We may be unable to prevent earthquakes, epidemics or all terrorist attacks, but effective preparation and response will save lives when a disaster strikes. Improving our nation’s preparedness for and response to large-scale disasters will be the mission of a new $15 million research consortium established at Johns Hopkins University by the Department of Homeland Security. The new Center for the Study of High Consequence Event Preparedness and Response will be headed by Lynn Goldman, MD, MPH, professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Bloomberg School, and Gabe Kellen, MD, chair of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Kellen also directs CEPAR, the Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response at Johns Hopkins, which will serve as the seat for the new consortium. Professor Steve Teret, JD, MPH, professor of Health Policy and Management, and faculty with the Center for Law and the Public’s Health, will analyze legal issues and policies involved in high consequence disaster response, such as the problems faced during the response to Hurricane Katrina. Specifically, Teret and colleagues plan to examine the interactions of government agencies and liability issues during a crisis response. Click here for more information. |
