Southern Research Institute to support Armenia's biothreat reduction program

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. program to strengthen Armenia's biological threat reduction capabilities will receive support from the Southern Research Institute.

According to the United Press International, Southern Research said the work will be performed under a subcontract from Black and Veatch. The award is expected to generate up to $580,000 for Southern Research over the next year.

"We are honored that Black and Veatch has again selected our Southern Research team to provide support for such an important global program," said John A. "Jack" Secrist III, president and chief executive officer of Southern Research.

"Working with Black and Veatch allows Southern Research to use our unique knowledge and expertise in helping to provide global safety and advancing critical research."

"Southern Research will provide a wide range of scientific consulting in the design of operational strategies to enhance disease surveillance and response," said Mary Guttieri, program manager for Southern Research. "Additionally, Southern Research will facilitate collaborative research between U.S.-Armenian interdisciplinary teams and will administer bio-safety training."

Southern Research said it will continue to work with Black and Veatch on enhancement of disease detection and reporting in the Ukraine, where achievements include construction of a high-containment laboratory and development of a bio-safety level-3 training program. This experience will contribute to the success of program objectives in Armenia.

The program to strengthen Armenia's human and veterinary biological threat reduction capabilities and public health system is a program of the U.S. Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency.