Christina Thompson, MS, RBP, CBSP
ABSA President

Christina Thompson, MS, RBP, CBSP ABSA President

Welcome to the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) website! I hope that you will use our biological safety resources. If you are not a member of ABSA, I encourage you to consider membership and take advantage of our benefits:

• Applied Biosafety, the quarterly Journal of the American Biological Safety Association,
• Annual Conference with pre-conference professional development courses,
• ABSA-sponsored events such as the Summer Seminar Series, and the 40-hour Principles and Practices of Biosafety course,
• Networking with your biological safety colleagues (over 1,640 members at present).

The 50th Annual Biological Safety Conference was held October 7-10, 2007, in Nashville, Tennessee and was attended by 750 professionals from 32 countries. It was a wonderful meeting offering everyone the opportunity to communicate with colleagues throughout the world and share their experiences. For many of us, the highlight of the conference was the historical roundtable held Wednesday afternoon. Those participants who were able to attend the roundtable witnessed a truly remarkable and memorable event. Each panelist recounted experiences in their biosafety careers, and then questions from the audience were entertained. It was very moving to have these great biosafety professionals gathered together, all of whom have contributed to our careers in one way or another. Our heartfelt thanks go to the panelists and the Historical Committee for making this session special for all of us.

Coming up soon is the 2008 ABSA Principles and Practices of Biosafety course January 14-18, 2008 in Austin, Texas. This 5-day course is very beneficial to new biosafety professionals, and it always fills up fast. Also coming up is CDC's 10th International Symposium on Biosafety - Protecting Workers in Clinical Laboratories, Research, Animal Care, and Public Health Communities. The Symposium will be February 9-13, 2008, at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. ABSA is a co-sponsor of the Symposium. The CDC Symposium is always interesting and provides additional opportunities for biosafety professionals to meet their colleagues and professionals in related professions.

This is the best professional association I've been involved with, and I know that many members join me in that belief. I have always felt that ABSA is a welcoming and inclusive organization, and I intend to ensure that this atmosphere continues as we grow. I'd like to encourage involvement of as many members as possible in order to achieve our goals. Please let me know if there is something you would like to do! As your president, I will assure that ABSA continues to serve you and to enhance our profession.

Christina Thompson, MS, RBP, CBSP
ABSA President
cztoneputt@aol.com