Announcement

CNS designated a Center for Public Health Preparedness

In 2004, the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) was designated a Center for Public Health Preparedness, thus joining a national network that is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and administered by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH).

Centers for Public Health Preparedness
The CDC-funded Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) comprise a national network of academic institutions working in collaboration with state and local public health departments and other community partners to provide life-long learning opportunities to the public health workforce, in order to handle the next public health crisis. By reaching and teaching the public health workforce, the CPHP ensure a strong public health system when and where it is needed most. There are four CPHP institutions in California: CNS, the Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness at UC Berkeley, the Center for Public Health and Disasters at UCLA, and the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University.

Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS)
CNS brings its expertise in issues surrounding weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to the CPHP network. CNS is able to complement the schools of public health in the CPHP program by offering training and knowledge in WMD terrorism preparedness planning, response, and consequence management. CNS engages in a number of activities and provides many resources toward meeting CPHP goals, including:

• Communication on All Aspects of WMD Terrorism
  CNS communicates to government officials and health officers through its unclassified but restricted WMD Terrorism Database and its Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Incident Response Database (IRD). In addition, as a result of its extensive knowledge of WMD issues, CNS is able to make research-based policy recommendations to all levels of government that promote their ability to develop and institutionalize effective preparedness measures.
• Borderless Open Exchange of Critical Public Health Preparedness Information
  CNS provides access to all members of the CPHP program to foreign scientists and health care workers through international activities.
• Providing Training to Local and State Health Officials
  CNS developed and held a table-top exercise (TTX) for Monterey County health officials and members of the law enforcement community. A food sabotage scenario was used to test their knowledge of the California Bioterrorism Surveillance and Epidemiological Response Plan. A second TTX is now in planning, which will simulate a chemical event in the Salinas Valley.
• Providing Training to Scientists
  In collaboration with the CPHP at UC Berkeley, CNS offered a training course on planning and operating a TTX to clinical and public health microbiologists at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the largest microbiological organization in the world. A second such training course will be offered at the ASM's 2007 annual meeting, which will be held May 20-25, 2007, in Toronto, Canada.
• Active Commitment to Bioterrorism Education
  CNS offers MIIS students courses, seminars, and workshops in general WMD nonproliferation issues, chemical and biological weapons, WMD terrorism, emerging issues in international public health, threat assessment, and risk management. TTX organization experience allows the Monterey CPHP to offer weekend-long workshops for students on how to plan, operate, and evaluate a TTX.
• Visiting Fellows Program
  This Monterey-based program trains scientists, educators, and government officials from the newly independent states (former Soviet Union republics), China, and other countries on nonproliferation treaties and policies, WMD challenges, terrorism, and export control. Offered three times a year, this two-and-a-half month program consists of approximately 30 specialized lectures and seminars given by senior CNS staff members. Participants also attend selected courses on terrorism, biological and chemical issues offered at the Monterey Institute, as well as conduct an individual research project.
• Developing a Nuclear Terrorism Prevention Online Course
  This course will concentrate on terrorist motives, possible attack pathways, and policy option evaluations for preventing nuclear material terrorist attacks. The course will be offered to local, state, and federal public health and emergency response agencies, and in partnership with the University at Albany SUNY School of Public Health.