Strategic medical intelligence expert will discuss Pittsburgh bioterrorism tool at Dec. 13 seminar

PITTSBURGH—The Center for National Preparedness, a University of Pittsburgh initiative developed by Vice Provost for Research George Klinzing, is launching a series of seminars highlighting research on international, biological, and homeland-security research at Pitt.

“This is a way of keeping the community apprised of activities going on at the University and outside the University, nationally and internationally, in this field,” said Klinzing. “I’m looking forward to having significant University participation in the seminars and in the center.”

The first seminar in the series, on Monday, Dec. 13, from 3-4:30 p.m. on the 5th floor of Pitt’s Alumni Hall, will feature a discussion of the Pittsburgh Matrix by Michael P. Allswede, director of Strategic Medical Intelligence for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and of the FBI’s Strategic Medical Intelligence Project. The Pittsburgh Matrix is a hospital planning tool that assesses the survivability of patients who are victims of bioterrorism, relative to the scale and timing of attacks, and guides resource allocation decisions for preparedness intervention that maximizes saving lives.

Allswede has served as an instructor for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Domestic Preparedness Program and has trained Metropolitan Medical Strike Team members in Detroit, New York, Chicago, and Boston. He worked with the Michigan State Police and the U.S. Department of Justice to create a prototype state-level management system for weapons of mass destruction (the RaPiD-T Program).

The Center for National Preparedness is a broad, multidisciplinary, collaborative enterprise that engages the University’s scientists, engineers, policy experts, and clinical faculty. Members of the center possess expertise in biomedical research, public health, medicine, national security policy, engineering, and information technology. The center communicates the innovative research of the University’s faculty to the broader public through the educational and training programs in which students, policymakers, and other interested parties participate.

For more information regarding the center or the seminar series, or to RSVP for the seminar (by Dec. 10), please visit www.cnp.pitt.edu/seminar.