Teams & Committees
If you are a vendor and would like to contact ABSA please email Ed Stygar or Julie Savage. PLEASE DON'T CONTACT ANYONE ON THIS PAGE! The individuals listed on this page are all volunteers.
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Professional Development Team | Team Leader: K. Patrick McKinney, RBP |
Educational Operations (EOC)Kelly Flint (Pre-conference Courses) | Provide quality, relevant biosafety education to ABSA members and other practitioners. The committee will develop courses, serve as facilitators, review course content and handouts, on-site coordination of the course, and summarize evaluations from the course. |
Instructional Technologies Committee | Continue to develop the ability of ABSA to provide quality training through various delivery methods. |
Instructional Resources Committee | Develop additional individuals with training expertise to ensure the continued availability of quality training. |
Curriculum Development Committee | Provide continuous evaluation, review and upgrading of education and educational content. |
Publications Committee | Publish Applied Biosafety and other biosafety publications. |
Training Tools Committee | The Training Tools committee's mission is to provide a consolidated collection of biosafety training materials readily accessible via the ABSA web site for individuals responsible for providing biosafety training. Training Tools committee members identify and solicit quality biosafety training materials, evaluate all submitted materials for relevance and accuracy, and organize materials into categories for posting on the web site |
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Defining the Profession Team | Team Leader: Ray Hackney, DrPH, CBSP |
Mentoring Committee | Facilitate the creation of mentoring relationships within ABSA, between a mentee who wishes to enhance their biosafety knowledge in specific areas, and a mentor. The Committee's goal is to solicit knowledgeable ABSA members willing to volunteer as mentors, and match up interested parties. The Committee will also solicit feedback on the process in order to track the effectiveness and make improvements. |
Registration Committee | Recognize biosafety professionals through credentialing. Review applications for registration as a biological safety professional. Determine if applicant meets established criteria. |
Certification Maintenance Committee | Develop the continuing education criteria necessary for Certified Biological Safety Professionals (CBSPs) to maintain their certification and for administering the recertification process. Criteria for serving on this committee include being an active status CBSP. |
Historical CommitteeJoseph Kozlovac, MS, RBP, CBSP | Compile, record, preserve, and make available the history of ABSA. |
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Management Team | Team Leader: John Balog, BS, RBP |
Affiliate Relations Committee (ARC)Jennifer Gaudioso, PhD | Assists, advises and coordinates the Affiliate and International affiliate petition process with the respective petitioning organizations according to criteria approved by the ABSA Council. Serves as liaison between ABSA and it's affiliated organizations. Convenes a meeting of delegates of affiliated organizations at the Annual Conference. Makes recommendations to the ABSA Council on matters affecting Affiliate and International Affiliate policy. |
Awards Committee | Provide the names of nominees for the Arnold G. Wedum Distinguished Achievement Award, Everett Hanel, Jr. Presidential Award, the John H. Richardson Special Recognition Award, and the Knudsen Award to the ABSA Council for review and approval. |
Bylaws Committee | Review the By-Laws, propose amendments, and review other matters related to the By-Laws |
Website Committee | Facilitate the continued development and oversight of the ABSA website as a fundamental means of communication for ABSA members and other practitioners. |
Finance Committee | Make recommendations to the Council on matters concerning financial policy, fiscal performance, financial statements, investment of funds, and other financial matters. |
Marketing and PR | Promote and publicize the efforts of ABSA. Increase awareness of the field of biosafety. Develop a media plan and support documentation, develop promotional pieces on biosafety and ABSA, contact suitable organizations, associations, agencies and media for alliances. |
Membership Committee | Promote membership in ABSA, publish and maintain a membership directory. |
Nominating Committee | Prepare a slate of candidates for officers, Councilors, and at-large members of the Nominating Committee. Nominating Committee members are elected. |
Philanthropic Committee | Identify and facilitate philanthropic activity which fosters the awareness, evolution, and practice of biosafety in underserved areas; e.g., via provision of biosafety education and information, technical expertise, safety equipment, PPE, or technical services. |
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Alliance Team | Team Leader: Jeffrey Owens, MPH, CBSP |
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AALAS: Jeffrey Owens, MPH, CBSP ACS: (TBA) AIHA: Phil Hauck APHL: (TBA) APIC: (TBA) ASM: (TBA) CDC: Cris Vargas, Shanna Nesby, DVM, MPH CSHEMA: Matt Finucane, MS DOS: Barbara Johnson, PhD, RBP, Reynolds Salerno, PhD Emory University: Patty Olinger, RBP EPA: Joe Kozlovac, MS, RBP, CBSP Griffin Foundation: Elizabeth Gilman Duane, MS, RBP, CBSP OSHA: Rich Rebar, RBP, CBSP, Penny Holeman, MPH, RBP, CBSP Sandia National Laboratories: Jennifer Gaudioso, PhD UN: Mary Cipriano, MBA, RBP, CBSP | Develop criteria and formal structures for alliances, including the expectations from the cooperating organizations. |
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Regulatory & Technical Affairs Team | Team Leader: Bill Homovec, CBSP |
Legislative Committee | ABSA's Legislative Committee has twin aims: 1) to establish ABSA's credibility with Congress as a preeminent voice on American Biosafety, and 2) to inject ABSA's stance on important biosafety issues into the Congressional forum. The Legislative Committee endeavors to accomplish these goals by monitoring Congress for biosafety-related hearings and proposed rulemaking, and initiating contact with Congress on appropriate matters. |
Regulatory Review Committee | Develop and implement an effective method for reviewing and commenting on issues or regulatory concerns that impact the ABSA membership or the health or safety of the environment. Respond to requests for comments by regulatory agencies proposing new or amended regulations. Develop "white papers" and other guidance documents. |
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Conference Services Team | Team Leader: Jairo Betancourt, RBP |
Exhibitors Advisory Committee | Make recommendations to the Council concerning issues relating to exhibitors and event sponsors. Solicit new exhibitors and sponsors. |
Local Arrangements Committee2010 Denver: Lolly Gardiner, RBP | Select and coordinate arrangements for upcoming conferences. Work begins at least three years prior to the conference date. Often members of this committee work or live in the city where the conference will be held. |
Scientific Program Committee | Solicit submissions for platform presentations and poster sessions for the annual conference, submit nominees for the Wedum and Eagleson Lectures. The SPC shall also request applications for the Gross Memorial Award, select moderators for each of the platform presentation sessions and actively encourages all presenters to prepare and submit papers for publication in the ABSA Journal, Applied Biosafety. |
Join a Committee
Have you ever considered joining a committee? When you choose to serve on a volunteer committee, you open up a world of possibilities for networking, professional growth, and career opportunities while serving your profession. Volunteer member groups are the backbone of the association. They:
- Serve as a forum for exchange of information
- Advance the science in all specialties of biosafety
- Develop guidelines and standards
- Provide education and training; and,
- Link ABSA to many other institutions.
You should explore committees in areas of the profession where you are active or have an interest. There is a great variety; you can be sure to find one of interest to you. Please review the list of committees and identify those areas that you have some interest in participating in or contact the chair of the committee you are interested in to finding out more information about the committee's goals. You are also invited to attend the committee's meeting during our national conference or at any other time (all committee meetings are open).
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