On May, 2, 2019, ABSA Council Members Rebecca Moritz and Patricia de la Rosa and President-Elect David Gillum attended a meeting at Georgetown University to discuss opportunities for improving biosecurity oversight of research activities, including Dual Use Research and Gain of Function experiments.
The half-day meeting was designed to encourage and promote biosecurity collaborations with ABSA International, academia, law enforcement, and the public and private sectors in support of global biosecurity initiatives.
The attendees agreed that the current focus on biological threats needs to be expanded beyond list-based pathogens and that scientists and research administrators must be provided guidance in how biosecurity risks are mitigated. There was a consensus that additional academic and industry engagement is needed to address emerging biological threats.
In addition to the ABSA representatives mentioned above, participants included Phillip Bates (FBI), Kavita Berger (Gryphon), Julie Fischer (Georgetown), Jo Husbands (National Academies of Sciences), Samira Kiani (ASU), Erin Sorell (Georgetown), Edward You (FBI), among others.
Questions about the meeting may be directed to Rebecca Moritz at rebecca.moritz@wisc.edu.
