MSEE Seminar: Dr. Akeisha N. Owens,”Modeling and Simulation (M&S) of Biological Weapons Agents and Infectious Diseases”

Please contact Veronica Turner for connection information.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Technical Reachback Division, located in DTRA’s
Research and Development Directorate (RD), is a team of subject matter experts (SMEs) from
chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and (high) explosive (CBRNE), and medical fields.
Technical Reachback SMEs provide 24/7/365 technical consultation and computational decision
support to the Department of Defense, interagency partners throughout the federal
government, and pertinent leadership worldwide. Technical Reachback capabilities support
deliberate, adaptive, and crisis operations using various modeling tools to provide timely and
accurate predictions of CBRNE events.

The Biological Team within the Technical Reachback Division supports the mission to provide
timely and cutting-edge scientific and technical support to safeguard the nation, to reduce
casualties and assist decision-making during medical and health-related emergencies involving
CBRNE hazards. The biological team consists of SMEs with advanced degrees in biomedical
fields such as clinical medicine, epidemiology, microbiology, molecular biology and virology
that model the release, transport, and dispersion, and transmission of biological agents and
infectious diseases within a given population. This presentation highlights the mission,
capabilities, and sample products produced by the Technical Reachback Division Biological
Team at DTRA.

Dr. Akeisha Owens is a microbiologist with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). At DTRA, Dr. Owens leads a team of biological and medical subject matter experts that perform modeling and simulation to anticipate and mitigate the effects of biological threats. Dr. Owens received her doctorate in microbiology from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2014. Dr. Owens is an Innovative scientist with over 10 years of research and clinical experience across microbial genetics, molecular biology, and biodefense. She is currently a member of the American Society for Microbiology as well as a board certified member of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. For her leadership and timely response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Owens was awarded the High level Civilian of the Second Quarter of 2020 as well as the Research and Development Directorate Technical Achievement for the First Quarter of 2020 from DTRA.