Universal Detection Technology, a developer of early-warning monitoring technologies to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health threats and provider of counter-terrorism consulting and training services, reported today that it has responded to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) from the Department of Homeland Security. The BAA will provide funding in three phases for companies that lead innovative research in the biological weapon countermeasures field.
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 states that Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) will support basic and applied homeland security research to promote revolutionary changes in technologies; advance the development, testing and evaluation, and deployment of critical homeland security technologies; and accelerate the prototyping and deployment of technologies that would address homeland security vulnerabilities.
The BAA provides funding for companies that lead innovative research in biological analyses and countermeasures, including improved characterization and prioritization of threats, development and detection systems for early attack warning that minimize exposure and speed treatment of victims, new forensic methods to support attribution, and novel concepts for decontamination and restoration, agro-defense, and food security.
UNDT seeks $1.5M to be allocated in three phases for the further development of the BSM-2000 airborne anthrax monitor. UNDT also plans to utilize part of the allocation for the development of a compact, battery-operated BSM-2000 system that is intended for use by first responders in the field. UNDT licensed the detection technology used in the BSM-2000 through a technology transfer program with NASA's JPL. The system is capable of detecting abnormal levels of bacterial spores in the air and the technology has been featured in several peer reviewed scientific journals and has been evaluated by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
A report released earlier this month by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism says urgent security measures need to be taken soon or the world is likely to undergo an incident of terrorism using weapons of mass destruction within the next five years. "Unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013," the report states in the opening sentence of the executive summary. The report also emphasizes the need of the new administration to prepare the nation against a future bioterrorist attack.
"The alarming report by the U.S. Congress on the WMD threat to the nation in the coming years makes it imperative for the nation to be ready for a potential bio-terror attack using the latest technologies," said Mr. Jacques Tizabi, UNDT's Chief Executive Officer. "We plan to take advantage of funding opportunities from all government agencies that are looking for innovative technologies in the field of bio-detection," he added.
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