Dr. Susan Coller Monarez’s discussion will focus on key areas of science and technology innovation and provide insights into the complexity when developing national security policies.

Now is a time when the rapid advancements in science and technology portend extraordinary promise to make our lives better, healthier, and more secure.  However, those same scientific and technological advancements also bring with them risks to the well-being of individuals and the population as a whole.  Almost every scientific and technological achievement today is inherently “dual-use” – offering both identifiable benefits and risks.   Policy-makers must somehow find a balance between reducing the risk posed by malicious or inappropriate use of these newfound capabilities while maximizing the potential that they hold.   In this discussion, Dr. Susan Coller Monarez will focus on key areas of science and technology, such as personal health data security and life sciences dual use research of concern.  She will provide insights into the challenges and opportunities for the U.S. government, academia, and the private sector to inform and develop appropriate national security policies for these critical areas.  

Dr. Susan Coller-Monarez is the Assistant Director for National Health Security and International Affairs in OSTP.  Her responsibilities include numerous aspects of biological threat and hazard preparedness to include pandemic influenza, dual use research of concern, emerging biological threats, intentional use of biological agents to cause harm, biosurveillance, personal health data security, and public health response strategy.  

Prior to coming to OSTP, Dr. Coller-Monarez served as the Director for Medical Preparedness Policy, White House National Security Council staff.  Prior to her White House assignments, Dr. Coller-Monarez was the Chief of the Threat Characterization and Attribution Branch within Department of Homeland Security and Biodefense Policy Advisor within the Department of Health and Human Services.   She has extensive expertise in the technical areas of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear risk assessments, microbial forensics, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical drug development, as well as extensive experience in domestic and international biosafety and biosecurity outreach and diplomacy.  She served on numerous advisory panels to include the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, Federal Experts Science Advisory Panel, the U.S./United Kingdom Science and Technology Advisory Group, and the European Union’s CBRN strategic planning advisory group.

Dr. Coller-Monarez was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy fellow and a research scientist in microbiology and immunology.  Her graduate work at the University of Wisconsin focused on immunology and neglected tropical diseases and her post-doctoral fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine combined traditional immunology with next generation technologies in molecular genetics and proteomics.

http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/events/abstract-coller-monarez.html