directed to Jon Herington (Jonathan.Herington@anu.edu.au) or Alexis Pillsbury (a.pillsbury@econ.usyd.edu.au).

Kind regards,

Alexis

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Seminars, Conferences and Journal Issues

On Wednesday 25 November 2009, the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology-Public Health (CIDM-PH), University of Sydney, is hosting a one-day seminar on Pandemic Influenza: what happened last winter? It will outline how the H1N1 pandemic unfolded in Australia and NSW, its effects on various medical services, the laboratory issues identified during the pandemic, and infection control and vaccination. The seminar will be held in Lecture Theatre 3, Westmead Education & Conference Centre, Westmead Hospital.

For more information on speakers, program and registration, please visit the CIDM-PH website or contact Lou Orszulak.

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The current issue (Nov 2009, vol 52) of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) contains a special supplement on ‘HIV scale-up and global health systems’.

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The current issue (Nov/Dec 2009, vol 28, no 6) of Health Affairs contains a special double focus on ‘Meeting HIV costs; fighting neglected diseases’.

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Previous Announcements

Global Biosecurity 2010: safeguarding agriculture and the environment in Brisbane, Australia. Abstracts: 31 July 2009. Conference: 28 February – 3 March 2010. More information
The International Society for Infectious Diseases is organising the 14th International Congress on Infectious Diseases (ICID) in Miami, Florida, USA, on 9 – 12 March 2010. The deadline for abstracts is 1 November 2009. More information
The Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) International Symposium and Workshop is taking place from 12 – 14 April 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. The theme for the Symposium and Workshop is Integrating Science and Management and the deadline for abstracts is 9 November 2009. More information
US Department of State’s Biosecurity Engagement Program provides funding for travel to biosecurity-related conferences. More information