UNC/NCSU project to speed up data analysis, fight terrorism

Across North Carolina, doctors, veterinarians and other health care providers routinely collect reams of data.

The problem is getting the data to the right people, and fast.

That's the idea behind the new North Carolina Bio-Preparedness Collaborative, or, the cleverly-named NCB-Prepared, for short. Unveiled Monday, the project is a joint venture between scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State, various state and federal agencies, and SAS, the software giant.

The idea is to use computers to link all these disparate forms of data to quickly root out indicators of new disease, or food-borne illness, or, in a worst-case scenario, an attack of bio-terrorism.

The project is funded for now through a one-year, $5 million congressional grant snared thanks to U.S. Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill. Project leaders hope to make enough progress over the next year to warrant further funding, with the audacious eventual goal of creating a national model for detection of bioterror and public health threats.

"Because this is being designed to be scale-able and adaptable to different environments, I truly believe...this may lead to advances in our security nationwide," Price said Monday.

The key obstacle, officials at a kickoff event Monday, has long been mixing information collection from different sources. The new project hopes to collect and analyze information gleaned from sources as varied as emergency rooms, veterinary exams and county health clinics.

Read Tuesday's News & Observer for more.