DHS to consolidate Centers of Excellence program
Three centers focussing on biological and chemical weapons will merge; four new centers to come on line; decision prompted by congressional criticism and threatened budget cuts
When we report about consolidation, we are typically referring to the natural tendency of larger, established companies to buy up smaller competitors — a smart way to leapfrog the competition. Today, however, we must report on a rather unusual form of consolidation: the decision by DHS to merge three of its existing academic research centers and create four new ones by 2010 as part of an effort to eliminate redunancy in its Centers of Excellence program. The three centers that will be merged — the Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment, the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense, and the National Center for Food Protection and Defense
