"Fake Botox, Real Threat"

Ken Coleman, PhD, MBA. Senior Fellow for the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program (CBWNP) of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS)

Ken Coleman, PhD, MBA is a Senior Fellow for the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program (CBWNP) of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). He received his formal training in microbiology and molecular genetics at Trinity College Dublin (BA, MA, PhD), was a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard Medical School, and was appointed Lecturer in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School in 1984. His laboratory research centered around the molecular basis of infectious disease, and the cloning and characterization of various virulence factors from pathogenic bacteria, including the cloning of the A fragment of diphtheria toxin. From 1979 to 1988 he authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, research reports, and book chapters in the areas of molecular genetics and infectious disease.

In 1987, Dr. Coleman left "bench" science to attend the Stanford Business School, receiving his MBA in 1989. From 1989 to 1995, he founded or venture financed more than one dozen companies in Silicon Valley.

Dr. Coleman's main interest is in the prevention of bioterrorism. His unique experience in both business and science give him a broad and deep perspective on the academic and industrial forces that are involved in the development, production, distribution, and deployment of pathogens and toxins of possible biological weapons utility.

Dr. Coleman will discuss his article “Security: Fake Botox, Real Threat” recently published in the Scientific American. The article is about the security threat of the use of counterfeit Botox, which is growing worldwide, and illicit laboratories in China that produce it.