FIGHTING TERROR
Texas Tech researchers are working in the fight against terrorism.
Written by Scott Slemmons
Terrorism has been a part of the world’s culture for thousands of years. The threat of terrorism has never been a greater priority for Americans than the issue is today, post 9-11-2001. Texas Tech University scholars are doing their parts to help detect and prevent future terrorist attacks.
University researchers are working on with a wide variety of applications in the fight against terrorism, from biological and chemical terrorism studies within the Institute for Environmental and Human Health, to examinations of the crossover between legal and scientific interests within the Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy, says Bob Sweazy, Ph.D., P.E., vice president for research, technology transfer and economic development at Texas Tech. “The study of terrorism prevention is one of our more fertile research areas right now. We probably have $4 million to $5 million currently being spent at Texas Tech on research in bio terrorism.”
Universities in general will be very important participants in finding solutions to combating terrorism, Sweazy says. “One of the best ways to overcome terrorism will be through education, so obviously, we’ll have a role to play in that regard, as well as in the development of countermeasures to terrorist activities. The study of the prevention of terrorism will be a major research topic for university scholars for years to come.”
Texas Tech’s commitment to fighting terrorism began soon after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001. Victoria Sutton, M.P.A., Ph.D., J.D., professor of law at Texas Tech and director of the Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy, was appointed chair of the Task Force on Anti-Terrorism and Public Scrutiny on September 25, 2001. She also has been appointed as Texas Tech’s representative for one of the federal government’s eight regional coordinating centers for bio terrorism. research.
One of the unrecognized challenges in the fight against terrorism has been in teaching scientists and lawyers how to work together. “Scientists and lawyers speak different languages and have different objectives in their work,” explains Sutton. “So, we have to develop a common framework to have a dialogue and a discussion. The Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy is seeking to bring together lawyers and scientists to resolve these issues and to learn to speak a language that both can understand. Lawyers at Texas Tech are being trained in science and law so they will be much more effective practitioners.”
The Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy is housed in the School of Law, but includes interdisciplinary groups of faculty from across the Texas Tech System.
Researchers working as part of the Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. National Program for Countermeasures to Biological and Chemical Threats, a program within the Institute for Environmental and Human Health, are focusing on finding ways to detect, prevent and protect against biological and chemical terrorism. Steven M. Presley, Ph.D., B.C.E, an associate professor of environmental toxicology and the research coordinator for the Zumwalt program, notes that about 55 Texas Tech researchers currently are working on a dozen different projects under the Zumwalt umbrella.
“We primarily look at various countermeasures for biological and chemical threats,” Presley says. “That means looking at everything from detecting chemical or biological weapon agents, to seeking ways of mitigating those agents, whether through therapeutic means or personal protective equipment, such as particular fabrics.”
The caregivers’ education and support group began in 2000 and now has about 20 members. The group provides education, camaraderie and support for its members, who are often the spouses or family members acting as the caregivers for stroke victims and who may have their own difficulties afterward. “When an individual suffers a stroke, their main caregiver often is the person at risk for having health problems and depression because they go through a major role-change in their lives,” she says.
The Zumwalt program at Texas Tech is part of a larger national consortium, known as the Consortium of Biodefense Researchers, which is composed of 11 universities, including Texas A&M University and the University of Texas.
Presley predicts that Texas Tech scholars could be in a unique position to deal with a new terrorism threat. “Agricultural terrorism is the coming threat,” according to Presley. “And, it’s not a matter of if it happens, but a matter of when it occurs. About one-third of all the beef produced in the United States is grown within a 150-mile radius of Lubbock, Texas, and that’s a huge vulnerability. If you drive through this part of the country, you just see cotton, but there’s a lot of wheat and grain sorghum grown in this area that is used to feed livestock. So the threat of agro-terrorism is becoming more apparent all the time.”
Sutton says many of the questions being asked by terrorism experts do not have easy answers. “One area that we’re looking at in a different way is biology and what’s been referred to as dark biology,” explains Sutton. “We really hadn’t been thinking so much about the negative results of biological research. Now we’re thinking about how this scientific work could be used for something other than protecting humanity. How do we deal with that? How do we allow academic freedom and freedom of speech issues to be protected, while considering what problems might be raised by not restricting this information? And does it really matter? Can we restrict the information enough even to protect dangerous secrets from falling into the wrong hands?”
With these new and horrific threats in the world, Texas Tech researchers are urgently engaging in the fight to prevent and prepare for the violence of global terrorism.
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing
806-742-2136
Photos by Joey Hernandez
Web layout by Jon Fox