“Hospitals and our long neglected public health infrastructure would be quickly overwhelmed. In such a circumstance, panic, suffering, and the spread of the disease would intensify,” Frist said. “Millions might perish, with whole families dying and no one to memorialize them.”

A ‘BOLD VISION’–BUT FEW DETAILS

Frist described his “Manhattan Project” proposal as a “bold vision” to respond to the challenges posed by bioterrorism and naturally-occurring pandemics, but the senator’s speech did not outline any specific policies or programs.

Frist said that his plan would include “substantial increases” in funding to advance research and bolster the nation’s ability to respond to emergencies. “I speak of the creation of secure stores of treatments and vaccines and vast networks of distribution,” said Frist, who—prior to being elected to the Senate in 1994—was a renowned heart and lung transplant surgeon.

In the question-and-answer session, Frist said that the “new Manhattan Project” would not be as secretive or as highly-centralized as its early 1940s atomic namesake.

And he sought to tap the resources of his alma mater in response what he described as an impending crisis.

“For the sake of your own families and children, for the honor and satisfaction of doing right, I bid you, the stewards of this great institution of higher learning and research, to join me in this essential effort,” he told the HMS crowd.

But the reception from HMS students and faculty was lukewarm.

More than 100 students, faculty, and staff members presented Frist with an open letter blasting the senator’s legislative actions.

According to the letter, Frist has failed to take concrete measures to bring an end to the genocide in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. The letter also criticized Frist’s voting record on HIV/AIDS funding, women’s reproductive health care, and abortion rights.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.