JRAD is advancing health and medical services
JRAD was heavily involved in the Federal COVID-19 response even from the earliest days. Our expertise in Chemical and Biological Defense was sought out by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA):
What we did
Helped to establish Federal offices to respond to and recover from the pandemic
What the impact was
Supported the stand up of the HHS Coordination Operations and Response Element (H-CORE), the new permanent organization to synchronize medical countermeasure efforts across the Federal Government
What we did
Involved in technical integration of biologics with path to Investigational New Drug submission through (1) researching requirement to have a safe and efficacious drugs and (2) ensuring adherence to the requirements set forth by the FDA
What the impact was
This may ultimately result in the development of new medical countermeasures including new prophylactics, therapeutics, and vaccines
What we did
Coordinated with the White House, Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), and participating pharmacy partners to distribute over 270M masks from SNS to participating Distribution Centers
What the impact was
By far the largest distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the American public in history to ensure all Americans had access to necessary PPE to ensure their health and safety
What we did
Supported the Tender Age Vaccine Rollout, Moderna 6-11 Vaccine Rollout, and Moderna BLA Product, coordinating the planning efforts between partners for the equitable release of vaccine products
What the impact was
Resulted in the rollout of over 800M doses of vaccine in just 1.5 years (equivalent to a typical vaccine distribution in a 10-year period)
What we did
Oversaw and performed Pandemic Exercise Planning and Emergency Management and Communications and Stakeholder Engagements
What the impact was
Will ensure the U.S. is better prepared for future pandemics and biological crises
What we did
Supported Joint Project Lead for CBRND Enabling Biotechnologies (JPL EB) with the initiation of the Generative Unconstrained Intelligent Drug Engineering (GUIDE) program
What the impact was
Developing capabilities that could rapidly produce medical countermeasures (MCM) and other solutions to address and combat threats regardless of the specific threat source
JRAD is expanding opportunities for operational testing… “TEST HOW WE FIGHT”
Through our work on the Realistic Experimentation Capability (REC), we are supporting the improvement of operationally realistic chemical and biological testing. Awarded an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with JPM CBRN Protection through our membership in the CWMD Consortium, we are focusing on achieving the DoD’s OTA Fundamentals by:
Supplying new key technology or products:
- Incorporating emerging data collection capabilities
- Developing unique test methodologies
Accomplishing a significant amount of the effort:
- Developing operationally relevant vignettes & scenarios
- Working with the User and Warfighter community to ensure operational realism
- Testing, validating, verifying, and integrating
Causing a material reduction in the cost or schedule and an increase in performance:
- Incorporating modeling and simulation (M&S)
- Making use of existing test and evaluation infrastructure, while expanding capabilities
- Reducing testing during a program’s life-cycle while still providing the data necessary for leadership to make informed decisions
JRAD is pioneering science and technology
JRAD chemist, Dr. Timothy Burgin, has spent more than 30 years conducting research in the field of organic/materials chemistry incorporating a broad range of areas including nanotechnology, surface chemistry, chemical synthesis, and physical/chemical measurements. Through a combination of careful analysis and the conceptualization and implementation of innovative solutions, he has achieved success in furthering the fields of chemical and biological defense, superabsorbent polymers, gelation, carbon nanotube research, surface functionalization, molecular electronics, and organic metals including Self-sealing fabrics for protection against chemical agents, Semi-empirical model for prediction of the enthalpy of metal-metal interactions, Low temperature synthesis of active gold-titania nanoclusters, Catalyzed self-degradation of HD, Semi-empirical model for prediction of molecular interaction enthalpies and entropy of liquids, development of depolymerizable polymeric surfactant for placement of nanoparticles. He has authored 10 patents and over 40 publications, resulting in over 4,000 citations in scientific literature.
Dr. Burgin has recently been working in partnership between JRAD, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC)– Dahlgren Division and Indian Head, Arizona State University (ASU), and other Industry partners to revolutionize Chemical and Biological Defense:
Co-developed a concept for an autonomous bioaerosol sampling and detection system/method to provide real-time detection and identification of bio-organisms in aerosols without human intervention with Cody Youngbull (University of Montana). This work resulted in U.S. Patent 11639934: Apparatus and Method for the Detection of Bioaerosols.
Established a proof of concept with ASU and NSWC for a stimuli responsive fabric that seals on contact with target organic liquids, preventing chemical penetration through the fabric. This research resulted in U.S. Patent 10711393: Self-Sealing and Self-Decontaminating Materials, Methods of Making, and Methods of Use.
Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between JRAD, NSWC Indian Head Division (NSWC-IH) and First Line Technology, captured, consolidated, and published critical data associated with the development, test, and evaluation of the Dahlgren Decon product [a three-component decontamination solution that incorporates PES-Solid (Peracetyl borate)] which can quickly decontaminate most chemical warfare agents, toxic materials, and other emerging threats including fentanyl, ricin, meth and more, to complete the technology transfer to the current product manufacturer, First Line Technology. This task established First Line Technology as a repository of all technical data associated with the development of this product and enabled effective manufacturing, future development, and future business.
Developed a group additive value (GAV) model with NSWC-IH for the accurate calculation of molecular ionization energies based on molecular structure. The simple semi-empirical model outperforms state of the art quantum mechanical calculations and is applicable to a broad range of organic compounds. Longer term, the model will form part of a methodology for the calculation of molecular interaction energies from 2-body interaction terms, which has already been demonstrated for compounds whose interaction is dominated by dispersion forces.
