Summer courses provide keen insights into the world of bioterrorism.

The Institute for Biosecurity, a research and education center within the Saint Louis University School of Public Health, has just successfully completed its first-ever intensive on-site courses within its Masters program in Biosecurity and Disaster Preparedness.

During the week of July 30, the Institute offered “Global Terrorism in the 21st Century”. That was followed the next week with “Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases”.
These courses are significant because they are the first on-site courses offered in the Institute’s distance-based Master’s degree program. These courses allowed students to complete 6 hours toward their degree requirements in the span of just two weeks. Institute faculty members were joined by an outstanding roster of domestic and international experts who led discussions of compelling medical and security issues.

Speakers came from other departments within Saint Louis University, as well as from Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Louisville. The Institute also welcomed guest speakers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, the Israeli Deputy Consul General’s office (Chicago), Hadassah Hospital (Jerusalem, Israel), and other leading academic and medical experts from around the United States. Subject matter experts from the private sector also participated in the courses.

Of particular note, William Patrick III, former chief of Product Development Division at the U. S. Biological Warfare Laboratories, was a keynote speaker for the Infectious Diseases course. His attendance was underwritten by a generous educational grant from Emergent BioSolutions of Rockville, MD.

A total of 36 students took advantage of these intensive on-site courses. Student evaluations of the courses were overwhelmingly positive. Many of the students who attended one or both of the sessions are already making plans to attend the Institute’s Summer 2008 course offerings.

The Institute for Biosecurity, founded in 2000 at the Saint Louis University School of Public Health, is one of the leading centers for the study of bioterrorism and infectious diseases in the United States. The Institute has developed educational material that covers management of the consequences of chemical, radiological, and nuclear terrorism.

The Institute’s Master of Science degree in Biosecurity and Disaster Preparedness was established in Fall 2005.

Our Institute offered these courses as electives within our online Master’s degree program in Bioterrorism and Disaster Preparedness.

These are graduate level courses, each of which is a self-contained three-hour unit. Additionally, the subject matter of these courses will have wide applicability to professionals in security, law enforcement, public health, and disaster medicine fields.

Therefore, these classes were opened to colleagues who wish to take these courses for professional development and better inform themselves about both terrorism and biological infectious diseases.