January 31, 2017
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Public Health & Healthcare Preparedness
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OP-ED
Why the CDC’s Power to Quarantine Should Worry Us.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new regulations this month that give it broad authority to quarantine Americans. The rules outline for the first time how the federal government can restrict interstate travel during a health crisis, and they establish in-house oversight of whether someone should be detained, without providing a clear and direct path to challenge a quarantine order in federal court.
(New York Times, 1/23/17)
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| SYMPOSIUM
USDA ARS 4th International Biosafety & Biocontainment Symposium: Global Biorisk Challenges - Agriculture and Beyond. The conference will take place in Baltimore, MD from February 6-9, 2017. Topics include: biorisk management challenges in a One Health world, arthropods, highly pathogenic avian influenza, laboratory assessment programs and tools, and risk assessment. (ARS Symposium, 1/17) |
WEBCAST
Federal Select Agent Program Compliance.
A public webcast of the Multi-Agency Informational Meeting Concerning Compliance with the Federal Select Agent Program will be held February 8, 2017. The event is an opportunity for the affected community and other interested individuals to obtain specific regulatory guidance and information concerning biosafety, security and incident response issues related to the Federal Select Agent Program.
(Global Biodefense, 1/17)
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Homeland Security & Disaster Preparedness
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REPORT
National Special Security Events: Fact Sheet.
Major federal government or public events that are considered to be nationally significant may be designated by the President -- or his representative, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security-- as National Special Security Events (NSSE). P.L. 106-544 designated the US Secret Service as the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating, planning, exercising, and implementing security for National Special Security Events.
(Congressional Research Service, 1/25/17)
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| REPORT Cultural Resources Climate Change Strategy. The Cultural Resources Climate Change Strategy sets out a vision and broad approach for managing impacts to and learning from cultural resources under modern climate change. (National Park Service, 1/17) |
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Science & Technology Policy
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NEWS
Proposed US Biotech Rules Raise Industry Hopes and Anxieties.
The system that divvies up the safety review of these products between the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and US Department of Agriculture is in the middle of a years-long overhaul, in part to accommodate modern gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR. And a set of new proposals released last week offers hints about what those agencies still hope to change.
(Science, 1/27/17)
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NEWS
Keep Politics Out Of Science, Says Departing FDA Chief.
Robert Califf, the legendary cardiologist who has run the FDA for the past year, has his own opinion about the agency's direction. The system of collecting medical data used to test new drugs and medical devices is indeed "antiquated," he says. But the way forward requires putting science above politics and focusing on creating new ways to prove medicines help patients without causing undue side effects.
(Forbes, 1/23/17)
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The Electricity Sector's Efforts to Respond to Cybersecurity Threats. US House Committee on Energy & Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy. 2/1/16, 10:15 AM. Rayburn 2322.
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Obamacare Emergency: Stabilizing the Individual Health Insurance Market. US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. 2/1/17, 10 AM. Dirksen 430.
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