Chemical & Biological Defense Program S&T Overview Dr. Charles Gallaway Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense Chemical & Biological Defense Directorate, DTRA 25 April 2005 APBI 2005 11/13/2018 9:12 AM
Outline Overview Program Transformation Business Opportunities
JSTO is an integral member of the CBDP Team Combatant Commanders Services OSD provides oversight Required Capabilities Joint Requirements Office (JRO) Prioritized Needs JFOCS Test & Evaluation S&T Gaps Solutions Joint Science & Technology Office DTRA/CB Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO) Mature Technologies
Mission Develop and sustain a robust, agile, and flexible science and technology program to support chemical and biological defense capability needs Transition Technologies Answer Science Questions Maintain Robust Tech Base Mission Space Maneuvering warfighters Installation protection Homeland defense Global war on terrorism
CBDP S&T is… Technically challenging Scientifically diverse Exceedingly high customer expectations No "silver bullet" solutions Scientifically diverse Numerous and disparate disciplines Distinct chemical and biological solutions
We reach out to the best-in-class performers Academia Industry Service Labs/Agencies FFRDCs National Labs
President’s budget request reflects significant increase to S&T $(M)
CBDP S&T Funding Funding in Program Element Space Funding for FY06 Medical S&T Physical S&T *FY06 - $409M *As of FY06 President’s Budget
We redirected the S&T program toward… Earliest warning Detection Medical diagnostics & surveillance Battlespace Awareness & Information dissemination Broad spectrum medical countermeasures Pretreatment Therapeutics “How clean is safe?” Decontamination Low-Level toxicology Environmental fate of agent
Detection Objective: Develops a real-time capability to detect, identify, quantify, and track the presence of all CB warfare agent threats at physiologically significant levels. Challenges: Signatures that can be used to distinguish threat agents from the background Algorithms that rapidly and reliably distinguish threat agent signatures from a complex background Excitation sources and photomultipliers that extend ranges, but minimize size, weight, cost and power consumption
Medical Diagnostics & surveillance Objective: develop FDA-approved systems to identify/confirm exposure to BW agents, ideally before symptoms occur. Challenges: Development of field deployable hand-held instrumentation Identifying appropriate physical and chemical variables, biomarkers and parameters for ensuring accuracy and sensitivity of the analytical process Identifying suitable gene targets based on bioinformatics Immuno- diagnostics Rapid Nucleic Acid Analysis Sampling & Specimen Processing Classical Microbiology Clinical Diagnosis or Medical Intelligence Other
Battlespace Analysis & Integrated Early Warning Objective: Develop information technology tools that integrate threat information, CB sensor and reconnaissance data, protective posture, environmental conditions, medical surveillance, with dispersion and operational effects models to warn affected personnel without impacting on operations elsewhere. Challenges: CBRN hazards on complex, urban terrain and fixed sites Integration of non-CBR and non-sensor data Applicable expert and artificial intelligence systems Human effects, small unit behaviors and low level/long-term exposures in CB environment Atmospheric Transport Ship/Urban Transport
We redirected the S&T program toward… Earliest warning Detection Medical diagnostics & surveillance Battlespace Awareness & Information dissemination Broad spectrum medical countermeasures Pretreatment Therapeutics “How clean is safe?” Decontamination Low-Level toxicology Environmental fate of agent
Pretreatment Objective: Develop vaccines and other pre-exposure treatments against validated chemical and biological threat agents. Challenges: Identifying the specific pathogen components required to elicit a protective immune response Developing appropriate animal model systems to demonstrate efficacy Development of a catalytic nerve agent bioscavenger
Therapeutics Objective: Develop FDA-licensable drugs to treat personnel exposed to validated biological and chemical warfare agents. Augment existing nerve agent chemical defense countermeasures with improved neuroprotection and anticonvulsant compounds. Challenges: FDA requires demonstration of efficacy in animal model Vesicant and nerve agents have multiple host effects to protect against Rapid acting therapies needed for viral threats Ricin and botulinum toxin modes of action are intracellular
We redirected the S&T program toward… Earliest warning Detection Medical diagnostics & surveillance Battlespace Awareness & Information dissemination Broad spectrum medical countermeasures Pretreatment Therapeutics “How clean is safe?” Decontamination Low-Level toxicology Environmental fate of agent
Damage to Polycarbonate Headlamp Cover Decontamination Objective: Develops technology to remove and/or detoxify/neutralize contaminated material without damaging combat equipment, personnel, or the environment. Challenges: Removing or detoxifying chemical agents bound in porous matrices to a standard below low-level toxicological thresholds Decontaminant material compatibility and environmental safety Logistical supportability (minimize quantity and variety of decontaminants required) Damage to Polycarbonate Headlamp Cover Before After
Low-level toxicity Objective: Perform cross-validation studies for exposure route comparison that refine operational human health risk assessments. Assess short-term effects of CW agents following a range of low-dose exposures for varying durations to improve estimates of impact on human operational readiness. Challenges: Generation and maintenance of stable exposure conditions Cross validation of routes of exposure and species Inhalation/Injection/ Percutaneous Animal models to human extrapolation Communicating complex and variable data in an ORM framework
Environmental fate of agent Objective: Measure and understand the physicochemical processes on agents on surfaces in order to predict their persistence and fate in operational scenarios. Challenges: Developing methodologies for high-precision delivery, sampling, and measurements of small quantities of highly toxic materials Developing novel methodology for measuring surface contamination Managing a complex set of surfaces, agents, and environmental conditions to measure Understanding the effects of scaling; from laboratory, to wind tunnel, then field tests Assessing predictive modeling accuracy from limited CW agents outdoor field test facilities McNamara Glove Box Facility (MGBF)
Doing Business with JSTO Broad Area Announcements Annual Tailored MARS Advanced Concepts Technology Demonstrations (ACTDs) Chemical & Biological Defense Initiative Fund (CBDIF) Transformational BW Countermeasures solicitation Small Business Innovative Research (SBIRs)
Contacting the Joint Science & Technology Office for CB Defense E-mail: cb@dtra.mil Also through the DTRA website www.dtra.mil