BioRadar Co-Founders Dr. Ashish K. Jha and Dr. Nikki Romanik published a co-authored op-ed in The Boston Globe on May 11, 2026, using the hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship as a case study in America's biological detection failures.

The outbreak — which resulted in nine confirmed or probable hantavirus cases and three deaths, with the ship refused entry by port after port before finally docking in the Spanish Canary Islands — illustrated exactly the kind of scenario BioRadar was built to prevent.

Dr. Jha and Dr. Romanik argue that the incident was not an anomaly but a preview. As engineered and novel pathogens become more accessible, the gap between when a biological threat emerges and when current systems detect it remains dangerously wide.

The authors bring unique credibility to the argument. Dr. Jha served as White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator from 2022 to 2023. Dr. Romanik served as Deputy Director and Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy. Together they are building BioRadar to ensure that the next outbreak is detected in hours — not days or weeks after containment is no longer possible.

Read the Full Op-Ed in The Boston Globe →

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