Research Synergies for Chemical and Biological Defense

March 8 - 13, 2015

Chair

Vice Chair

Four Points Sheraton / Holiday Inn Express

1050 Schooner Drive

Ventura, California, United States

Venue and Travel Information

Conference Description

The theme of the 2015 Gordon Research Conference on Chemical and Biological Terrorism Defense is "Research Synergies for Chemical and Biological Defense". This conference will highlight the highly multi-disciplinary, cutting-edge research in the field of chemical and biological defense; talks will focus on chemical agents and bioterrorism-related pathogens that impact humans, plants, and/or animals.

The 2015 GRC will provide investigators active in bio- or chemical-defense the unique opportunity to identify scientific common ground, or "synergies," with the goal of spurring new collaborative research areas. Although historically considered as disparate disciplines, bio- and chemical defense research clearly shares common scientific ground (e.g. host-response to biological or chemical neuro-active agents, real time detection technologies, etc.). The 2015 GRC will promote these synergies by designing scientific sessions specifically to engage members of both the bio- and chemical-defense research communities simultaneously, focusing largely on cutting edge work that demonstrates how basic research stimulates translational breakthroughs important for the health of humans, animals and plants.

The 2015 Conference will be preceded by the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on the same topic. The GRS is planned by and for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees in the field of chemical and biological defense on topics related to those listed above. This unique forum provides an opportunity for our future leaders in the field to present their research as lectures and posters in a collegial and interactive environment.

Goals for the 2015 Conference are to focus on cutting edge basic research, encourage participation of junior scientists and graduate students, and integrate multi-disciplinary approaches relevant to both chemical and biological threats. The Conference will provide a forum for interaction between scientists from a variety of disciplines and afford an opportunity for a robust interdisciplinary discussion of the topics presented and the challenges that lie ahead.

Related Meeting

This GRC will be held in conjunction with the "Chemical and Biological Terrorism Defense" Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). Those interested in attending both meetings must submit an application for the GRS in addition to an application for the GRC. Refer to the associated GRS program page for more information.

Conference Program

Sunday
4:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Arrival and Check-in
6:00 pm	Dinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm	Welcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:40 pm - 9:30 pm	Keynote Session: Global Environmental Change: Impacts on Biosecurity
	In 2011 the United Nations Security Council identified climate change as a possible threat to global peace and security. Two outstanding keynote speakers will address possible connections between environmental change, terrorism, and security. It is designed to introduce crosscutting concepts that for many in the audience, should bridge disciplinary boundaries by uniting core ideas throughout the broad areas of terrorism, defenses against terrorism, and security.
	Discussion Leader: Steven Blanke (University of Illinois, USA)
7:40 pm - 7:50 pm	Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:50 pm - 8:30 pm	C. Ben Beard (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA) "Climate Change and the Emergence of Vector-Borne Disease"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm	Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:20 pm	James Stack (Kansas State University, USA) "Climate Change and Plant Biosecurity - A New World Disorder?"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Monday
8:30 am	Group Photo
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm	Countermeasures to Biological Threats
	This session will will highlight basic research characterizing both human and pathogen responses to medical countermeasures.
	Discussion Leader: Petra Oyston (Dstl Porton Down, United Kingdom)
9:00 am - 9:15 am	Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:15 am - 9:45 am	Catharine Bosio (Rocky Mountain Laboratory, USA) "Comparison of Immune Responses to Francisella Strains for Identification of Mechanisms of Virulence and Vaccine Design"
9:45 am - 9:55 am	Discussion
9:55 am - 10:25 am	Gene Olinger (National Institutes of Health / National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Contractor, USA) "Identifying Vaccines and Therapeutics for Viral Biothreat Infections"
10:25 am - 10:35 am	Discussion
10:35 am - 11:05 am	Coffee Break
11:05 am - 11:35 am	Daniel Kadouri (Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, USA) "Predatory Bacteria to Control Lung Infections"
11:35 am - 11:45 am	Discussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pm	Olga Lomovskaya (The Medicines Company, USA) "Targeting Antibiotic Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm	Discussion
12:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm	Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Poster Session
6:00 pm	Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Countermeasures to Chemical Threats
	This session will explore novel and promising approaches for mitigating human exposure to chemical warfare agents.
	Discussion Leader: Clement Furlong (University of Washington School of Medicine, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:35 pm	Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:35 pm - 8:05 pm	Patrick McNutt (USAMRICD, USA) "Development and Testing of Catalytic Bioscavengers for Prophylactic and Therapeutic Treatment of OP Exposures"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm	Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:45 pm	Chris Green (Dstl Porton Down, United Kingdom) "Alternative Approaches to Improving the Treatment of Organophosphate Poisoning"
8:45 pm - 8:55 pm	Discussion
8:55 pm - 9:20 pm	Franz Worek (Bundeswehr Institute of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Germany) "Nerve Agent Countermeasures: The Long Way to a Universal Antidote"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm	Cutting Edge Research on High Threat Agents
	Speakers will explore the development and applications of new technologies to understand and mitigate threats due to pathogens and toxins.
	Discussion Leader: Anne Boyer (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA)
9:00 am - 9:15 am	Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:15 am - 9:45 am	Fabio Rinaldi (Cornell University, USA) "Targeted Gene Regulation and Editing with Tal Effectors to Understand and Combat Pathogens"
9:45 am - 9:55 am	Discussion
9:55 am - 10:25 am	Suzanne Kalb (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA) "Advanced Mass Spectrometry for Unraveling Complexities in Biological Activities and Structures of Botulinum Neurotoxins and Their Associated Proteins"
10:25 am - 10:35 am	Discussion
10:35 am - 11:05 am	Coffee Break
11:05 am - 11:35 am	Bryan Krantz (University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA) "Detecting a Virulence Factor with Many Disguises: Anthrax Toxin's Heterogeneous Assembly Mechanism Controls Its Stability"
11:35 am - 11:45 am	Discussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pm	David T.S. Hayman (Massey University, New Zealand) "Conservation as Vaccination: A Way to Prevent the Next Ebola Crisis?"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm	Discussion
12:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm	Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Poster Session
6:00 pm	Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Responding to the NAS Report: New Research Applications to Enhance Microbial Forensic Investigation
	This session explores new research approaches in response to a recent study (2013) by the National Academies of Science, entitled “Science Needs for Microbial Forensics: Developing an Initial International Roadmap,” which outlined critical needs in the development of technological and operational strategies for microbial forensics investigations.
	Discussion Leader: Stephen Morse (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:35 pm	Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:35 pm - 8:05 pm	Paul Keim (Northern Arizona University, USA) "Genomic Analysis, Population Genetics, and Attribution"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm	Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pm	Karen Wahl (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA) "Mass Spectrometry for Non-Genomic Characterization of Biological Samples"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm	Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pm	Thomas Slezak (Lawrence Livermore National Lab, USA) "Addressing Current Shortcomings of Unbiased NGS for Culture-Free Microbial Forensics Applications"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Wednesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm	Food Defense: Research to Assure Food Safety and Security
	This session will feature talks on leading research to detecting and identifying catastrophic agents with food, including a talk by the Director of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense.
	Discussion Leader: Jacqueline Fletcher (Oklahoma State University, USA)
9:00 am - 9:15 am	Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:15 am - 9:45 am	John Besser (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA) "Novel Detection Methods for Identifying Catastrophic Agents in Food"
9:45 am - 9:55 am	Discussion
9:55 am - 10:25 am	Amy Kircher (National Center for Food Protection and Defense, USA) "Big Data - Deriving Insights from Global Data Sets to Predict and Warn"
10:25 am - 10:35 am	Discussion
10:35 am - 11:05 am	Coffee Break
11:05 am - 11:35 am	Lesley Chesson (IsoForensics, Inc., USA) "Authentication and Traceability of Adulterated Foods Using Isotope Analysis Techniques"
11:35 am - 11:45 am	Discussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pm	Harshini Mukundan (New Mexico Consortium / Los Alamos National Lab., USA) "Biomarkers for Human Pathogens in Metals"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm	Discussion
12:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm	Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Poster Session
6:00 pm	Dinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pm	Business Meeting
	Nominations for the Next Vice Chair; Fill in Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss Future Site and Scheduling Preferences; Election of the Next Vice Chair
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Late-Breaking Topics in Chemical and Biological Terrorism Defense
	This session provides a vehicle for innovative and recent results to be introduced to the larger GRC audience.
	Discussion Leader: Carol Linden (US Department of Health and Human Services, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm	Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:40 pm - 8:10 pm	Thomas Geisbert (University of Texas Medical Branch, USA) "Meeting the Ebola Challenge: Vaccines and Treatment"
8:10 pm - 8:20 pm	Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm	Selected from Poster Abstracts: Phillip Beske (US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, USA) "The Use of Synaptic Function-Based Assays in Stem Cell-Derived Neurons for the Identification of Novel Compounds that Rescue Synaptic Paralysis Induced by Botulinum Neurotoxins"
8:30 pm - 8:35 pm	Discussion
8:35 pm - 8:45 pm	Selected from Poster Abstracts: Robin Holland (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA) "Mitochondrial Targeting by Human Pathogenic Microbes"
8:45 pm - 8:50 pm	Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm	Selected from Poster Abstracts: Isamar Ortiz (Pennsylvania State University, USA) "Self-Powered Enzyme Pumps for Detecting and Reacting with Sepcific Analytes"
9:00 pm - 9:05 pm	Discussion
9:05 pm - 9:15 pm	Selected from Poster Abstracts: Emily Thi (Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, Canada) "Development of Lipid Nanoparticle siRNA-Based Therapeutics for Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Infection"
9:15 pm - 9:20 pm	Discussion
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm	General Discussion
Thursday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm	Host Interactions with Chemical and Biological Agents
	Speakers will present research on host responses to invasive chemical or biological agents, with the translational goal of identifying pathways, molecules, and other targets at which to direct effective countermeasures.
	Discussion Leader: John Hardham (Zoetis, USA)
9:00 am - 9:15 am	Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:15 am - 9:45 am	Barbara Valent (Kansas State University, USA) "Filamentous Plant Pathogen Effectors"
9:45 am - 9:55 am	Discussion
9:55 am - 10:25 am	Annette Schmidt (Bundeswehr Institute of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Germany) "Experimental Approaches to Treat Chemical Threat Agent Induced Chronic Wounds"
10:25 am - 10:35 am	Discussion
10:35 am - 11:05 am	Coffee Break
11:05 am - 11:35 am	Tom Kawula (University of North Carolina, USA) "Francisella tularensis Cell to Cell Spread"
11:35 am - 11:45 am	Discussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pm	Jonathan Arzt (USDA Agricultural Research Service, USA) "Virulence Determinants of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) with Emphasis on the Leader Protein"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm	Discussion
12:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm	Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Poster Session
6:00 pm	Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Real Time Detection and Decontamination of Chemical and Biological Threat Agents
	Presentations will highlight cutting edge approaches for early and accurate threat detection of biological or chemical threat agents, as well as effective decontamination materials and strategies.
	Discussion Leader: Thomas Blake (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:35 pm	Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:35 pm - 8:00 pm	Ronald Manginell (Sandia National Labs, USA) "Hand-Held Systems for Real-Time Detection of Chemical and Biological Threats"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pm	Discussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pm	David Schmale (Virginia Tech University, USA) "Drone-ing for Biological Threat Agents in the Lower Atmosphere"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm	Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pm	Yuehe Lin (Washington State University, USA) "Using Functional Nanomaterials in the Development of Environmental and Biomedical Sensors"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm	Discussion
Friday
7:30 am - 8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am	Departure