Toward an HF/E-Literate Society

Federation board members were treated to presentations by
Deborah Olster, deputy director of the National Institute of
Health’s Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research; Robert
Croyle, director of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the
National Cancer Institute; Michelle Keeney, science adviser in
the Human Factors Division, Science & Technology Directorate
of the Department of Homeland Security; and Rae Silver of the
Office of Integrative Activities (neuroscience) at the National Science
Foundation.

Of pertinence to HFES members, Dr. Keeney’s presentation
outlined the efforts of the Human Factors Division, newly formed
in October 2006 by DHS’s new undersecretary for science and
technology, Admiral Jay Cohen. The Human Factors Division is
led by Sharla Rausch and has a two-part mission: (a) to apply social
and behavioral sciences to improve the detection, analysis, and
understanding of threats posed by individuals, groups, and radical
movements, and to support the preparedness, response, and recovery
of communities affected by catastrophic events; and (b) to advance
national security by integrating human factors into homeland
security technologies.