Congresswoman Susan Brooks visits Purdue

Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., came to Purdue on Monday to meet with some of the University‘s leading scientists in the battle to end the Zika virus’ threat to the world.

Brooks represents Indiana’s 5th Congressional District in the House of Representatives.

She said, “I served as what’s called the Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer from October 2001 until 2007. During that time is when... Anthrax had been delivered to Senate offices and to other offices in Washington, D.C., trying to kill people, quite frankly, and to cause significant harm. Even my office, as U.S. Attorney, received fake anthrax, powder someone had sent in the mail.”

Since that point, she has been very concerned about the possibility of bioterrorist attacks against the United States.

“The nation has not moved ahead nearly to the extent that we should have moved ahead after the anthrax attacks and after 9/11,” she said.

This lack of progress is precisely the reason Brooks visited Purdue University, which has recently made a series of major developments in the fight against dangerous diseases, such as the Zika virus.

Tomás Díaz de la Rubia is the chief scientist and executive director of Discovery Park as well as a professor of materials science and engineering for the College of Engineering and a professor of strategic management (by courtesy) in the Krannert School of Management.

“Rep. Susan Brooks came to visit the Purdue campus driven by her interest and passion for finding solutions to the threat of infectious diseases such as the Zika virus,” he said. “Purdue researchers, lead by Professor Richard Kuhn, director of the Purdue Institute for Infectious Disease, Immunology and Inflammation at Discovery Park, recently uncovered the structure of the Zika virus, a critical first step in the development of vaccines and other therapeutics to fight this disease.”

Suresh Garimella is Purdue’s executive vice president for research and partnerships, a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering and the director of the NSF Cooling Technologies Research Center.

Garimella said, “She met with researchers and students and toured the Purdue Center for Drug Discovery as well as Hockmeyer Hall of Structural Biology. She was able to engage in good dialogue with our researchers and administrators about the kind of work we are doing here and how Purdue has contributed, and can contribute further, to our nation’s vital research needs.”

The congresswoman also explained some of the issues she discussed while at Purdue.

Brooks said, “I am on a committee (in the House of Representatives) that’s been very focused on biodefense issues, and so I came and had a number of meetings with some of the researchers, not just who were focused on biodefense, but I also visited ... the leaders of the (Purdue University Center for) Cancer Research.”

Brooks said, “A lot of (Hill’s) work has been very helpful in working with Dr. Coon and Dr. Rossman. They are focused on infectious diseases. I really came to learn about their work and about how they’re helping provide information to now the private sector companies to try to help come up with diagnostic tests and hopefully a vaccine to prevent the spread of Zika.”

Brooks also explained the need for increased collaboration between differing fields of research. “I was told (by Purdue’s Veterinary Medicine School) 60 percent of viruses ... start with animals and then move over to affect humans. We have to have much better collaboration between animal science, veterinary medicine and human sciences,” she said. “Purdue is poised to be a leader in that.”

Díaz de la Rubia said, “Her efforts are extraordinarily important to Purdue and to the nation, and her visit will help continue to advance this and other legislative initiatives by making a strong case for the importance of life science research at academic institutions such as Purdue.” He said, “We applaud and support Congresswoman Brooks’ efforts on Capitol Hill on this important topic.”

Garimella was also thrilled about the congresswoman’s visit to the University.

“My sense was that what she saw at Purdue resonated with her in a powerful way,” he said. “We are grateful that Congresswoman Brooks was able to take so much time from a busy schedule to spend with us. I know we benefited tremendously from her visit and hope she did as well.”