Experts on bioterrorism will participate in a special two-part symposium hosted by HSPH Dean Barry Bloom on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26 from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Snyder Auditorium.

"The events of September 11 have revealed vulnerabilities to terrorism in this country that had not previously engaged the public’s consciousness," said Bloom. "Among these vulnerabilities is the threat of bioterrorism–a weapon that has been available to nations for many years but has remained restrained or unused. How likely is that restraint to continue? And with the genetic revolution, what are the possible new threats to the public’s health?"

The theme of the October 25 discussion will be "Bioterrorism: Public Health Perils." Speakers will include David Franz, former commander, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and former deputy commander, US Medical Research and Materiel Command; Margaret Hamburg, vice president for biological programs, Nuclear Threat Initiative and former assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, US Department of Health and Human Services; and Matthew Meselson, Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences, Harvard University, co-director, Harvard Sussex Program on CBW Armament and Arms Limitation, and consultant on chemical and biological weapons defense.

The theme of the October 26 discussion will be "Bioterrorism: Public Health Response." Speakers will include HSPH Dean Barry Bloom; Jonathan Burstein, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, research scientist, Emergency and Disaster Public Health Sciences, CDC, and consultant, Weapons of Mass Destruction Defense Stockpile Task Force, CDC; Howard Koh, commissioner of public health, Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The symposium participants will address questions such as how can officials distinguish between an intentional release of pathogens or chemical agents and an emerging infection or accident; how can the public health system best respond in either case; how can officials respond to both the physical and psychological harms of bioterrorism; what precautions can individuals, states, and nations take to prevent a bioterrorism public health catastrophe; is there a need to question the free dissemination of scientific knowledge by and within universities; and what can teachers, researchers and students do to assure that science will not be used to create weapons of mass destruction?

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit www.hsph.harvard.edu/bioterrorism.