The Harvard Medical School (HMS) will sponsor the first-ever global conference on biosecurity and bioterrorism in November, the school announced last week.

BioSecurity 2002 will bring together senior government officials, scientists, physicians, public health and hospital officals Nov. 18-22 in Las Vegas to prepare for and learn how to control bioterrorism.

Discussion topics will range from “the science of bioterrorism, planning and prepardness, crisis management and lessons learned from anthrax outbreaks to emergency prepardness drills,”said Amanda Pullen, spokesperson for Harvard Medical International, a division of HMS that is assisting in the conference planning.

Bullard Professor of Psychiatry Miles Shore will co-chair the conference along with an industry expert on bioterrorism.

Shore said he envisions the biosecurity conference to be a forum to “share the experience of different groups in planning for bioterrorism events.”

He explained that planning for bioterrorism is a complex task that involves work by a large variety of different social institutions from “scientists doing research on dangerous agents to public safety organizations like police, fire and ambulance services.”

The conference is the first opportunity for these groups to “get together to learn from each other and coordinate their activities,” he said.

“Our goal is to establish a global dialogue. This is not a simple issue and requires that all of the key players establish a consensus around how to address bioterrorism,” said Bob Bierman, vice president of Key3Media, which is helping HMS organize the conference.

Lehman Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics John Mekalanos and Professor of Pediatrics Gary Fleisher, will also be involved in the development and planning of the conference.

“There is a tremendous desire among Harvard faculty to get together with top experts from other insitutions around the world and develop ways to work toward a more secure society,” Pullen said.

Key3Media first approached HMS about the conference when the company noted the lack of centralized resources for biosecurity issues, Bierman said.

“We were impressed by the level of interest and the speed with which this came together,” he said.

Since planning is still underway, keynote speakers and specific panels have yet to be finalized.

Other organizations that have expressed interest in attending the event include the Pan American Health Organization and the American Society for Microbiology.

—Staff writer Anat Maytal can be reached at maytal@fas.harvard.edu