This is the Federal Drive show blog. Here you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.

Today's guests:

Andy Gravatt and Russ Mattern — Professors at National Defense University's iCollege

At the heart of solid federal acquisition lies a well-trained workforce. Federal buying rules make procurement a profession unto itself. But even professionals need ongoing career training. One place they go is the National Defense University. As part of our series, Inside the World's Biggest Buyer, we're pleased to have in studio two instructors from NDU. Professors Andy Gravatt and Russ Mattern work at NDU's iCollege.

More from the special series Inside the World's Biggest Buyer

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Heidi King — Director of the Patient Safety Solutions for Tricare Management, Defense Department

Heidi King has saved thousands of lives, says her boss at DoD. But she isn't a doctor or a police officer or a firefighter. King, along with Dr. James Battles at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, has revolutionized the way the medical personnel behave in hospitals. Together they started TeamSTEPPS, a program that seeks to end medical errors like prescription mistakes, hospital-inquired infections and surgical missteps. And now both of them are finalists for the Service to America Medals or Sammies.

Read a Q&A with King.

Meet the rest of the 2012 Sammies finalists.

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Dr. Kevin M. Crofton — Acting Deputy Director, National Center for Computational Toxicology, Environmental Protection Agency

Traditional chemical toxicity testing is expensive, time-consuming and carried out using a significant number of animals as test subjects. EPA is researching new, more efficient, ways to manage the safety of chemicals, particularly in assessing the potential risk to human health and the environment. The National Center for Computational Toxicology — or CompTox — conducts innovative research that integrates advances in molecular biology, chemistry and computer science to rank chemicals based on risk more effectively and efficiently.

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