Johns Hopkins home to fifth Homeland Security Center of Excellence
Last month Johns Hopkins joined other academic centers to harness its considerable intellectual firepower on behalf of the nation’s security
Last month the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore became the home of the fifth Homeland Security Center of Excellence, formally titled the Center for the Study of High Consequence Event Preparedness and Response. The center will study deterrence, prevention, preparedness and response, including issues such as risk assessment, decision-making, infrastructure integrity, surge capacity, and sensor networks. In particular, it will study interactions of networks and the need to use models and simulations. The Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR), created shortly after 9/11, will serve as the seat of the consortium. JHU’s schools of Medicine, Public Health, Advanced International Studies, Engineering, Professional Studies in Business and Education, and the Applied Physics Laboratory will also serve as consortium members. The Center of Excellence will be led by Lynn Goldman, professor of Environmental Health Sciences, and Gabor Kelen, professor and chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, and director of CEPAR.
The Centers of Excellence, overseen by the Office of University Programs within the Homeland Security Science & Technology directorate, establish a network of university-based centers that conduct multidisciplinary research and develop innovative educational programs. Through this initiative, DHS and partner universities focus the nation’s most talented researchers on homeland security issues. Existing Homeland Security Centers of Excellence include:
The Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), led by the University of Southern California
The National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD), led by the University of Minnesota
The National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense (FAZD), led by Texas A&M University
The Center for Behavioral and Social Research on Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (START), led by the University of Maryland
The Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment (CAMRA), a separate but closely associated venture, jointly sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and led by Michigan State University.
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