In Search for Biological Threat Detection Technologies

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The US Department of Homeland Security has been enhancing its efforts to keep biological threats from coming across U.S. borders. It is within this framework that a new program at Texas A&M University will help develop technology and data analytics for protecting critical infrastructure.

The university, through its educational outreach agency, AgriLife, was chosen to head a consortium of academic, industry, government and laboratory partners for this aim.

The DHS Science and Technology Directorate awarded $3.85 million for the first operating year of a 10-year grant program. Through a “Center of Excellence,” a team that researches and shares best practices, officials will work with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection develop solutions that reduce the risk of exposing U.S. citizens, agriculture and economy to known and unknown biological threats.

The main areas of interest will be technologies detecting biological threats moving through global supply chains, data integration and analytics to support threat detection, and strategies to minimize risks to DHS operations.

According to fedscoop.com, each DHS Center of Excellence is led by a U.S. college or university alongside partners to focus on high-priority challenges. Partners may include other academic institutions, national laboratories, state and local governments, nonprofits and other federally funded research and development centers.