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Columnists
Laura H. Kahn
Strong health care equals strong emergency response
A nationalized health care and health insurance system in the United States would make economic sense and facilitate better disaster preparedness.
Health-care realities during a pandemic
Unless the United States solves its nursing shortage, the people most likely to care for the sick and dying during an influenza pandemic would be family and friends.
Biosecurity lessons from the Bruce Ivins case
By greatly expanding the number of scientists who work with deadly Category A agents, the United States might have inadvertently increased its risk of bioterrorism.
Food-borne illness: Attack of the killer tomatoes
As the United States experiences its largest foodborne outbreak in a decade, some prudent personal precautions could prevent future illnesses from occurring.
How evil can prevail in state-sanctioned biowarfare research
When societies break down because of war or civil strife, it allows some physicians and/or researchers to act upon their worst prejudices.
The furor over genetically modified foods
Growing crops resistant to drought and disease sounds like a good idea, but the companies promoting such crops need to ensure that they're safe.
In pursuit of international biosecurity oversight
Achieving global cooperation in biosecurity oversight requires an international organization with legitimacy and a solid reputation.
The potential dangers in medical isotope production
Physicians use medical isotopes such as technetium 99 to save lives, but terrorists could use the production byproducts to build crude nuclear weapons.
Stethoscopes belong in museums
When treating twenty-first century patients, primary-care physicians shouldn't rely on nineteenth century technology.
Public health lessons from virtual game worlds
The play in virtual game worlds is fantasy, but the players are living, breathing human beings whose behavior during an online pandemic could give insight into disease spread.
The growing number of immunocompromised
Effective pandemic planning must take into account the challenges posed by immunocompromised individuals, who are at an increased risk for acquiring and spreading infections to others.
The scourge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Antibiotics combat bacterial infections such as pneumonia, but their misuse and overuse actually harms public health.
Why evolution should be taught in public schools
The constant struggle against intelligent design dogma hinders efforts to prepare the next generation to understand the life sciences.
The sewer: Guardian against disease
As more and more people inhabit overpopulated megacities, innovative sewage removal and treatment systems might serve as the best way to prevent an epidemic.
Children: The bioterrorists we love
Given their aversion to cleanliness and a dislike for hygiene, kids play a major role in spreading disease such as influenza.
The spread of mosquito-borne diseases
Think of a mosquito as a flying hypodermic needle that can inject disease from one individual to the next.
The end of vaccines?
With profits dwindling and litigation pending that could harm those vaccine makers still in business, vaccines may go the way of the diseases they prevent.
Pathogens on a plane
A hollow tube 30,000 feet in the air filled with people sneezing, coughing, and talking while breathing recirculated air provides the perfect environment for disease transmission.
Profile
Laura H. Kahn
A general internist who began her career in health care as a registered nurse, Kahn works on the research staff of Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security. Her expertise is in public health, biodefense, and pandemics. From 2003-2005, she led a study that assessed the public health infrastructures of New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. She has also co-organized the Carnegie Corporation’s "Biodefense Challenge" seminar series, which introduces biosecurity, codes of conduct, and dual-use biotech threats to the life sciences community. Prior to joining Princeton, she was a managing physician for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and a medical officer for the Food and Drug Administration.
Columnist Resources
Recent Work
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"How the Radiological and Nuclear Medical Communities Can Improve Nuclear Security"
Journal of American College of Radiology (April 2007) -
"Confronting Zoonoses Through Closer Collaboration Between Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (as 'One Medicine')"
Veterinaria Italiana (January-March 2007) -
"A Comparative Study of Four States' Public Health Systems: Survey Results from Local Health Departments, Physicians, and Veterinarians"
Final Report to the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation (August 2006) -
"Feasibility of Eliminating the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in the Production of Medical Radiopharmaceuticals"
Science & Global Security (May-December 2006) -
"Confronting Zoonoses, Linking Human and Veterinary Medicine"
Emerging Infectious Diseases (April 2006) -
"Nuclear Power Plant Emergencies and Thyroid Cancer Risk"
Co-authored with Frank von Hippel for New Jersey Medicine (September 2004)
Recommended Links
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PROMed Mail
The global electronic reporting system for outbreaks of emerging infectious disease and toxins -
Emerging Infectious Diseases
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal -
Virtual Biosecurity Center
A Federation of Americna Scientists resource of news and events related to biosecurity -
One Health Initiative
A movement to forge co-equal, all-inclusive collaborations between physicians, veterinarians, and other scientific-health related disciplines -
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
Infectious disease prevention through epidemiologic research and the rapid translation of scientific information into practical applications and solutions -
National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity
A federal initiative to promote biosecurity in life science research -
Office of Technology Assessment Archive
A collection of OTA reports provided by the Federation of American Scientists -
WHO Life Science Research and Development and Global Health Security
Raising the awareness among WHO members about the potential implications of life science R&D for global health security -
Partnership for a Secure America WMD Report Card
An examination of U.S. government programs to prevent nuclear, chemical, and biological terrorism -
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
International medical organization dedicated to preventing nuclear war and abolishing nuclear weapons