D.A. Henderson

he man credited with eradicating smallpox, D.A. Henderson, is on the front lines again with a new venture he hopes will set states on a path to preparedness for bioterrorism. The 75-year-old Henderson, who's been threatening for years to retire, and longtime colleague Tara O'Toole basically uprooted the respected Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies and transplanted its affiliation to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (although center staff will continue to work from Baltimore). Henderson said that Hopkins wasn't working closely enough with the Baltimore community to develop a comprehensive bioterrorism preparedness plan that could be a model for other communities.

After the anthrax attacks of 2001, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson recruited Henderson to direct the Office of Public Health Preparedness. Henderson organized the department's early efforts, but he told Thompson that he wouldn't stay long. "There are some things that you can do from the private sector, in terms of flexibility and credibility, that are more difficult to do in the federal government," Henderson said. "Being imbedded in an academic center with resources, and being able to work with local health departments [helps to create] a fair paradigm for many communities."

Henderson, a Lakewood, Ohio, native, graduated from Oberlin College. He received his medical degree from the University of Rochester. From 1966 to 1977, Henderson directed the World Health Organization's global smallpox-eradication campaign. After he left WHO, Henderson served as faculty dean at the Hopkins School of Public Health. Beginning in 1990, he was associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Office of the President, and later was deputy assistant secretary and senior science adviser at the Health and Human Services Department.