TASC, Inc. Appoints Rashid Chotani to Lead Chemical-Biological Defense Programs

CHANTILLY, Va., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Rashid Chotani, M.D., M.P.H., has joined TASC, Inc. as director of Chemical-Biological Defense Programs.  In this role, Chotani will lead chemical and biological programs that support the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), U.S. Army and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as civilian agencies such as Department of Homeland Security, National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.

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"Rashid brings more than 15 years of deep experience in public health, medicine and biodefense," says Pamela Drew, vice president of Enterprise Systems at TASC.  "We look forward to his leadership in integrating our chem/bio programs with warfighter, first responder and law enforcement organizations."

With expertise that spans areas such as microbiology, infectious diseases, drug-development, disaster mitigation, and bioinformatics, Chotani has served on numerous medical evaluation, modeling and simulation and other biodefense committees and task forces.    Before TASC, Chotani served as chief scientist to the Joint Project Manager-Chemical Biological Medical Systems at the Department of Defense (DOD).  There he led teams of scientists in developing, acquiring and fielding Chemical Biological Radiological & Nuclear (CBRN) vaccines as well as therapeutic and diagnostic tools with the ultimate goal of securing FDA approval for the warfighter.

Prior to DOD, Chotani held senior posts at DTRA, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Public Health.  Among Chotani's notable accomplishments is the development of the HL-7 Specifications for Electronic Laboratory-Based Reporting of Public Health Information, which has now become a CDC standard for the nation. While at Hopkins, Chotani developed the first proof of concept for early detection of bioterrorism agents, prompting the creation of several related U.S. surveillance programs.  He holds multiple patents for this work, including "Methods and System for Bio-Surveillance Detection and Alerting," of which he is a co-inventor. His guidance laid the groundwork for Syndromic Surveillance that is now taught as a discipline at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and contributes to the U.S. BioSense Program. His initiatives at DTRA resulted in "Bioinformatics," a new capability area incorporated into the agency's Chemical Biological Directorate.  

Chotani earned an M.D. at Eugenio Maria de Hostos School of Medicine in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as well as a master's in public health and diploma in tropical medicine from The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

About TASC

Founded in 1966, TASC, Inc., is the leading, non-conflicted provider of advanced systems engineering, integration and decision-support services to the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense and civilian agencies of the federal government. A unit of Northrop Grumman Corporation from 2001 to 2009, TASC became an independent company in December 2009. With 5,000 employees in 38 locations, TASC generates more than $1.6 billion in annual revenue. For more information and career opportunities, visit our website at www.tasc.com.

Media Contact:  Christine Nyirjesy Bragale, [email protected], (703) 653-5996.

SOURCE TASC, Inc.