Interview with Brigadier General Donna F. Barbisch, D.H.A., Senior Advisor to the Biological Warfare Improved Response Program

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Brigadier General Donna Barbisch is a U.S. Army Reserve general officer currently serving on active duty as the senior advisor to the Biological Warfare Improved Response Program.

During her career, General Barbisch held a variety of command and staff positions in both the active Army and the Army Reserve. In addition to troop and staff assignments in Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North and South Carolina, General Barbisch served with the 91st Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam. She was one of the first Nurse Corps officers selected to command while serving with the 350th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Greenville, Noah Carolina. She currently holds a faculty appointment in leader development at the Army War College, is a member of the U.S. Army Reserve Command Executive Council on Weapons of Mass Destruction, senior medical advisor to the Consequence Management Program Integration Office (CoM PIO) within the Director of Military Support (DOMS), and a member of the Biological Weapons Improved Response Program (BW IRP) for the Soldier and Biological Chemical Command (SBC COM).

Dr. Barbisch has a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and recently completed a Doctor of Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Her awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Medal, Bronze Service Star, Vietnam Service Medal with Service Star, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Expert Field Medical Badge.

General Barbisch has been highly regarded for her leadership at the U.S. Army War College and in her duties in Vietnam. She is now taking the lead in helping us in the healthcare community prepare against the threat of bioterrorism.

Dr. Johnson: Given all the recent events around the globe that the media has brought to the attention of the public pertaining to potential threats from terrorists, and more recently some of the concerns about terrorists using biological weapons, could you tell the readers …