Dr. Tara O'Toole, who left the staff of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies in 2003--and took the rest of her colleagues with her to the University of Pittsburgh--is President Obama's choice for Under Secretary of Science and Technology at the Department of Homeland Security, the White House announced late Wednesday.

O'Toole was one of the original members of the Hopkins Biodefense center, where she served as director from 2001 to 2003. In a surprise move in September, 2003, she and the staff departed to create a similar operation under the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (actually, the office remained in Baltimore and is located near the Inner Harbor on Pratt Street).

The Pittsburgh neé Baltimore biodefense center calls itself an "independent organization dedicated to improving the country’s resilience to major biological threats."

According to the center's web site, O'Toole is "known for her work on biosecurity and on health and safety issues related to the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Her publications in the biodefense field include articles on the response to anthrax, smallpox, and plague biological attacks; containment of contagious disease epidemics; biodefense research and development strategies; and hospital preparedness."

During the Clinton administration, she was assistant secretary for Environment, Safety and Health at the Department of Energy. From 1984, she practiced internal medicine at community health centers in Baltimore.

She is a graduate of Vassar College, with an M.D. from George Wshington University and an M.P.H from Hopkins. After completing her training as a resident at Yale, she had a fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Hopkins.