University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences faculty Ruth Carrico, PhD, RN, CIC, A.Scott LaJoie PhD, W.Paul McKinney, PhD and John Myers PhD will participate in a newly-funded National Institite for Hometown Security contract to develop a real-time decision support system that will allow health, public health and emergency services responders to allocate and/or reallocate resources in the event of a pandemic.

Dr. Sunderesh Heragu from the University of Louisville JB Speed School of Engineering is the Principal Investigator on the project, which has been funded for $3.3 million over the course of three years. 

Dr. Ruth Carrico will focus her research on protecting health care workers by assessing the capability and physical, behavioral and emotional responses to recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding the use of personal protective equipment while caring for patients.

Dr. A.Scott LaJoie will evaluate and develop training programs to ensure the mental health needs of healthcare and emergency services responders are met as they provide services during a pandemic or other disaster.