The Center for Biosecurity Research (CBR) is a unit of the College of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The Center for Biosecurity Research is committed to conducting scientific research, assessing and modeling risks, and developing decision support tools that enhance U.S. military force protection and homeland security.
To fulfill this mission, the Center uses an interdisciplinary approach engaging nationally recognized experts to advance understanding of the full spectrum of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives threats from terrorism as well as emerging infectious diseases. The Center’s professional staff has broad expertise in microbiology, aerosol science, modeling and simulation, decision analysis, emergency medicine, psychiatry and the behavioral sciences. Experts at the Center publish research findings regularly and have been consulted by government agencies, businesses, academia, and the media for independent analyses of issues encompassing the full spectrum of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives threats from terrorism as well as emerging infectious diseases.
Using a team approach, CBR projects are designed to advance the underlying science necessary to support risk-based decision making in government and private industry. Faculty members from the College of Public Health and the College of Medicine on the Health Sciences Center campus in Oklahoma City and the OU-Tulsa College of Medicine participate in Center activities. Research projects concentrate on providing critical analysis of:
- Cytotoxicity mechanisms and immunological consequences
- Bimolecular recognition and catalysis
- Bioaerosol dispersion and deposition
- Disease transmission dynamics
- Physiological and psychological responses to exposures
- Behavioral dynamics of terrorism
The Center has active partnerships with an international network of scientists who share a common vision. Collaborators include scholars at Virginia Tech, the University of California – Santa Barbara, Kettering University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the Israel National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research.
Center projects have been funded by a variety of sponsors including the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
