[E-updates] MEDIA ADVISORY: Agencies to learn from Center for Biosecurity

[Lisa Patterson]

MEDIA ADVISORY  
CITY OF LAWRENCE
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005
 

Contact: Lisa Patterson, communications manager, (785) 832-3406

 
Agencies to learn from Center for Biosecurity
 

(LAWRENCE, KS) - The City of Lawrence is hosting a presentation titled "How to Lead during Bioattacks with the Public's Trust and Help: A manual for Mayors, Governors and Top Health Officials".  The presentation delivers advice to leaders on helpful approaches to the complex situation of a bioattack.  

 

Lawrence officials along officials from with Baldwin, Eudora, Lecompton and Douglas County, area universities, school district and health officials have the opportunity to hear from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Center for Biosecurity staff Onora Lien. Lien will present a guide to help leaders consider the decision-making challenges before a crisis emerges.

 

Lien will present the material on Wednesday, Nov. 16 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Auditorium.

 

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Interview opportunities:

Lien will be available for interviews on the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 15; the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 16 and immediately following the afternoon presentation.

Please schedule an interview by contacting Lisa Patterson at (785) 832-3406.

 

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Lien Biography

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Onora Lien, M.A.

Center for Biosecurity of UPMC

621 E. Pratt Street, Ste 210

Baltimore, MD 21202

443-739-0524

olien at upmc-biosecurity.org

http://www.upmc-biosecurity.org

 

Ms. Lien is an analyst with the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which is an independent, non-profit organization that works to affect policy and practice in ways that lessen the illness, death and civil disruption that would follow large-scale epidemics, whether they occur naturally or result from the use of a biological weapon.  Prior to joining this Center, Ms. Lien was a Research Assistant at the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies.

 

Broadly her research and work concerns how individuals, communities and organizations prepare for and respond to public health emergencies. Since Spring 2001 she has been involved with research pertaining to "the people's role in public health preparedness," which advocates for greater inclusion of the general public in emergency planning and response. Work in this realm includes a national study of public communication experiences during the anthrax attacks and a study of volunteer participation and experiences in New York City following the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. She has served as an advisor to the Baltimore City Department of Health on public and risk communication and to community based volunteer groups that are involved in emergency preparedness education and outreach. Ms. Lien is a member of the Coalition for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, sponsored by the Trust for America's Health and has extensive experience in organizing briefings on pandemic influenza for varied audiences ranging from private businesses to members of Congress.

 

Ms. Lien is currently involved in research on public-private partnerships for public health emergency planning. She leads a research team that is investigating the possible roles for private industries such as grocery stores, wholesale clubs and pharmacies in responding to public health emergencies.  She is also investigating the public-private partnerships that emerged during the response to the Gulf Coast catastrophe following Hurricane Katrina.

 

She is an associate researcher and fellow with the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism (NC START), a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence based at the University of Maryland that focuses on the social and behavioral aspects of terrorism and counter-terrorism. Her research in this realm is aimed at deriving best practices and principles for involving the public in planning for bioterrorism and other public health emergencies.

 

Ms. Lien is an Associate Editor for the peer-reviewed journal, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Science and Practice. She is a member of the Working Group on Governance Dilemmas in Bioterrorism Response and a co-author of the Working Group's report, Leading during Bioattacks and Epidemics with the Public's Trust and Help, published in Biosecurity and Bioterrorism. She was also a principal member of the project team that produced How to Lead during Bioattacks with the Public's Trust and Help: A Manual for Governors, Mayors and Top Health Officials. 

 

Ms. Lien received her B.A. in Sociology from Pacific Lutheran University and her M.A. in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University. Her background includes training in the sociology of disasters and public health emergencies, medical sociology, the history of public health and infectious disease control and civil society.

 

 

 

_____________________________

Lisa K. Patterson

Communications Manager

City of Lawrence

PO Box 708

Lawrence, KS 66044

(785) 832-3406

fax (785) 832-3405

lpatterson at ci.lawrence.ks.us

http://www.lawrenceks.org

 

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