The Department of Homeland Security

Grant No. F30602-01-2-0550

Title: Enhancements to BioWatch Public Health Surveillance

Principal Investigator:  Michael M. Wagner, M.D., Ph.D.

Amount:  $2,910,000

Period:  10/1/04-9/30/07

Abstract:  Under the contract, the RODS Laboratory will provide assistance to health departments in 5-10 large U.S. cities that are already participating in the BioWatch biosensor program.  The laboratory will install components of the RODS system (or the entire system at the city’s discretion) to enable real-time data collection of chief complaints and other data (e.g., radiology reports, microbiology results) from civilian hospitals and outpatient facilities and to incorporate data from the National Retail Data Monitor.  Additionally, the contract provides for the execution of decision analyses of the assessment and response problem faced by users of the BioWatch sensor system through deployment of advanced detection algorithms developed by our group, including spatial scanning, Bayesian modeling, and inverse aerosol dispersion modeling.  The overall goal of the contract is to improve the ability of the city to respond to a positive sensor by correlating sensor, clinical, spatial, weather, and retail data to form an overall probabilistic assessment of threat, and combine this probabilistic output from the detection algorithms combined with the results of decision analyses to create an implemented response decision-making system in conjunction with the response decision makers in each BioWatch city.

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