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March 16, 2006
Security takes the spotlight at Purdue's E-Enterprise Conference
From a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina to growing concerns about the possible spread of the avian flu to the United States, response times are critical to coping with a crisis. Technology and communication play vital roles in minimizing the impact of such events. The three-day conference, which begins Monday (March 20) at Purdue, will highlight safety and security concerns in health care, homeland security and computer technology, as well as what was learned from the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina. "While the deadly terrorism attack on 9/11 is the primary reason we were created, homeland security also is about how we now respond to natural disasters, hurricanes, a possible pandemic flu, a chemical spill or a cyber attack," said Alok Chaturvedi, director for the Homeland Security Institute at Purdue's Discovery Park. The Homeland Security Institute and the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering at Discovery Park, as well as the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, are sponsoring the three-day event as part of the fourth annual e-Enterprise Conference. Marc E. Mattix, assistant chief of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps and a pathologist with the Montana Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, will deliver a keynote talk at 8:45 a.m. Monday (March 20) in Stewart Center, Room 218, on the potential impact of a pandemic influenza. The topic is timely as concerns grow about the virus, known as H5N1. No human-to-human transmission of the avian influenza has been reported, but at least 100 people in Asia and the Middle East have died after coming into direct contact with sick birds. A 90-minute panel discussion about pandemic flu will follow Mattix's talk. Joining him for that discussion are former Indiana Appellate Court Judge Linda Chezem and James S. Westman, director of the Purdue Student Health Center. James D. McGlothlin, professor of health sciences and Regenstrief Center's interim technical director, will serve as moderator of the discussion in Stewart Center, Room 218. The campus event will include panel discussions on nursing, privacy issues, telemedicine, electronic medical records, health informatics, and federal and state solutions to help control the rising costs of health care. Regenstrief, Homeland Security Institute and CERIAS researchers will update reports and projects completed or still under way at Purdue. A poster session also is planned for the conference, which is free and open to the public. Registration is available online. Eugene H. Spafford, executive director at CERIAS, will join a panel discussion, "Secure and Private: The Healthcare Communication Delta," at 8:30 a.m. Monday. Moderator Howard Sypher, who is head of Purdue's Department of Communication, will lead the talk about lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and their implications for planning and public policy. Monday afternoon homeland security sessions in Stewart Center, Room 206, are planned on the National Biosecurity Resource Center for Animal Health Emergencies and middle school curriculums that employ homeland security subject matter. Related to health care, sessions in Stewart Center, Room 218, will highlight results of several Regenstrief projects for Ascension Health, the School of Nursing's new doctorate of nursing practice program, and Purdue's Healthcare Technical Assistance Program (TAP). Dr. John Loonsk, director of the office of interoperability and standards in the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, is the keynote speaker on Tuesday (March 21). Loonsk, whose talk is titled "The U.S. Government's Healthcare Information Technology Strategy: A Progress Report and a Look Ahead," is scheduled to speak at 11 a.m. in Fowler Hall. Following that are afternoon workshops in Stewart Center, Room 218, on health-care solutions through telemedicine, government programs and the reporting of medical errors. Concurrent workshops are on homeland security preparedness and how Purdue and the Muscatatuk Urban Training Center are providing live, simulated training for federal, state and local first responders. For the CERIAS conference, panel discussions will include researchers and law enforcement agents discussing topics such as digital identity management and digital forensics. "Purdue brings tremendous strengths that can become critical resources in the nation's homeland security efforts," Chaturvedi said. "We have world-class expertise in cybersecurity, the power grid, food and plant safety, biotechnology and nanotechnology research, and infrastructure, ranging from roads to sensor technology." The Purdue Homeland Security Institute is part of the e-Enterprise Center at Discovery Park, Purdue's interdisciplinary hub for research and enterprise, and includes four research centers — Center for Computational Homeland Security; Center for Sensing Science and Technology; Center for Security of Large Scale Systems; and the Center for Military and Law Enforcement Technology, Tactics, and Training. CERIAS conducts multidisciplinary research and education in areas of information security. Areas of research include computer, network and communications security, as well as information assurance. The Regenstrief (pronounced REE-gen-streef) Center, which was launched within Purdue's e-Enterprise Center at Discovery Park in January 2005, is working to design, implement and sustain interdisciplinary solutions to transform the nation's health-care delivery system. Regenstrief and the Homeland Security Institute are a part of the e-Enterprise Center at Discovery Park, Purdue's $300 million hub for interdisciplinary research and home to 10 established research centers focusing on everything from biosciences and manufacturing to oncological sciences and health-care engineering.
Writer: Phillip Fiorini, (765) 496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu Sources: Alok Chaturvedi, 765) 494-9048, alok@purdue.edu Steve Witz, (765) 496-8303, switz@purdue.edu Eugene Spafford, (765) 494-7825, spaf@cerias.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu Related Web sites: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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