Prof Kosal to speak at Symposium on Nanotechnology for Defense Against Biological Threats

INTA's Prof Margaret E. Kosal will speak Thursday - 1 April 2010 - at the 2nd Annual Symposium on Nanotechnology in Infectious Disease Symposium at Emory University. She will speak on "Nanotechnology for Detection and Medical Countermeasures Against Biological Warfare Agents: Policy and Programmatics," in which she will discuss her work aiming to better enable an informed national dialogue on the role and impact of nanotechnology on for national defense and homeland security. A strategic roadmap for nanotechnology-based chemical and biological countermeasures will be discussed emphasizing detection and diagnostics for biological agents and development of medical countermeasures against such agents.

There is tremendous interest and commensurate investment in the potential for scientific discovery at the nanoscale to deliver revolutionary breakthroughs in medicine, computing, materials, and consumer goods. As researchers continue to explore and understand the unique physical phenomena of engineered nanomaterials, technologies employing novel nanoscience will begin to impact all technologies, including chemical and biological (CB) defense applications.

The global nature of this research means that much of the nanotechnology advancement recently achieved, and that projected for the future, will likely be available to friends and foes. Understanding the required advances that may enable or may hinder the realization of innovative and revolutionary breakthroughs can enhance recognition of potential emerging disruptive technologies and contribute to anticipating technology surprise. With particular emphasis on chemical and biological agent countermeasures, strong and strategic investments in research directions in basic and applied science for nanotechnology-based detection, decontamination, protection, and medical applications are needed to enable revolutionary chemical and biological defense capabilities against the threats of today and those of tomorrow.