RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, February 23, 2016 – Dr. Rashid Chotani, a multi-disciplinary public health physician and recognized expert in the identification, surveillance, and diagnosis of human and zoonotic infectious diseases, has joined North Carolina-based global security consulting firm IEM as a Senior Scientist. Dr. Chotani will provide subject matter expertise in public health and biological preparedness, collaborating with other IEM experts to develop innovative approaches and solutions for challenges in the medical and bio-defense arenas.
Dr. Chotani, former Director of Medical Programs at TASC, Inc., has more than 20 years of public and private sector experience in biosecurity, bio-surveillance, and monitoring and developing counter measures for infectious diseases such as brucellosis, anthrax, plague, and hemorrhagic and viral diseases. He has authored or co-authored over 50 scientific peer-reviewed papers on topics ranging from planning for pandemics to identifying innovative surveillance methods for rapid detection of disease outbreaks and bioterrorism.
Through various positions, Dr. Chotani has provided key scientific leadership in medical defense to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO CBD). He managed the DTRA Joint Science & Technology Office (JSTO) multi-million dollar portfolio of applied research and development projects focused on developing FDA-compliant medical counter measure (MCM) vaccines and therapeutics. He also established and managed the Medical Surveillance Systems and Medical Effects Modeling Thrust Areas program, which is currently the second largest division at JSTO. He combined integrated early warning detection and real-time epidemiology, medical and syndromic surveillance, and modeling and simulation to develop technologies and models that could identify anomalies related to infectious diseases in active warfighters. As a contractor at JPEO CBD, he served as the Chief Scientist for the Joint Project Manager Chemical and Biological Medical Systems, managing a $500 million, multi-year program for MCM advanced development and establishing the bio-surveillance program with a focus on bio-threat agents.
In the academic field, Dr. Chotani served as an Assistant Professor at the School of Medicine and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where he established and directed the Global Infectious Disease Surveillance and Alert System (GIDSAS). He was the Primary Investigator on a Department of Defense (DoD)-funded grant to evaluate the endemicity of circulating infectious diseases in developing and data-poor reporting countries. These infectious disease surveillance projects operated in Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.
At the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratories he was part of the team that designed the first Early Detection of Bioterrorism System that became operational as ESSENCE at DoD. Components of ESSENCE are being utilized in BioSense at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“For more than a decade, IEM’s biomodeling and visualization capabilities have helped decision makers improve the nation’s preparedness for biological events of all kinds,” said Madhu Beriwal, IEM President and Chief Executive Officer. “With Dr. Chotani on board, we are able to offer an even greater depth of expertise to our customers in the biological preparedness and public health arenas.”
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About IEM
IEM is a global security consulting firm dedicated to building a safe, secure, and resilient world. A minority, woman-owned enterprise, IEM works with government agencies and private sector organizations around the world to improve protection and security for lives and infrastructure and to help states, regions, and communities prepare for and recover more quickly from disasters. We integrate science, technology, and real-world experience to provide each of our customers with solutions that work and outcomes that matter. For more information please visit www.iem.com.
