The Space Race and Biodefense
Lessons from NASA about Big Science and the Role of Medical Informatics
- Correspondence and reprints: Michael M. Wagner, MD, PhD, Director, RODS Laboratory, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Suite 8084, Forbes Tower, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261; e-mail: <mmw{at}cbmi.upmc.edu>
- Received 8 November 2001
- Accepted 13 November 2001
Abstract
The events that followed the launch of Sputnik on Oct 4, 1957, provide a metaphor for the events that are following the first bioterroristic case of pulmonary anthrax in the United States. This paper uses that metaphor to elucidate the nature of the task ahead and to suggest questions such as, Can the goals of the biodefense effort be formulated as concisely and concretely as the goal of the space program? Can we measure success in biodefense as we did for the space project? What are the existing resources that are the equivalents of propulsion systems and rocket engineers that can be applied to the problems of biodefense?
Footnotes
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This paper is based on a plenary presentation at the AMIA Annual Symposium, Nov. 5, 2001, in Washington, DC.
