WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), with financial support from Schmidt Futures, announced that six organ procurement organizations (OPOs) have joined the FAS Organ Procurement Organization Innovation Cohort, committing to use data science and transparency to accelerate improved patient outcomes and to inform ongoing, data-driven policy development. 

This follows the finalization of the bipartisan, scientifically-informed OPO rule that can save more than 7,000 lives each year, and which has been highlighted by both Senate and House leaders as an urgent equity issue. Given COVID-19’s potential to affect and attack organs, coupled with its disproportionate impact on communities of color, the need for reform is only intensifying.

Through the Federation of American Scientists, the OPO Innovation Cohort will share data to establish open and transparent lines of communication between OPOs as nonprofit government contractors and the public they serve, including branches of the federal government, in an effort to build trust and support further reforms that will save patient lives. (See data visualization from the OPO final rule here.)

Working with alumni from the United States Digital Service, over the next 12 months the Innovation Cohort will leverage the most granular OPO data ever shared with external researchers to inform ongoing policy development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and in Congress. During a transformative period in the organ procurement industry, the Innovation Cohort will help shape the future of organ recovery in America, improving OPO practice and informing OPO policy. Most importantly, the Innovation Cohort will help return OPOs to their core mission by singly focusing on striving toward new heights of operational excellence in order to increase organ transplants in an effort to best serve the public, organ donors, donor families and patients waiting for transplants.

In the coming months, the FAS OPO Innovation Cohort will share additional de-identified, retrospective data with the Federation of American Scientists to be published openly – including all referrals for donation made to the OPOs with every outcome documented, audits of hospital-level deaths, OPO financials (including organ acquisition charges), procurement and organ recovery data from organ recovery centers, and staffing models – and will work actively to source data science partners and researchers to mine these datasets for performance improvement insights.

“COVID-19’s ravaging effect on organs has further increased the urgency of accelerating accountability for the government’s contractors in organ donation. Transparency is a critical first step, and the Federation of American Scientists applauds today’s commitments from six OPO leaders to break from their peers and prioritize patients and the public interest.”

Federation of American Scientists Acting President Dan Correa

“So many of the problems and inefficiencies of the organ waiting list are solvable, but we need a new, data-driven approach. We look forward to seeing how the OPO Innovation Cohort, paired with interdisciplinary talent, can bring transformational change to a sector in dire need of it.”

Schmidt Futures Managing Director and Head of Partnerships Kumar Garg

 

The six OPO CEOs below have underscored their commitment to the following principles:

• Transparency: public sharing of data/analysis in order to set a standard to which all OPOs can be held;
• Accountability: support for the OPO final rule, and any efforts to move up implementation date so all parts of the country can be served by high-performing OPOs as soon as possible in 2024; and
• Equity: commitment to analyzing/publishing data to ensure all parts of community served.

Diane Brockmeier, Mid-America Transplant

Helen Irving, LiveOnNY

Ginny McBride, Our Legacy

Patti Niles, Southwest Transplant Alliance

Kelly Ranum, Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency

Matthew Wadsworth, LifeConnection of Ohio

 

Further, as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform is investigating “poor performance, waste, and mismanagement in organ transplant industry”, the OPOs in the FAS OPO Innovation Cohort offer themselves as a resource for Congressional staff, noting their commitment to transparency, accountability, and equity, setting a standard to which all OPOs should be held. The participating OPOs have informed AOPO that they are leaving AOPO, noting the Committee’s investigation into AOPO’s “lobbying against life-saving reforms.”

A full visualization of the final rule from Bloom can be viewed here.

The Federation of American Scientists is pleased to introduce Fall 2020 Scoville Fellow, Ishan Sharma. The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship, established in 1987, is a highly-competitive national program that provides recent college and graduate school alumni with the opportunity to work on key issues of peace and security in Washington, D.C.

Ishan will be working on issues at the intersection of emerging technologies and international security, as well as global biosecurity. From artificial intelligence, surveillance, Internet governance, and China-US cyber strategies, his wide array of interests and skills will be fostered at FAS through various research projects and publications. 

“The exponential increase in the power of science and technology brings with it a tremendous amount of good, but also opens the door for certain individuals, non-state actors, and even governments to misuse those advances for nefarious purposes,” said FAS President Ali Nouri. “We are thrilled to have Ishan Sharma from the prestigious Scoville fellowship, working to reduce those risks.” “I don’t know of many recent college graduates that have the privilege of leading their own research and writing projects.” Ishan said about his placement at FAS. “I am looking forward to working closely with FAS staff and leadership team on this exciting project.”

Ishan Sharma

Recently, Ishan won the New America U.S. Security Policy essay contest, for his proposal that counters digital authoritarianism by imagining a liberal-democratic model of AI surveillance. The article, which will be published soon, is best summarized by Ishan himself: 

“AI surveillance is a technology that isn’t going away anytime soon. Bans are a temporary fix, and in the meantime, China is exporting the technology across the world to empower digital authoritarians to crush dissent. It is incumbent upon the U.S.—the world’s technological powerhouse–not only to produce cutting-edge tech but to work with our allies to design global models for ethical use. And it starts on our home turf.”

Former Scoville Fellows have gone on to pursue graduate degrees in international relations and related fields and have taken prominent positions in peace and security with public-interest organizations, the federal government, academia, and more. To date, 193 fellowships have been awarded.

###

Washington, DC, June 30, 2020

Mr. Doug Parker
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
American Airlines

Mr. Scott Kirby
Chief Executive Officer
United Airlines

Dear Mr. Parker and Mr. Kirby,

As representative of an organization dedicated to a safe and more secure world, I write to express my strong concerns about your recent decisions to return to booking your airlines’ flights to capacity.

COVID-19 spreads easily and is deadly — as of Tuesday afternoon on June 30th, there have been over 2.6 million confirmed infections and, tragically, more than 126,000 deaths in the US alone. The coronavirus — SARS-CoV-2 — is primarily spread “through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks,” and some of those droplets are aerosolized, remaining airborne for tens of minutes. Moreover, COVID-19 can be transmitted efficiently “by people who are not showing symptoms.” These factors make it all the more critical to follow public health guidance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people put at least six feet of distance between themselves and those outside of their households, in addition to taking other preventative measures such as covering the mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others. Even air travel at 50 percent capacity, or flights with middle seats left open, while not allowing six feet of distance between people, would be better than nothing.

In light of all this, your decisions to book flights to capacity place your crew and your passengers in excessive danger. That’s why it is also drawing criticism from government experts. The country’s top two federal public health officials — Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Robert Redfield, CDC director — described your actions as problematic and deeply disappointing at today’s Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing.

For all of these reasons, I urge you to immediately reverse your decision and to protect your passengers and crew from COVID-19 to the extent possible.

Ali Nouri, PhD

President, Federation of American Scientists

The Federation of American Scientists is proud to announce that Hans Kristensen, Nuclear Information Project director, is honored as a Carnegie Corporation of New York 2020 Great Immigrant, Great American.

The Great Immigrant, Great American initiative is a tribute to its namesake, the Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, and recognizes American immigrants who have contributed greatly to American life in a variety of fields. Honorees like Hans Kristensen demonstrate an exceptional commitment to excellence in fields of research, art, medicine, entrepreneurship, and more. 

Kristensen oversees the Nuclear Information Project, called by the Washington Post “one of the most widely sourced agencies for nuclear warhead counts,” which publishes the world-famous Nuclear Notebook and SIPRI overview of world nuclear forces. He is a frequent consultant to and is widely referenced in national and international news media on the role and status of nuclear weapons.

“I’m deeply honored and humbled to receive this award. As a nuclear weapons analyst, you don’t get many,” said Kristensen upon receiving the award. “So as a newly naturalized citizen, this award is double meaningful to me.”

“When it comes to striving for a safer world, Hans Kristensen is a national treasure. He is a testament to all the ways immigrants make our country great. FAS and the United States are lucky to have him,” FAS President Ali Nouri said about Kristensen. 

Gilman Louie, FAS Chairman and member of the US National Security Commission for Artificial Intelligence, said: “In the great tradition of the Federation of American Scientists, Hans has made the world safer by increasing public transparency on global nuclear forces and proliferation. Hans brought his exceptional analytic skills to better this country and is the embodiment of a great American and scholar, well deserving of this award.”

Rosina Bierbaum, FAS Vice Chair, former White House science advisor, and UMD Professor, said: “American science is strong because of the influx of talent and scholarship from other countries working together to improve the human condition and Hans Kristensen is the embodiment of great American science. For four decades, Hans has worked to ‘foresee and forestall’ the threat of nuclear weapons around the world. He is most deserving of this recognition.”

Joan Rohlfing, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nuclear Threat Initiative, said: “Congratulations to Hans Kristensen for this well-deserved recognition. His outstanding research, analysis and advocacy has been essential to greater public understanding and debate on reducing global nuclear threats, a critical step toward a safer world.”

Frank von Hippel, former FAS Chair and Princeton University Professor, said: “This award is richly deserved. Hans Kristensen is probably the most cited analyst in the nuclear arms control community. He and his collaborators provide authoritative and regularly updated assessments of  the nuclear weapons and ‘delivery vehicles’ of all the nuclear-weapon states and make key contributions to the literature on such subjects.”

Sharon K. Weiner, American University Associate Professor and former White House Office of Management and Budget analyst, said: “Hans Kristensen is one of the most highly regarded nuclear weapons analysts in the world, and his work serves as a constant key reference point for international efforts aimed at understanding, explaining, reducing and eliminating the threat from nuclear weapons to humankind and the planet. He is a national treasure.”

For more information about the Great Immigrant, Great American award, to see the full 2020 cohort, and past recipients, visit the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s website here.

###

The demonstrations that we are witnessing across the nation are in direct response to police violence and to systemic racism that has plagued this country from its birth.

All officers responsible for the senseless killing of George Floyd — which follows a pattern of police brutality against countless other black Americans — must be fully prosecuted under the law.

Justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other victims will be one step in a long process that is required to bring healing to the country.

The Federation of American Scientists stands with black Americans who have endured centuries of institutional racism that has contributed to everything from disproportionate negative health outcomes in the midst of a pandemic to the killing of unarmed individuals by those who are sworn to protect them.

FAS was created to promote peace and stability throughout the world. As such, we must redouble our own efforts to fight all forms of racism, and to strive for diversity and inclusiveness in our own organization and throughout our community.

Washington, DC, March 18, 2020

Today, the Federation of American Scientists, the Governance Lab at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, and the State of New Jersey  Office of Innovation launched a free interactive tool to help answer the public’s questions on COVID-19 virus in English and Spanish. 

“Ask a Scientist,” located at covid19.fas.org offers answers to questions about the nature of the virus, public health data on the outbreak, guidance on how to protect against contracting the virus, and even information for travellers. All the content is sourced from WHO, CDC, and other reliable and verified sources, researched and edited for readability and clarity by a team of scientific experts. 

“We are in the midst of what could become the greatest infectious disease outbreak of our time,” FAS President Ali Nouri says about the new collaboration. “The public deserves science-based information during this crisis and we’re proud of this partnership to provide that.” 

To use the service, a person types in a question. If they don’t find the answer they need, they can click “Ask a Scientist” and receive a researched answer by a team of FAS researchers and a crowdsourced network of vetted science experts led by the National Science Policy Network. Every answer is sourced, cited and dated to ensure accuracy and timeliness. Answers are then added to the knowledge base for the benefit of others.

“We are getting all hands on deck, and engaging a global volunteer network of scientists, journalists and other experts to lend their know how to provide rapid and accurate information that will help slow the spread of this disease and mitigate its impact,” says Professor Beth Simone Noveck, Director of the Governance Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and Chief Innovation Officer for the State of New Jersey.

In addition to providing the public with key information on COVID-19 virus, Ask a Scientist is also designed to dispel myths and disinformation on coronavirus that is circulating online and on social media. 

Ask a Scientist will also be live on the Amazon Alexa by the end of the week. Just say “Alexa, Ask a Scientist” followed by your COVID-19 questions to access the service by voice. 

To visit Ask a Scientist, click here.

###