FBI outreach programs in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania aim to establish stronger relationships between the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Coordinators and professionals in the life sciences and healthcare industries to prevent and mitigate potential threats involving biological agents.
Hillsborough, NJ, October 6, 2016 – Bio Pharma Networking Group (BPNG) announced today a series of regional FBI biothreat briefings. The goal of these informational sessions is to increase awareness and developed strong relationships with organizations in their regions. The outreach also would like to increase communication about questionable and/or suspicious incidents that could occur at universities or corporate settings.
“We are very excited about our alignment with the FBI”, said Stan Radomski, Founder BPNG. “We launched our speaker program almost two years ago and to have such a timely topic, especially given recent threat events in New Jersey and New York, is proof that our organization is truly delivering vital resources and connections to our membership.” BPNG monthly events are free networking events open to professionals in the life sciences and healthcare markets. Interested attendees can register at the BPNG website at www.bpng.org. The October events include:
NYBPNG: October 12, 2016 6 PM-8 PM
Pride Global, Graybar Building, 420 Lexington Avenue, 30th Floor, NYC, NY
NJBPNG: October 18, 2016 6 PM-9 PM
Rutgers Cook Student Center, Room 202 ABC, 59 Biel Road, New Brunswick, NJ
PABPNG: October 12, 2016 6 PM-9 PM
Hilton Garden Inn, 530 Pennsylvania Ave, Fort Washington, PA
MABPNG: October 18, 2016 6 PM-9 PM
Harvard University, Yenching Auditorium, Room 118, 2 Divinity Ave Cambridge, MA
“This is our first multi-region speaker program”, said Regina Reynolds, BPNG brand director. “My first introduction to the FBI taskforce was at Bio2015. Since then, we have been working together to deliver this important informational briefing to our membership and the larger scientific community. We are honored that the FBI is taking the time from their demand schedules to educate our participants.”
About the Speakers
NYBPNG: Special Agent Rawson has 14 years of experience with the FBI - six years in the White Collar Crime area, six years in Intelligence, and two years in Weapons of Mass Destruction. He is currently the WMD Coordinator of the New York Field Office and a member of the Hazardous Evidence Response Team (HERT). Prior to joining the FBI, he worked as an environmental scientist and has a B.S. in Biology.
NJBPNG: Special Agent Nawrocki is assigned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newark Division. He currently is assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) Squad CT-4, which is responsible for Weapons of Mass Destruction Operations, Domestic Terrorism Operations and Special Events Management. He has been assigned to the JTTF for fourteen years, investigating International Terrorism, Domestic Terrorism and Lone Offender subjects. He is the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Coordinator for the Newark Division and has over thirteen years of experience responding to and investigating WMD threats and incidents. SA Nawrocki has a Bachelor of Science degree from Daemen College, Amherst, New York. He has previous experience in the firefighting, emergency medical services, hospital and hazardous materials response fields.
PABPNG: Special Agent Bosch is a twenty-one-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is currently assigned to the Philadelphia Division Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), the FBI’s Hazardous Evidence Response Team (HERT) and is a HAZMAT Technician. Immediately after the events of September 11, 2001, he was part of a contingent of Philadelphia Special Agents who were dispatched to assist in the recovery efforts in Staten Island, NY. In October 2001 he was assigned to the AMERITHRAX investigation where he conducted HERT operations at the AMI building in Boca Raton, Florida, and at several of the contaminated postal facilities in the Trenton, New Jersey, area. Special Agent Bosch earned his BA in Accounting at West Chester University and holds a CPA.
MABPNG: Special Agent Cabral, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Coordinator of the Boston Field Office, who has 11 years of experience with the FBI – 5 years with violent crime/gangs/cyber investigations and six years in Weapons of Mass Destruction. He is currently the WMD Coordinator of the Boston Field Office, assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) Squad CT-2, which is responsible for Weapons of Mass Destruction Operations, Domestic Terrorism Operations, Hazardous Materials Response, Explosive Ordinance Response, Evidence Response, and Special Events Management. SA Cabral has a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Gordon College, Wenham, MA and a MSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics from The University of Oxford, UK.
About BPNG
Bio Pharma Networking Group (BPNG), founded in 2012, is a not-for-profit, all-inclusive life and health science community with over 6,000 members that actively promote the “real power” of networking through LinkedIn and monthly regional events. The organization currently has Chapters in five States: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. BPNG serves both scientific and non-scientific professionals who have a passion for the biosciences. BPNG’s goal is to support professionals, grow the industry and make local communities sustainable for bioscience career development. For more information or to start a new chapter: www.bpng.org
About FBI Biosecurity Outreach 1
The countermeasures section of the WMD Directorate has implemented a successful biosecurity outreach program. Through this program, the FBI and its WMD Coordinators from each of its 56 field offices in the U.S. have reached out to members of the scientific community to build trust and relationships among these organizations. These Coordinators stand ready to help scientific institutions minimize real and perceived threats before an incident occurs and deal with the consequences of an incident that has taken place.
The goal of the FBI outreach program is to establish strong relationships between the WMD Coordinators and key officials from research institutions to prevent and mitigate potential threats involving biological agents. FBI WMD Coordinators have initiated a series of dialogues and outreach activities with universities, the private sector, and amateur biologists to build trust and open lines of communication between the FBI and these groups. Outreach activities include table top exercises and case studies to facilitate discussion about differences in mission, roles and responsibilities, and perceptions of incidents. These efforts highlight and build on a shared goal of serving the public good.
Since 2009, several local FBI WMD Coordinators have developed strong relationships with university officials in their region and have received invitations to participate in emergency response exercises for select agent laboratories. The outreach has also resulted in communication about questionable and/or suspicious incidents that have occurred at universities. However, negative perceptions associated with the FBI and their approaches and methods still prohibit or limit complete and open communication between some universities and their local WMD Coordinator. Consequently, the FBI continues its outreach program by engaging with research institutions, individually or through partnering with different scientific or educational organizations on issues that plague the institutions daily and by using constructive, not alarming, methods. This approach has gained the FBI’s WMD Directorate interested partners and audiences from a number of sectors within the scientific community. The approach also underscores the mutual benefit of partnerships between the scientific community and FBI.
1. Bridging Science and Security for Biological Research:
A Dialogue between Universities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Report of a Meeting February 21-22, 2012 - Prepared by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in conjunction with the Association of American Universities, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
For more information contact: Regina Reynolds, BPNG Brand Director on Mobile: 323-929-9938
