Dr. Larry Bustard, age 53, died July 2, 2004 from unknown causes. He was a Sandia scientist in the Department of Energy who helped develop a foam spray to clean up congressional buildings and media sites during the anthrax scare in 2001. He worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. As an expert in bioterrorism, his team came up with a new technology used against biological and chemical agents.
Dr. Leland Rickman, age 47., died on June 24, 2003. Rickman died while on a teaching assignment in Lesotho, a small country bordered on all sides by South Africa. He was a UC San Diego expert on infectious diseases and, since September 11, 2001 a consultant on bioterrorism. He had complained of a headache, but the cause of death was not immediately known. The physician had been working in Lesotho with Dr. Chris Matthews, director of the UC San Diego Medical Center’s Owen Clinic, teaching African medical personnel about the prevention and treatment of AIDS. Rickman, the incoming president of the Infectious Disease Association of California, was a multidisciplinary professor and practitioner with expertise in infectious diseases, internal medicine, epidemiology, microbiology and antibiotic utilization.
Steven Mostow, age 63, died on March 25, 2002. He was one of the country’s leading infectious disease and bioterrorism experts and was associate dean at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He died in a plane crash near Centennial Airport. He was known as “Dr. Flu” for his expertise in treating influenza, and expertise on bioterrorism. Mostow was one of the country’s leading infectious disease experts.