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Representatives of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Washington D.C.-based Compressus, Inc., will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the Mississippi Biological Advanced Surveillance System (MBASS) Center of Excellence. Gov. Haley Barbour will host participants in the signing, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 30, in the Governor’s Office at the Woolfolk Building in downtown Jackson.
Scheduled to participate in the signing are Dr. Daniel W. Jones, UMC vice chancellor for health affairs; Dr. Dav
id J. Dzielak, UMC associate vice chancellor for strategic research alliances; John B. Macfarlane, chief executive officer at Compressus; and Tom Campbell, chairman at Compressus. Barbour said the ceremony represents the “kind of partnership that we need to keep America strong and safe.”
“The creation of this Center of Excellence focuses all efforts on the goal of becoming the recognized leader in developing state-of-the-art tools for a nationally deployed biodefense alert system,” Barbour said.
Jointly staffed by UMC and Compressus experts, the center will be a collaborative effort to develop a framework for the research, development and insertion of advanced analytical tools and sensors for an improved medical surveillance capability. The project is assigned to be a three-year initiative that will include a baseline capability, spiral technology insertions and ongoing operational support through a statewide deployment.
Jones said the center will serve as an expert model for a national bio-surveillance interoperable system.
“We are pleased to be invited to participate in this collaborative effort to make our state and nation safer,” Jones said. “We are grateful for the governor’s interest in the collaborative relationship.”
Macfarlane highlighted that the U.S. General Accounting Office observed in May 2003 that, “Emerging information technologies could help to strengthen . . . the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies.”
“It is our mission at Compressus to bring to our nation the most advanced technologies that will prepare us to deal as early as possible with a natural or a malicious biological or chemical event,” Macfarlane said.
The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson is the health sciences campus of the University of Mississippi. More than 2000 students prepare for degrees in the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Health Related Professions, Dentistry and Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences. Research at the Medical Center occurs in every department in every school. In FY 2005, the institution was awarded $46 million in new grants and contracts. Compressus is a leading provider of Web-based and client/server enterprise solutions for telemedicine, bioterrorism and bio-surveillance, disaster-first responder communications, hospital bypass and resource management, and emergency operation center management for homeland security.
For more information, call Steve Perry at 202-742-4349 or Carmella Crockett at 202-742-4331, or visit the Compressus Web site (www.compressus.com).
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