Domestic Preparedness Expert Joins Biosecurity Center

$15 million in grants and other funding during past year supports training and research

Michael W. Proctor, M.D., has joined The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston's Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness in the new faculty position of regional director of extramural training. In a dual appointment, he also is senior medical advisor for health care and emergency medical services for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala.

Michael W. Proctor, M.D.

Proctor's position is supported as part of a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Scott R. Lillibridge, M.D., the director of the School of Public Health's Biosecurity Center, noted that the center has garnered more than $15 million in competitive grants and financial support from various federal agencies during the past year.

Proctor's role is to share technical expertise while providing classroom instruction and teaching modules in training public health, health care and emergency medical workers to combat terrorism. He also will serve as liaison for studies, analysis and technology transfer provided by School of Public Health faculty.

Training is done at the Center for Domestic Preparedness, which was created in 1997 on the site of the former Fort McClellan, near Birmingham.

"Our nation faces multiple threats not only in the form of bioterrorism, but also as emerging infectious diseases and recurrences of old ones," Proctor said. "We are challenged with providing not only the highest quality, but coherent and relevant education for all levels of health care providers - so I look forward to working in an integrated program with both The University of Texas and the Department of Homeland Security to assist in the development and delivery of educational materials."

Proctor has more than 18 years of experience in the practice of emergency medicine in both Level I and II trauma centers. He has served as an Alabama Department of Public Health regional Emergency Medical Service medical director and has worked on the State Medical Control Committee. He is medical director for the Anniston fire and police departments.

A former flight physician and medical director for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, he also has served as a consulting physician for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice on programs related to preparing for terrorism.

With a $3.6 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the UT Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness last year trained more than 11,000 people throughout Texas. The center uses the National Disaster Life Support Training Courses developed in concert with the American Medical Association. It also has developed a highly specialized nursing (RNLVN) curriculum that currently targets 200,000 Texas nurses using both in-person and online instructional materials.

"Our curriculum addresses chemical, biological, radiological and explosive events related to terrorism, while maintaining an 'all hazards' orientation to other types of disasters," said Lillibridge, who is principal investigator for the HRSA grant. "As a result, health providers in Texas are being trained using a standardized suite of courses with appropriate continued educational credit that will assist them in preparing their communities."

The HRSA-funded programs involve five health components of the UT System and target a statewide audience, particularly along the U.S.-Mexico border. Outreach programs work with the health departments of the U.S Virgin Islands and Hawaii.

Lillibridge said that plans are under way to acquire a new laboratory research program, develop new disaster simulation training for health care providers, and place added emphasis on influenza epidemic readiness throughout the region.

Lillibridge, who recently was appointed to a new Houston Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council, said, "Texas health providers are better prepared than ever to address new threats to our population's health as a result of terrorism or natural disasters."

By David R. Bates, Public Affairs