SUNY Upstate president to head biodefense council
Gregory L. Eastwood, M.D., president of the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, has been named chair of a newly created Biodefense Council that will explore ways academic health centers can protect against terrorism.
The Biodefense Council has been established by the Association of Academic Health Centers (AHC) to examine how academic health centers are participating in the development and operation of defenses against bioterrorism and other defense-related threats.
The announcement of the council's formation and Eastwood's appointment as chair was made yesterday in Washington, D.C.
"Academic health centers, such as Upstate Medical University, are uniquely situated to be a leader in the domestic war on terrorism, with all its ramifications education, research, and emergency preparedness," Eastwood noted. "The creation of the Biodefense Council is an outgrowth of our post-September 11 actions and highlights our commitment to protecting the nation's health and well being in the many realms of academic health center responsibilities."
Joining Eastwood on the Biodefense Council are representatives from the University of Kentucky, Emory University, New York Institute of Technology and University of Rochester Medical Center, among others.
Eastwood formerly served as past chair of the AHC's board of directors. He serves on the boards of several national medical organizations and has served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other organizations in China, Japan, Great Britain and throughout Europe. Eastwood has served as president of SUNY Upstate Medical University for nearly 10 years and has held faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School, the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Medical College of Georgia, where he served as dean.
The AHC is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of people by advancing the leadership of academic health centers in education, biomedical and health services research and health care delivery.