Bioterrorism threat remains, says alum

Donald Henderson (right), seated next to Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, participates in a panel discussion on bioterrorism.

errorists armed with biological weapons could strike again, said Donald (D.A.) Henderson '54 (MD), expert on bioterrorism and keynote speaker at the Medical Center's 2002 Convergence Conference, held on May 10.

This year's conference, which explored how medical science can partner with industry to combat the global threat of bioterrorism, marked the opening of a new biomedical research building at the Medical Center.

"Our experience indicates that a second major event will happen, and right now we're not prepared for that second shoe to drop," Henderson said. "We need to bring together the best of the scientific academic world, the private sector, and industry to prepare for such an event." Henderson, the first director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Public Health Preparedness, oversaw the World Health Organization's global smallpox eradication campaign from 1966 to 1977.

His visit holds particular significance because the Medical Center was one of four sites in the nation to participate in a recent clinical study to determine that a diluted dose of smallpox vaccine is as effective as a full dose.

"When I was working with the smallpox vaccine, no one could have imagined that one day there would be a very real threat that the smallpox virus could be deliberately spread as an act of terrorism," said Henderson. "The type of medical research conducted at Rochester is indispensable in our nation's prevention against and preparedness for acts of bioterrorism."

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