ATLANTA - Emory University announced Wednesday it has created an office to study the threat of bioterrorism and how ready the nation's public health system is to respond to such an attack. <br>
<br>
The Office of Public Health Preparedness and Research hopes to address some of the critical needs of the public health system exposed by the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the anthrax mailings that followed, Emory said. <br>
<br>
It was established with a $4.2 million gift from the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation of Atlanta and will be led by Dr. Ruth Berkelman, an Emory professor of epidemiology and a former assistant U.S. surgeon general. <br>
<br>
``We need to strengthen the public health infrastructure and capacity to address naturally occurring infectious disease outbreaks, as well as those caused by terrorism,'' Berkelman said. <br>
<br>
Directed by the new office, Emory researchers will study the public health systems that public health uses to detect outbreaks and make recommendations on how to strengthen them. <br>
<br>
Emory said the office would work closely with public health officers throughout Georgia and at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose main complex is next to the Emory campus.
