ABSA INTERNATIONAL
Principles & Practices of Biosafety®
July 9-14, 2023
Embassy Suites–Pittsburgh Downtown
Pittsburgh, PA
The current offering is full.
Registration will open this fall for the March 10-15, 2024 offering in San Diego, California.
A COMPREHENSIVE, INTERACTIVE 5-DAY COURSE
Principles & Practices of Biosafety® will introduce the essential elements of biosafety and provide extensive resource lists for use after the course. Interactive exercises will be used throughout to provide hands-on experience and to encourage networking and problem-solving among participants and instructors. Sessions begin at 8:00 am each day and end with a roundtable discussion between 5:15 and 5:30 pm with two coffee breaks and lunch provided.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the course each participant will be able to:
- Describe potentially hazardous biological materials, the risks associated with their use, and the means to minimize risk and to protect against or prevent release or exposure
- Discuss ways to provide effective technical expertise in situations involving potentially hazardous biological materials
- Identify, locate, and efficiently use key biosafety resources
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This course is designed for persons who are entering the profession and those with up to three years’ experience in biosafety. It is also suitable for persons who supervise biosafety professionals and for those who will benefit from additional knowledge of biosafety as a complement to their primary responsibilities.
Photos from the July 2022 course
Future PPB info
March 10-15, 2024 – Embassy Suites Downtown, San Diego, CA
July 7-12, 2024 – Denver, CO
March, 2025 – San Diego, CA
Very well done course. It is obvious the instructors are professionals in their field with the ability to train as well.
Taking part in PPB has provided a sound network of shared goals and outreach with other biosafety professionals that will last a lifetime.
After many years working in the EH&S field along biosafety professionals but without a biosafety foundation of my own, this course was extraordinarily useful in developing my knowledge.
It was very educational and interactive course. Will recommend it for all new biosafety professionals.
Appreciated the real-world experiences the instructors brought to the class.
Highly informative and well organized.
Excellent course! The highlight of the training sessions were the interactive sessions. All the instructors took time out to answer your questions.
Thank you so much for the wonderful course. I have learned a lot and feel a little more confident in being a Biosafety Officer.
One of the best experiences in my life! Highly recommend this class.
Loved the instructors and the fact they were so passionate about the course. They truly did their best to find the most effective and interesting ways to teach us.
Well organized team of subject matter experts with a broad knowledge base – everyone brings something to the table!
Thank you so much for presenting this course. Had a great time, made some connections, and learned a lot!
Overall a great course and very informative. A lot had to do with the instructors who had great chemistry and worked well together and kept us entertained.
This course was one of the best workshop/course that I have taken in my career. Well organized and engaging.
This course should be included in the continuing education plans of anyone working in the biocontainment industry.
I really loved this course! I learned so much that I will take back to my facility.
Thank you so much for the wonderful course. I have learned a lot and feel a little more confident in being a Biosafety Officer.
The course was very informative and comprehensive. The instructors were helpful and generous with their expertise.
COURSE FACULTY (not all listed faculty may serve as instructors at this offering)
Patrick Condreay, PhD, RBP
Drew Fayram, MS, RBP
Natasha Griffith, MS
Brandon Hatcher, PhD, RBP
Sunny Hoffman, RBP
Paul Jennette, MS, PE, RBP, CBSP
Paul Meechan, PhD, MPH, RBP, CBSP
Jeffrey Owens, MS, MPH, CBSP
Carrie Smith, PhD, RBP, CBSP
Dee Zimmerman
AGENDA (subject to change)
Monday, July 10
- Molecular Biology
- Introduction to Pathogenic Microbiology
- Risk Assessment
Tuesday, July 11
- Human Source Materials & Mammalian Cell Lines
- Research Animals & Allergens
- Biocontainment Equipment
- Course Dinner (6:30 to 9:00 pm)
Wednesday, July 12
- Biocontainment Facilities
- Biocontainment Practices
- Biocontainment Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Thursday, July 13
- Decontamination
- Disposal
- Emergency Response
- Biosecurity
Friday, July 14
- Shipment and Transfer of Biological Materials
- Strategies for Effective Biosafety Management & Communication
COURSE FEES
ABSA Members: $2,550
Nonmembers: $2,760
Participation is limited to 48 students.
Course fees include:
- Five full days of interactive instruction from a diversity of well-respected biological safety professionals.
- Instructor’s handouts, key resource lists, and a variety of critical biosafety information and resources.
- Lunch, beverages, and snacks for all course days.
- Welcome Reception on Sunday evening and Class Dinner on Tuesday evening (subject to change).
Confirmed, paid participants will be sent detailed information about the course, location, and other items of interest. Substitutions allowed with notice by June 2, 2023. There is a 15% processing fee for cancellations received before June 2, 2023. Cancellations between June 2 2023 and June 9, 2023 will be refunded at 50% of the course fee. No refunds will be given after June 9, 2023. Cancelation fees may be waived if there is a waiting list and a replacement can be made – 15% processing fee will apply.
ACCOMMODATIONS
A block of rooms has been reserved for ABSA International at the
Embassy Suites—Pittsburgh Downtown
535 Smithfield Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
$199/night plus tax
Booking early allows us to make sure that all participants receive the same discounted rates.
The block of rooms will be available until sold out.
CONTACT HOURS
This course is approved for 36.50 P.A.C.E.® contact hours. ABSA International is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® Program. In order to receive P.A.C.E. ® credit, attendees must stay until the Friday session ends.
Excellent foundation course for the beginning biosafety professional, welcoming to a wide mix of professional backgrounds. Would highly recommend to anyone looking to establish themselves in the field, or working on implementing a biosafety risk management program at their institution.
This is by far the best offsite training I’ve ever gone as a student and/or professional! So much learning and so much fun at the same time! It’s a very unique and special faculty group!
Such a wonderful course that will really help me as a new professional in the biosafety field. The interactive exercises were beneficial to apply the course knowledge to practice and experience what it’s like to work with others to make risk assessments and decisions.
ABSA Principles and Practices in Biosafety® Course is a great learning experience for biosafety professional. The subjects covered are broad, deep, and practical, and the instructors are highly knowledgeable, engaging, and funny.
I really enjoyed the course. I come from a limited background in biosafety and feel as though I walked out of the course with a much greater feel and understanding of those things I encounter in our biosafety laboratories.
This training was very valuable because it helped me see how much I already know, learn in more detail about things that I knew but superficially. The fact that the modules were presented by very experienced professionals gave me a sense of great appreciation for the Biosafety and Biosecurity program and willing to participate and be more active in the program
I wanted to thank you again for an entertaining and informative week. I had a great time and wanted to let you know, the training and resources provided has made a difference in how I view and approach biorisk management.
ABSA’s Principles and Practices of Biosafety® is the best comprehensive source of biosafety that I have encountered. It came highly recommended and it lived up to its name. The interactive exercises and the information that was provided to us will serve me as reference material for months and years to come. Thank you so much to the ABSA team for making this a great learning experience!
Great course providing the basics of biosafety for biosafety professionals, Outstanding instruction and important practical examples/information to help biosafety professionals to be successful and build an effective biosafety program!
I appreciate the knowledge and stories shared and I am extremely excited to bring this knowledge back to my department. I am new to biosafety and this course truly helped me understand more about it.
This was the best training course I have ever taken. Each instructor was great in how they could relay the material and bring their own perspectives to the course. I have never seen a group of instructors with that kind of chemistry together to build off each other through the week – this I also belive helpd the group itself mesh really well. The interactive exercises added a tone to the learning experience. They were challenging but also having a short time frame for most of them helped keep us at task while also creating a bit of a stress that we will see in the field. I also greatly appreciated the approachability of the instructors; having chances to interact outside of the class was great and helped break down the walls that can be present in trainings to be able to better approach each person during the week. I cannot give enough thanks to each instructor.
image sources
- PPB_PittsburgESdowntown_480x320: Owned by the author