A Strategic Vision for Biological Threat Reduction

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was asked to articulate a 5-year strategic vision for international health security programs and provide findings and recommendations on how to optimize the impact of the Department of Defense (DOD) Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) in fulfilling its biosafety and biosecurity mission. Because BTRP is just one of several U.S. government programs conducting international health security engagement, both the strategic vision and the success of the program rely on coordinating actions with the U.S. government as a whole and with its international partners. This report provides several recommendations for optimizing BTRP success in its current mission and the wider-looking strategic vision it proposes. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 The History of Cooperative Threat Reduction (1991-2018) 2 The Changing Biothreat Landscape 3 Addressing Biothreats through Successful Engagement 4 Key Roles for the Department of Defense in Biological Threat Reduction 5 Strategic Vision and the Way Forward 6 Key Findings and Recommendations References Appendix A: Committee Biographies Appendix B: Congressionally-Appropriated Funding for the Biological Threat Reduction Program (2007-2020) Appendix C: U.S. and International Agencies and Organizations Engaged in Global Health Security