The International Institute of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Biotechnology Center will hold a community forum on “Bio-terrorism and Security in a World of Uncertainty,” Thursday, April 18 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Genetics/Biotechnology Center Auditorium, 425 Henry Mall on the UW-Madison campus. The forum, part of the Institute”s ongoing commitment to address issues raised by events surrounding September 11, 2001, is free and open to the public.

While past forums have dealt with foreign and domestic policy questions surrounding last fall”s terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan, this forum deals with the global issues of building design, food safety, international exchanges among researchers, and the impacts of bio-terrorism on the direction and funding of life-sciences research. Speakers and their talks include:

* Lawrence Bank, Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering – “Building-Vulnerability Science: Protecting People with Better Buildings”
* Eric Johnson, Professor, Dept. of Food Microbiology and Toxicology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences – “Security of High-consequence Microbial Agents and Toxins: The Impact on University Research”
* Michael Pariza, Professor, Dept. of Food Microbiology and Toxicology (CALS) – “Food Safety, International Trade and Regulation”
* Pilar Ossorio, Assistant Professor of Law and Medical Ethics, UW Law School – “Bio-terrorism and Security: Ethics and Biological Research”

The forum will be moderated by Tom Zinnen, biotechnology policy and outreach specialist at the Biotechnology Center, UW-Madison and UW-Extension.