The general public often assumes that medical products will be available to members of the U.S. armed forces in harm's way. Availability of safe and effective drugs and vaccines, however, is never an accident; such products are the fruition of focused and methodical research, testing and evaluation over many years. Medical research is inherently a high risk endeavor, and even the most efficient programs can span almost 15 years and cost over $1 billion from product discovery to Food and Drug Administration licensure. In this monograph, Colonel Coleen Martinez examines the productivity of the Department of Defense's biodefense research program over the course of more than 35 years, coupled with changes in the global research environment since the events of September 11, 2001. Few will argue the need for a national investment in biodefense. Where the deployment of a biologic agent of mass destruction is largely an unpredictable risk, the outcome certainly could be catastrophic for an unprotected population.

The author examines the productivity of the Department of Defense's biodefense research program over the course of more than 35 years, coupled with changes in the global research environment since the events of September 11, 2001. Where the deployment of a biologic agent of mass destruction is largely an unpredictable risk, the outcome certainly could be catastrophic for an unprotected population. An urgent moral imperative is cast upon the federal government, then, to objectively assess the application and management of its biodefense research resources.