Counterterrorism Research a Priority at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- From design of terrorist-resistant buildings to development of devices to detect airborne bioagents, the University at Buffalo is among several prominent universities nationwide that are making counterterror research a priority in their laboratories.

"When the State University of New York chancellor asked all SUNY schools to analyze their security research capabilities after Sept. 11, we were amazed and gratified to discover we have an enormous breadth of faculty researchers who are expert in key counterterrorism areas," explains Jaylan S. Turkkan, UB's vice president for research.

"The work of our scientists can help keep the country safe," Turkkan adds.

UB Senior Vice Provost Bruce Holm is head of a newly formed SUNY-wide task force on bioterrorism. He recently headed a team of UB scientists who described their work in developing methods to counteract biological agents at a National Institutes of Health (NIH) biodefense summit.

Holm notes that UB recently joined the Chemical, Biological and Radiological Technology Alliance, formed to help the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases set the agenda for the new biodefense research effort mandated and funded by Congress.

"Between the strengths we've developed at UB through our Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, our work to develop new schools of public health and informatics and the technological spin-offs that have been coming from our bioengineering initiatives, we are in a prime position to respond to the biodefense initiatives developing on the national level," Holm says.

Many universities, Turkkan notes, are aggressively pursuing $1.5 billion in funding made available by Congress and President Bush after Sept. 11 to support counterterrorism research and development. The amount tripled the funding available for counterterrorism R&D in fiscal year 2001. UB also will be among universities pursuing $2.3 billion in R&D anticipated to be available in FY 2003 through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

According to Turkkan, some of UB's current counterterrorism research includes:

* Developing methods to make vaccines more potent and more useful, such as slow-release agents that provide long-term immunity and direct delivery to specific sites, such as the lungs in the case of anthrax.

* Development of handwriting-recognition software being used to track down the author of the "anthrax letters."

* Assessing the effects of certain biological agents on cells -- information that is used to develop mechanisms to block those effects.

* Applying earthquake-engineering technologies to the development of terror-resistant structures, based on an assessment of damage done to buildings surrounding the World Trade Centers.

* A Federal Aviation Administration-funded study of how people inspect baggage at airports.

* A study of how to efficiently organize and interpret massive amounts of information gathered and transmitted following complex disasters like those on 9/11.

* Developing fast and effective devices for detecting bioagents in the air. UB is working with HandyLab to bring to market a hand-held device that combines HandyLab's "lab-on-a-chip" technology with the work of UB microbiologist Anthony Campagnari, Ph.D.