Tara O'Toole

Prior to her confirmation as Under Secretary (November 4, 2009), O'Toole founded, and served as chief executive officer and director of, the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Concurrently, she was a Professor of Medicine and of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. She stepped down from her position as Under Secretary on September 23, 2013

From 2006 to 2007, she chaired the board of the Federation of American Scientists. In 2006, she was appointed to the board of the Google Foundation's International Networked System for Total Early Disease Detection. From 2001 to 2003, she directed the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies. From 1993 to 1997, she served as the Assistant Secretary for Environment Safety and Health in the Department of Energy. From 1984 to 1988, she practiced general internal medicine in community health centers in Baltimore.

O'Toole is best known for her pre-pandemic disaster response exercises. She was a principal author and producer of Dark Winter (2001) and Atlantic Storm[http://www.atlantic-storm.org Atlantic Storm, Center for Biosecurity] (2005), both of which simulated a covert outbreak of smallpox in the United States. Many experts applauded these exercises for publicizing the country's surprising vulnerabilities, including a vaccine shortage.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A40751-2001Jul23?language=printer "U.S. Called Vulnerable to Biological Attack," Washington Post (July 24, 2001)]{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Critics charged that these exercises exaggerated the bioterror threat, leading to "an unnecessary increase in the number of research labs."[https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/05/dhs-new-geek-in-chief-is-a-biodefense-disaster-critics-say/ "DHS’ New Chief Geek Is a Bioterror ‘Disaster,’ Critics Charge," Danger Room (May 6, 2009)]

In her nomination hearing, O'Toole said that this controversy stemmed from her estimated "secondary transmission rate"; that is, the number of smallpox infections caused as a result of the initial infections. O'Toole claimed that her rate of 10 derived from "the available empirical data"[http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=19476eae-7f0c-403e-a1fe-f06160b2f7e7 O'Toole, Tara J., Congressional Testimony, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate (June 10, 2009)] and coincided with data from a 2001 article in the peer-reviewed journal, Nature.[http://www.nature.com/labinvest/journal/v81/n12/full/3780373a.html "The Pathology of Experimental Aerosolized Monkeypox Virus Infection in Cynomolgus Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)," Nature (May 2, 2001)]

O'Toole holds a bachelor's degree from Vassar College, an MD from George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, and a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In addition, she finished an internal medicine residency at Yale University and a fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/bio_1258999553595.shtm Official biography]
• [http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/061009Otoole.pdf Congressional testimony for nomination as Under Secretary]
• [http://www.whorunsgov.com/index.php?title=Profiles/Tara_O'Toole WhoRunsGov.com profile]
• {{C-SPAN|33586}}

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Category:George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Physicians from Maryland

Category:United States Department of Homeland Security officials

Category:Women government officials

Category:University of Pittsburgh faculty

Category:Vassar College alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni