Tara O'Toole

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Tara O'Toole
Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology
In office
November 4, 2009 – September 23, 2013
Personal details
Education
MPH
)

Tara O'Toole served as the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology from 2009 to 2013. She is currently a senior fellow and executive vice president at In-Q-Tel.[1]

Background

Prior to her confirmation as Under Secretary (November 4, 2009), O'Toole founded, and served as chief executive officer and director of, the

Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Concurrently, she was a Professor of Medicine and of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh
. She stepped down from her position as Under Secretary on September 23, 2013

From 2006 to 2007, she chaired the board of the

Assistant Secretary for Environment Safety and Health in the Department of Energy. From 1984 to 1988, she practiced general internal medicine in community health centers in Baltimore
.

Disaster response exercises

O'Toole is best known for her disaster response exercises. She was a principal author and producer of

bioterror threat, leading to an unnecessary increase in the number of research labs.[4]

In her nomination hearing, O'Toole said that this controversy stemmed from her estimated "secondary transmission rate"; that is, the number of smallpox infections caused as a result of the initial infections. O'Toole claimed that her rate of 10 derived from "the available empirical data"

Education

O'Toole holds a bachelor's degree from Vassar College, an MD from George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, and a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

References

  1. ^ O’Toole, Tara (2019-09-09). "Confronting catastrophic disasters with 21st century technologies". The Hill. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  2. ^ Atlantic Storm, Center for Biosecurity
  3. ^ "U.S. Called Vulnerable to Biological Attack," Washington Post (July 24, 2001)[dead link]
  4. ^ "DHS’ New Chief Geek Is a Bioterror ‘Disaster,’ Critics Charge," Danger Room (May 6, 2009)
  5. ^ O'Toole, Tara J., Congressional Testimony, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate (June 10, 2009)
  6. ^ "The Pathology of Experimental Aerosolized Monkeypox Virus Infection in Cynomolgus Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)," Nature (May 2, 2001)

External links