Since the inception of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) has developed the science critical to defend the United States against bioterrorism. Managed by Battelle National Biodefense Institute (BNBI) as a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), NBACC is the first laboratory built for DHS – a national resource to understand the scientific basis of the risk posed by biological threats and to attribute their use in bioterror and biocrime events.
The President and Congress have charged NBACC with research and development of technologies to protect the American public from bioterrorism. NBACC fills critical shortfalls in our scientific knowledge of the biological agents that could be used to cause the public harm. Our scientists are helping federal policy makers and leadership to answer critical questions for our nation’s security. What new vaccines or therapies should be developed based on the risk posed by biological threats? Will existing countermeasures protect the public? What procedures can be employed to detect a planned or actual bioterror event and to identify the perpetrators of such events? How should the government prioritize biodefense research to ensure that countermeasures are in place and in sufficient quantities to respond to bioterror events?
To answer these questions, NBACC is focused on developing the right science to identify perpetrators of biological events and to help guide the nation’s investments in vaccines, drugs, detectors, and other countermeasures.