JHU SAIS to Host Conference on Bioterrorism and Infectious Diseases

The Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in association with Novartis Corporation will hold a daylong conference, "Globalization and Infectious Diseases: Institutions, Policies, and the Threat of Bioterrorism," on Tuesday, 11/6 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

D.A. Henderson, director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies, and Laurie Garrett, Pulitizer-prize winning author of The Coming Plague and Betrayal of Trust, will be the keynote speakers. Expert panelists from academia, research organizations and government will speak throughout the day during the following sessions:

8:30 a.m. Keynote addresses by D.A. Henderson and Laurie Garrett

11 a.m. "Globalization and Disease: Are Our Existing Institutions Up to the Job?"

· Francis Fukuyama, Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy, SAIS

· Seth Berkley, M.D., President and CEO of The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

· David Fidler, professor of law, Indiana University

1:45 p.m. "Globalization and Infectious Diseases: Policy Options"

· Scott Barrett, professor of international political economy and director, Energy, Environment, Science and Technology Program, SAIS

· Jeffrey Sachs, Galen L. Stone Professor and director, Center for International Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

· Klaus Leisinger, executive director, Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development

3:35 p.m. "Bioterrorism and Biological War: Is the Threat Real? Are We Prepared?"

· Eliot Cohen, professor and director, Strategic Studies Program, SAIS

· Ken Alibek, corporate vice president, Hadron, Inc. and author of Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World

· Tara O'Toole, deputy director, Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies

The conference, free and open to the public, will be held in the Kenney Auditorium, first floor of the SAIS Nitze Building at 1740 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. Members of the public must register to attend the conference by Friday, 11/2 by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 202.663.5786.

In addition, the conference will be webcast live by Kaisernetwork.org, a free service of the Kaiser Family Foundation. It will also be archived along with a transcript, speaker bios and related links.

For more information, contact Felisa Klubes in the SAIS Public Affairs Office at (202) 663-5626 or [email protected].