Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has a wealth of expertise and state-of-the-art facilities that have direct application to national and international biosecurity and public health.

Our scientists work to predict, control, and harness multicellular systems, which are critical to understanding familiar, emerging, and reemerging infectious pathogens. Our engineers tackle national security mission areas, such as biodefense, using laboratory capabilities and partnering with experts in the chemical, biological, and physical sciences. We advance computational and mathematical approaches to understand complex biological and chemical data that enable next-generation technologies. And we deliver policy-informed technology solutions to national security challenges.

A few of the tools relevant for disease modeling and impact analysis that result from PNNL’s interdisciplinary efforts are described here:

• A stochastic discrete-event simulation tool that models the screening of passengers for pandemic influenza at U.S. port-of-entry airports. A single simulation combines epidemiology modeling, evolving infected states and conditions of passengers over time, and operational considerations of screening. POC: Robert.Brigantic@pnnl.gov

• An international travel community impact tool that analyzes potential international disease outbreaks, estimates associated impacts to communities, and assesses various interventions such as airport surveillance, social distancing, prophylaxis, and quarantine. POC: Robert.Brigantic@pnnl.gov
• An outside contiguous United States (OCONUS) version of the international travel community impact tool was used to study a cholera epidemic originating within Latin America or the Caribbean. POC: Robert.Brigantic@pnnl.gov
• A state-specific Pandemic Influenza Planning Tool that simulates the first wave of a pandemic influenza in a state and accounts for different age groups and population densities and the effects of potential decision measures regarding morbidity, mortality, and health resources (e.g., hospital beds). POC: Robert.Brigantic@pnnl.gov
• A multiscale, multimodal, and global model of direct and vector-borne infectious disease propagation that was used to inform U.S. policy decisions during the 2009 H1N1 and 2014 Ebola outbreaks. POC:Tim.McPherson@pnnl.gov and Brent.Daniel@pnnl.gov
• An open-source chem-bio surveillance digital platform that monitors worldwide news articles, blogs, and reports related to any incident that has caused or has the potential to cause harm to human, animals, plants, or the environment. POC: Lauren.Charles@pnnl.gov
• Chemical and biological surveillance applications that provide real-time surveillance of global infectious diseases, risks of zoonotic spread, environmental hazards, wearable sensors, and chemical incidents. POC: Lauren.Charles@pnnl.gov
• Open-source, multiple large-scale data analytics with capabilities from image similarity (Deja Vu), video analytics (Audition), pattern of life analysis (Coincidence), and user-in-the loop text analytics (Ditto) to a generic trending and alerting tool for numeric data (SMOTD). POC: michael.j.henry@pnnl.gov
• Active Data is a recommender tool that can pull information from multiple sources and draw connections between the data, assisting a user to trace back to who, what, where, and when an event of interest occurred, such as supporting an epidemiologic investigation and contact tracing. POC: Kristin.Cook@pnnl.gov
• Mobile operational decision support, which includes several Android apps for operational decision support during a chemical or biological event. Apps include a tool for predicting movement and health effects from an aerosol release; a personalized information tool for awareness of immediate infectious disease risks based on location; a tool for predicting illness via camera or video imaging; and other tools that use machine learning to predict disease case counts per location based on various data types (e.g., geography, demographics, and health). POC: Lauren.Charles@pnnl.gov
• A real-time group and individual health-tracking application that provides command-level situational awareness for real-time sensor tracking for multiple data types and sensors for multiple sources (e.g., people and vehicles). This application has been paired with a human biometric sensor prototype that keeps first responders connected to their patients via a disposable sensor and mobile app. POC: Lauren.Charles@pnnl.gov
• Virtual reality and interactive learning for training programs that range from laboratory and biohazard safety to network collapse response. POC: nick.cramer@pnnl.gov
• Decision support tools, such as the Low-Regret Decision Options methodology, that were provided to the U.S. government to help address the bioterrorism threat. POC: Larry.Morgan@pnnl.gov or Megan.Lerchen@pnnl.gov
• PNNL staff expertise in providing incident management support to healthcare, public health, and others through training, augmentation of staffing in operations centers, or by providing consultation on incident management. POC: Grant.Tietje@pnnl.gov

Additionally, the following tools and resources are available to support national biodefense and public health:

• The Biodefense Policy Landscape Analysis Tool (BPLAT) is a policy analysis tool that allows a user to visualize and search U.S. Code and policy directives related to biodefense, with the goal of helping the interagency identify shared responsibilities in the case of a public health emergency. POC: Kristin.Omberg@pnnl.gov
• The Northwest Regional Technology Center (NWRTC) is a virtual resource to support local and regional preparedness, resilience, response, and recovery in the Northwest. NWRTC is home to a number of reports on regional response, long-term planning, and recovery from our outreach over the years. POC: Ann.Lesperance@pnnl.gov or Robert.Jasper@pnnl.gov
• Short and Long-Term Response and Recovery Planning: PNNL has existing subject matter expertise and experience with planning and developing frameworks for short and long term recovery from biological events. PNNL was the local integrator for the DHS and DoD sponsored program that worked with state and local leadership to develop the urban recovery framework for biological events in the Seattle Urban Area. POC: Ann.Lesperance@pnnl.gov or Robert.Jasper@pnnl.gov