Mark S. Klempner, M.D.
Boston University Medical Campus
715 Albany Street
Boston, MA 02118

March 13, 2003

Dear Dr. Mark Kempler,

We the undersigned strongly urge the Boston University (BU) Medical Center to permit its Biosafety Level (BSL) 4 proposal to the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease (NIAID) to be photocopied and made available for independent analysis.

BU Medical Center has a responsibility to provide complete information on the biodefense research it is planning to conduct. The citizens of Boston, the city government, and organizations around the country need this information to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the NIAID proposal.

Democratic deliberation is essential for an initiative that is certain to have a measurable impact on community members in the greater Boston region. There has yet to be an open dialogue on the full implications of $1.6 billion in biodefense spending at BU over the next two decades, much of which will be directed toward research on class A bioterrorism agents.

With these concerns in mind, the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of California at Davis have both made full copies of their BSL 4 NIAID proposals available to the public. We urge Boston University to take the appropriate steps to follow their lead.

Sincerely,

Sujatha Byravan, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Council for Responsible Genetics
Cambridge, MA

Ruth Hubbard, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita of Biology
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Jonathan King, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Biology
Masschusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA

Martha Herbert, M.D., Ph.D.
Clinical Faculty
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA

NOTE: institutional affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.