2017 Bronze Medal Award

Dr. Lin is recognized for leading the deployment of a quantitative test material used in a full-scale field exercise for first responders to demonstrate their ability to detect a biothreat incident. The field test, carried out with the support of federal, state, and local governments, used a yeast material that enabled first responders to safely test their biothreat detection processes by serving as a surrogate for actual biothreat agents. The material makes possible safe first-responder training, and provides confidence in on-site biothreat detection. Use of this material to confirm the sample-to-result workflow in the field increases confidence in on-site results for informing public safety decisions in a true biothreat incident.