U.S. Biomedical Research Facilities Still Unprepared for Natural Disasters and Attacks

Scientific American -------- When Hurricane Sandy hit New York City in 2012, the storm destroyed more than US$20 million worth of scientific equipment at New York University’s (NYU) Langone Medical Center. Tropical storm Allison hit the University of Texas Health Science Center (UT Health) in Houston in 2001 and caused so much damage some researchers had to restart their careers elsewhere. Despite such catastrophes, a new report finds that many research institutions in the United States are still unprepared for disasters. The report, released on August 10 by the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, looked at what happened to facilities during past disasters, interviewed people about how they had changed their current policies and procedures and consulted with experts on disaster and risk management. It recommends that universities and scientists take steps to protect biomedical research from emergencies of all scales, including natural disasters, fire, cyberattacks and terrorism. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.