2015 Presenter Bios
Ambreen A. Alwani, Institute of Business Management, Karachi, Pakistan
poster: FUNERAL WORKER’S PRACTICES IN KARACHI (ID #23)
Ambreen Alwani is a MBA Health and Hospital Management graduate from Institute of Business Management, Karachi. She has done Pharm-D back in 2011 from University of Karachi, Pakistan. She has worked in different pharmaceuticals industries in Quality Assurance department and is currently working as head of Department of Regulatory Affairs and Product Development. In her MBA journey, she has worked on more than 15 research projects and have been associated with many training and research projects for community health development. Ambreen aims to pursue her career in maternal & child health and developing training projects for public health in under developed parts of the world
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Larbi Baasi, National Institute of Hygiene, Rabat, Morocco
poster: ASSESSMENT OF THE BIOSAFETY IMPLEMENTATION AND PERCEPTION BY LAB WORKERS IN A CENTRAL CLINICAL LAB OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: MOROCCO (ID #21)
Dr Larbi Baassi is a Biologist‐Chief Engineer in the National Institute of Hygiene (NIH) at Moroccan Ministry of Health. Since 2009, Dr Baassi has been in charge of the laboratory coordinating unit for the International Health Regulations (IHR) and, he is also a coordinator of Biosafety implementation in Moroccan Public Health Laboratories. He holds a Ph.D in Immunology from Mohamed V University of Rabat, and has been working more than 17 years at NIH in Morocco. Dr Baassi is also a council member of the African Biological safety association (AfBSA) for the North Africa region and was Deputy Secretary General of the AMBS (Moroccan Association of Biological Safety).
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Lela Bakanidze, Georgian Biosafety Association, Tbilisi, Georgia
poster: RISING AWARENESS IN BIORISK MANAGEMENT IN GEORGIA (ID #14)
For more than 30 years Lela Bakanidze works at the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) of Georgia. During this period she was the Head of the Department of Biosafety and Threat reduction, Deputy Head of the Department of Especially Dangerous Infections (EDI). She had dealt with problems of EDI, food borne infections, resistant microorganisms, etc. Her Ph.D. thesis dealt with morphology and morphogenesis of toga- and retroviruses in mixed infections. She, after attending Bioterrorism Summer School at Johns Hopkins University, together with her Department has worked out bioterrorism national concept and bioterrorism preparedness plan. During 10 years Dr. Bakanidze was the Head of NCDC Bioethics Committee. Simultaneously with working at NCDC Lela Bakanidze delivered lectures at the International Black Sea University and Caucasian School of Business. Prof. Bakanidze is Full Professor at Georgian Agrarian University and the Special Advisor of NCDC on Biosecurity. Prof. Bakanidze is Registered Biosafety Professional (RBP) by American Biosafety Association (ABSA), Deputy Director of the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA), and the IFBA Biosafety Hero for 2013. Lela Bakanidze had carried out number of trainings in Biorisk Management, particularly, in Georgia, for different audiences, in Milan, Italy, at Luigi Sacco University Hospital, and a course in Especially Dangerous Pathogens (2012). In December 2014, by invitation from the UN, she had delivered a course in Biorisk Management for policy makers in Mongolia. Lela Bakanidze is the author of three monographs and more than 80 scientific papers.
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Tea Bakradze, Richard G. Lugar Center for Public Health Research, Tbilisi, Georgia
poster: INNOVATIVE APPLICATION OF LARGE SCALE GAS DECONTAMINATION METHODS AT LUGAR CENTER (TBILISI, GEORGIA) (ID #2)
Dr. Tea Bakradze is the biosafety officer at the Center Public Health Reference Laboratory, representing the branch of Battelle Memorial Institute in Georgia. Dr. Bakradze has served as the BSO at Battelle Memorial since 2010 having previously served as a Threat Agent Detection Reduction (TADR) specialist/translator/interpreter for nearly 3 years. Dr. Bakradze has also worked in the Tibilisi outpatient hospital in Tskneti, Georgia as a Doctor of Internal Medicine for nearly 13 years. Dr. Bakradze is skilled in: biosafety, microbiology, infectious diseases, molecular biology, virology, biotechnology, and public health.
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Ryan Bayha, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
scientific program:THE NIH OFFICE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY ACTIVITIES SITE VISIT PROGRAM: OBSERVATIONS ABOUT INSTITUTIONAL OVERSIGHT OF RECOMBINANT AND SYNTHETIC NUCLEIC ACID MOLECULE RESEARCH
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Ryan is the Senior Analyst for Biosecurity and Biosafety Policy at the NIH Office of Biotechnology Activities. Ryan joined the NIH in 2003 and one of his initial roles was to complete environmental assessments for the Regional and National Biocontainment Laboratories funded by NIAID. Ryan has extensive experience in community engagement, and specializes in high containment laboratories.
Currently, Ryan develops biosecurity and biosafety polices at both the NIH and national level. He also develops educational materials for policy implementation as well as for institutions conducting recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecule research. Ryan manages the OBA site visit program which assess Institutional Biosafety Committee adherence to the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules at institutions across the country.
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Kathryn F. Board, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
scientific program:BENEFITS OF A MULTI-PRONGED TEACHING MODULE FOR SELECT AGENT REQUIRED SECURITY, INCIDENT RESPONSE, AND BIOSAFETY TRAINING (ID #251)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 3:30 PM – 3:50 PM
Kathryn Board received a Master’s degree from the University Of Pittsburgh Department Of Immunology in 2004. She also holds a BS degree in biology and a BA degree in English from Stetson University. While pursuing her Master’s degree she developed and characterized an SIV-infected, non-human primate model of secondary Pneumocystis carinii infection. Her work experience includes managing a registered Select Agent research lab at the University of Pittsburgh, and doing research involving microRNA expression in the Human Papilloma Virus and microRNA expression profiles in human aging. She worked as a Laboratory Safety Specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, where she supported biosafety and lab inspection programs. Currently, serves as the University of Pittsburgh Regional Biocontainment Laboratory Biosafety Officer and provides valued expertise in BSL-3/ABSL-3 laboratory practices and training.
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Tom Boyle, Rowan University, Stratford, NJ
poster: CHEMICAL AGENT COMPARISON DURING A MOCK DECONTAMINATION EVENT (ID #7)
Tom Boyle is the Assistant Director of Environmental Health and Safety and the Institutional Biosafety Officer at Rowan University, New Jersey. Tom has been involved in the field of biological safety for approximately 25 years.
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David S. Bressler, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
scientific program:THE CDC ETIOLOGIC AGENT IMPORT PERMITS FACILITY INSPECTION PROCESS: TWO HIGH-CONTAINMENT LABORATORY EXPERIENCES (ID #225)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 8:20 AM – 8:40 AM
David has an undergraduate degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Virology. He began work at CDC in 1995 after beginning his career as a laboratory technician at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick, MD. His research involved studying the diagnostics and pathology of viral hemorrhagic fevers and participated in several outbreak response activities for Ebola while at USAMRIID and CDC, where he also supervised the activity and training of personnel in the maximum (BSL-4) containment laboratory. Since then, David has served as the senior laboratory inspection leader for the then newly created national Select Agent Program (1999-2003), and Laboratory Technical Advisor team leader for the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) from 2003 to 2011. While with the LRN, David developed and evaluated BSL-3 and BSL-4 biosafety training courses and interacted with laboratory directors worldwide to improve laboratory biosafety and their response to bioterrorism events. He has worked with various State and Local Public Health Laboratories, as well as the High Containment Research Laboratory community, and since 2012 serves in the International Laboratory Branch at CDC to develop and deliver timely and unique biosafety training/program consultation to the international community. David is a Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP) and a member of the American Biological Safety Association.
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David Bryant, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Weybridge, Surrey, United Kingdom
scientific program:IMPROVING BIOSAFETY CULTURE—LEARNING LESSONS FROM INCIDENTS (ID #236)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 3:50 PM – 4:10 PM
David Bryant is the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor to the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) in the United Kingdom (UK) part of the Governments Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). He was previously the Head of Health and Safety at Porton Down, Salisbury for the Health Protection Agency. David reports to the CEO and has a team of 30 staff who are responsible with others to ensure the health, safety and well-being of staff, raise standards and ensure continuous improvement. The work of the APHA, with 2,500 staff, involves work with a wide range of HG3 and HG4 pathogens both human and animal (small and large). David has been a health and safety professional for over 25 years working across a range of industries in the private and public sectors. He trained originally as an environmental health officer working in public health (including communicable disease and food poisoning) before specializing in health and safety. David has investigated over a dozen fatal accidents, numerous serious incidents and has appeared in court as a prosecutor, to defend cases and as an expert witness. David has a particular interest in human behavior, culture, error producing conditions and why we set up our staff to fail. David has a Masters degree in Health and Safety Law and Environmental Law. In his spare time he swims and plays Scrabble (but not at the same time)!
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John D. Campbell, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
poster: BRIDGING GAPS IN THE OVERSIGHT OF HUMAN PATHOGENS AND TOXINS AT AN INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL—A CANADIAN APPROACH (ID #15)
John D. Campbell is the Acting Manager of the Biosafety Standards and Guidelines Program at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Centre for Biosecurity. Mr. Campbell has been directly involved in the development of the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines (2013) and the Candian Biosafety Standard (2nd Edition, 2015), which outline the biosafety and biosecurity requirements for laboratories and other facilities in Canada that handle and store human and animal pathogens and toxins. Mr. Campbell has also been directly involved in the Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations, which are intended to improve oversight of human pathogens and toxins in Canada, establish national requirements for the safe handling of human pathogens and toxins, and provide assurance that individuals with access to a prescribed list of security-sensitive human pathogens and toxins would hold an appropriate security clearance. Prior to joining the federal government, Mr. Campbell worked for several years as a Biological Safety Officer in the field of health research. Mr. Campbell was also actively involved in the Canadian affiliate of ABSA, the Canadian Association for Biological Safety (CABS), and served on the Executive Committee from 2006-2012.
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Kevin M. Charbonneau, Yale University, New Haven, CT
scientific program:SHIPPING AND EXPORTING RESEARCH MATERIALS: YALE UNIVERSITY’S RESEARCH MATERIAL SHIPPING AND EXPORT PROGRAM VIA ESHIPGLOBAL (ID #255)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 8:40 AM – 9:00 AM
Kevin Charbonneau is the Associate Director in Yale’s Environmental Health & Safety Office and has been with the university for the past 25 years. Kevin is a Certified Health Physicist and in the last 14 years has had the opportunity and pleasure of participating more in the chemical and biosafety programs. One notable standout during this time was the partnership with Deb Ferry in the development of Yale’s integrated Research Material Shipping business processes which eventually became integral in the development of the eShipLab system.
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Patricia D. Cox, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS
scientific program:INDOOR AIR QUALITY: WHAT EVERY BIOSAFETY OFFICER SHOULD KNOW (ID #47)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 4:30 PM – 4:50 PM
Patricia Cox has a doctorate in medical microbiology and has been the biosafety officer at Mississippi State University since 2007. She started performing IAQ investigations in 2013.
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David J. Dohm, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD
poster: BIOLOGICAL SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS (BSAT) INVENTORY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AT THE U.S. ARMY MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES (USAMRIID) (ID #30)
Mr. David J. Dohm earned his Master’s degree in Environmental Biology from Hood College in Frederick, MD. He has worked as a Research Biologist in the Virology Division, USAMRIID and conducted research on the evaluation of potential vectors (e.g., mosquito species) to transmit viruses. Mr. Dohm has extensive research experience with infectious agents and toxins including BSAT. He is currently working as a Select Agent Manager in the Select Agent Management Branch, Biosurety Division, USAMRIID. Mr. Dohm is also an Alternate Responsible Official (ARO) of the Institute.
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Lisa M. van Duin, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
poster: IMPLEMENATION OF AN INTERNAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAM AT AN AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY (ID #16)
Lisa van Duin ‘jumped the ditch’ from New Zealand to take up the role of Biosafety and Biosecurity Officer for the University of Melbourne and achieved registration as a Registered Biosafety Professional (RBP) with the American Biological Safety Association in 2012. In this dream role, she is implementing a University wide Biosafety Program, and has taken new initiatives to help researchers (and the University) meet requirements related to quarantine and laboratory biosecurity. Lisa’s background is in the field of Medical Laboratory Science – specifically Clinical Virology. Gaining experience in hospital laboratory operations since 1995, she moved to research and reference (public health) laboratory work in 2001. As a scientist at ESR (an NZ government research institute), Lisa developed expertise in biological risk assessment & mitigation, laboratory preparedness & emergency response to outbreaks such as SARS-CoV and emergent strains of influenza, and the provision of BSL2 and BSL3 related training. Lisa contributed to the set-up and regulatory approval of ESR’s laboratory facility at the National Centre for Biosecurity and Infectious Disease (NCBID) based in Upper Hutt, New Zealand in 2008. Responsibilities at NCBID included oversight and coordination of biosafety training programs and provision of leadership in the management of biosafety, biosecurity compliance and emergency response. A highlight was travelling to Manilla to provide input into the WHO’s Polio Biosafety Training Program and then delivering the new program to National Reference Laboratory and other ESR laboratory personnel. Lisa likes cats, science fiction, great food & wine and sharing her knowledge to help others to understand biosafety.
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Joby Evans, Merrick & Company, Atlanta, GA
scientific program:ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY COMMISSIONING, AGAIN AND AGAIN. (ID #233)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 10:10 AM – 10:30 AM
Mr. Evans has over 30 years in facilities commissioning, support, design, engineering, energy, management, and processes for consulting engineering firms, performance contracting group, natural gas distributor, and an international architect/developer. Mr. Evans is proficient in commissioning high containment facilities, analyzing the interaction between designs and energy consumption in commercial and industrial facilities and has extensive experience in building commissioning and system design and coordination. He has performed re-commissioning and retro-commissioning on many non-containment etc. He is proficient in developing and delivering technical and training presentations. Registered Professional Engineer, licensed facilities including headquarters facilities, hangers, office buildings, Mechanical Contractor, Certified Commissioning Authority, Certified Building Commissioning Professional, Certified Green Building Engineer, Guiding Principles Compliance Professional, and Certified Energy Manager.
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Lamiaa A. Fiala, Faculty of Medicine, Ismailia, Egypt
scientific program:AVIAN INFLUENZA RISK PERCEPTION AMONG EGYPTIAN POULTRY HANDLERS (ID #254)
Monday, October 12, 2015, 4:10 PM – 4:30 PM
Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, faculty of medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt; teaches, trains and researches infectious diseases epidemiology for under and post graduates in fields of public health, and occupational medicine. Lamiaa has studied at UCLA SPH, Epidemiology Department and has a MSc on Health Profession Education from Maastricht university.
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Deborah Ferry, Yale University, New Haven, CT
poster: MAXIMIZING THE VALUE OF AN INSTITUTION’S CONTAINMENT EQUIPMENT CERTIFICATION CONTRACT THROUGH INTERNAL SERVICE PROVIDOR COLLABORATION (ID #22)
Deb Ferry has been working at Yale Environmental Health and Safety for 24 years and is a Safety Advisor as well as the Assistant Biosafety Officer. She manages the clean air device program which consists of over 2,000 clean air devices (e.g. biosafety cabinets, HEPA filtered exhaust systems, ventilated cage racks, etc.), and the research materials shipping program. Deb is a Certified Biosafety Professional. Frances Consiglio has been at Yale for 18 years. She is a Strategic Sourcing Manager in Yale Procurement and is a Certified Purchasing Manager through the Institute for Supply Management. Fran has been instrumental in establishing the Resource Center at Yale West Campus that provides materials and services to the research community at the West Campus. Fran is also responsible for negotiating contracts for laboratory equipment ensuring the best value for researchers.
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Robert Foreman, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
poster: MEETING THE INTENT OF THE NATIONAL BIOSAFETY STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVE: USING A SUPPORTIVE AND SYSTEMATIC APPROACH (ID #18)
Rob Foreman graduated from the University of Chicago with a PhD in Microbiology in 2012, focusing on the cellular regulation of pathogenesis in Brucella abortus. He then took a position as a GLRCE Biosafety Fellow, working closely with Dr. Joe Kanabrocki learning and the details of biosafety. Rob now works as the ABSO and ARO for Northwestern University providing guidance and consultation to identify and address the risks of working with human, animal, and plant pathogens.
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David Franz, Frederick, MD
scientific program:ROUNDTABLE—CULTURE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
Dr. Franz served in the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for 23 of 27 years on active duty and retired as Colonel. He served as Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and as Deputy Commander of the Medical Research and Materiel Command. Prior to joining the Command, he served as Group Veterinarian for the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne).
He was Technical Editor for the Textbook of Military Medicine on Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare released in 1997. Current standing committee appointments include the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control where he chairs the ‘biological panel’ and the Senior Technical Advisory Committee of the National Biodefense Countermeasures Analysis Center (DHS). He serves as a Senior Mentor to the Program for Emerging Leaders at the National Defense University. He also serves on the Boards of the Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation and Integrated Nano-Technologies, LLC.
He holds an adjunct appointment as Professor for the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University. The current focus of his activities relates to the role of international engagement in public health and the life sciences as a component of global biosecurity policy. Domestically he continues to encourage thoughtfulness when regulating research in the name of security, thereby minimizing negative impact on progress in the life sciences. Dr. Franz holds a D.V.M. from Kansas State University and a PhD in Physiology from Baylor College of Medicine.
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Leslie Gartner, WSP USA, Atlanta, GA
poster: CVRL BACKWESTON: A RE-ESTABLISHED LABORATORY ENVELOPE (ID #9)
Leslie Gartner has more than 31 years of experience of containment design with WSP (formerly Smith Carter). He has been in a leadership role with the firm’s office in Atlanta since opening in 2000, building on his expertise in high containment research laboratory design, which involves developing strategic security concepts, project management, design and planning to establish an office focused on Science + Technology Design and Containment design.
Through WSP’s strategic alliances, Les has been involved in the design of a number of highly complex containment laboratory facilities with BSL4, BSL3Ag and BSL3 containment functions, including the CDC’s Building 18, the NIEDL at Boston University Medical Center, the Canadian Science Center, the NIAID BSL4 Integrated Research Facilities at Rocky Mountain Laboratories and at Ft Detrick, UGA’s BSL3Ag Animal Health Research Center and the new replacement facility for the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Defense Research at Fort Detrick, Maryland. He currently is leading the design team for the new Biological Resources Facility at The Pirbright Institute in the UK.
He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Royal Institute of British Architects, Royal Institute of Architects of Canada and many associations including the American Biological Safety Association.
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Shane Gillooly, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
scientific program:WHY DID THE SALMONELLA-SPIKED CHICKEN CROSS THE AUGER? ADVENTURES IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH RISK ASSESSMENT (ID #232)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 9:20 AM – 9:40 AM
Shane Gillooly is the Assistant Biosafety Officer at the Georgia Institute of Technology for the last 4.5 years. During that time he has worked on various campus committees including the Institute Council, the Biomaterials Safeguards Committee, and the Institutional Biosafety Committee. Shane has also helped shape the biosafety program in a variety of capacities including creating trainings, reviewing research protocols, writing campus contracts, writing parts of the institute’s biosafety manual, investigating suspected mold complaints, and even chasing around wild animals on campus.
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David Gillum, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
scientific program:SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: BIOSAFETY AND BIOSECURITY (ID #297)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM
Although born in a suburb of Austin, Texas, David Gillum spent the majority of his youth in a small ghost town in central Nevada. He and his three classmates at Goldfield Elementary would explore abandoned caves and mineshafts—often discovering exciting things like ancient mildewed hamburgers and crystalline asbestos—much to their parents chagrin. David went to high school in the big town of Tonopah (5,000 residents). He was among 24 students that graduated. With gracious scholarships and a beat up Ford pickup, David left for the neon lights in Las Vegas to get his bachelor’s degree in chemistry. It was during this time that Brad Manning recruited and mentored him to perform occupational health, fire prevention, and life safety functions for the university (UNLV). In 1998, David headed east to the green, wet and artsy town of Amherst, Massachusetts to obtain his master’s degree in environmental health science. David’s interest in biosafety and biosecurity began while working with Val Steinberg at UMASS. David continued to pursue the health and safety disciplines at Harvard University from 2001-2002. He moved to the University of New Hampshire in 2002 to be the Assistant Director of Environmental Health and Safety with a broad set of responsibilities, from select agents to laboratory safety to hazardous waste.
Since 2011, David has served as the Institutional Biosafety Officer and Associate Director of Environmental Health and Safety at Arizona State University working under the excellent leadership of Leon Igras. He assists with editing the Special Features section of Applied Biosafety: Journal of the American Biological Safety Association and is working on his PhD in environmental social science.
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Miguel A. Grimaldo, University of Texas Medical Branch—Galveston, Galveston, TX
scientific program:EFFECTIVENESS OF DECONTAMINATION OF LABORATORY ROOM SURFACES WITH LOW CONCENTRATIONS OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL USING ATMOSPHERIC COLD PLASMA ACTIVATION (ID #217)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 3:45 PM – 4:05 PM
Miguel A. Grimaldo, M.Eng, is an Assistant Professor for the Department of Pathology and the Director of Institutional Biocontainment Resources at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. He also is the Director of the Biocontainment Engineering Division for the Galveston National Laboratory. His responsibilities include the review of all design, construction, commissioning, and operation of high and maximum containment laboratories as well as to ensure regulatory compliance and to conduct ongoing evaluation and recertification on all critical containment features, equipment and operations for Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3), Animal Biosafety Level 3 (ABSL3) and Biosafety Level 4 (BSL4) laboratory facilities at UTMB. He also is a member of the UTMB Institutional Biosafety Committee. Mr. Grimaldo obtained his Masters of Engineering in Engineering Management from the University of Louisville and Bachelor of Science degrees in Agricultural Engineering and Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M. Before coming to UTMB in 2005, he worked for 13 years for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the U.S. Embassy in Panama, where he was involved with USDA’s Foot and Mouth Disease Prevention Program as well as the Screwworm Eradication Program. Also, has served as Biocontainment Advisor for laboratories nationally and internationally. Mr. Grimaldo has served as Committee Member for the revision of the Design Requirements Manual for Biomedical Laboratories and Animal Research Facilities (DRM) as well as for development of the ANSI Z9.14-2014 – Testing and Performance-Verification Methodologies for Ventilation Systems for Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) and Animal Biosafety Level 3 (ABSL-3) Facilities.
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David Harbourt, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD
scientific program:AEROSOL MONITORING OF ABSL-4 LABORATORIES HOUSING NON-HUMAN PRIMATES CHALLENGED WITH EBOLA VIRUS (ID #42)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 4:25 PM – 5:00 PM
Dr. Harbourt currently serves as the Biological Safety Officer at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Prior to USAMRIID, Dr. Harbourt worked at the BSL-4 National Training Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD as the BSL-4 Training Coordinator and Facility Manager. Dr. Harbourt was a fellow in the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program from 2010-2011 which functions to train individuals in management and operations of high and maximum containment laboratories. Dr. Harbourt graduated with his BS in Biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2005 and his PhD in Toxicology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2009. Dr. Harbourt’s dissertation research examined the relationship between drug metabolism and transport levels and pharmaceutical drug toxicity. Dr. Harbourt has previously served as the Chair of the Preconference Course Committee and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Training Tools and Resources Committee for the American Biological Safety Association as well as a Councilor for the Chesapeake Area Biological Safety Association. Dr. Harbourt has presented at numerous national and international scientific meetings including the Gordon Conference on Drug Metabolism, the Society of Toxicology, The American Society for Mass Spectrometry and the American Biological Safety Association. Dr. Harbourt is certified as a Specialist Microbiologist in Biological Safety through the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists and the American Society of Microbiology and is a Registered Biosafety Professional through the American Biological Safety Association._
Kelly Harbourt, Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD
poster: UNIQUE TREATMENT APPROACHES FOR THE TREATMENT OF A MULTIDRUG RESISTANT PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA INFECTION (ID #28)
Dr. Kelly Harbourt completed her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2009. She went on to complete a pharmacy residency at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in 2011 during which she specialized in critical care pharmacy. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy with an active clinical practice site at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland in the Multitrauma Intensive Care Unit.
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Kathryn L. Harris, NIH OBA, Bethesda, MD
scientific program:UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT POLICY FOR INSTITUTIONAL OVERSIGHT OF LIFE SCIENCES DUAL USE RESEARCH OF CONCERN (ID #58)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 2:00PM – 2:20 PM
Dr. Kathryn Harris is the Senior Outreach and Education Specialist in the Office of Biotechnology Activities at the National Institutes of Health. Kathryn joined NIH in 2004. In her current role she develops national and regional programs of stakeholder relations, education, and outreach strategies relevant to the oversight of recombinant and synthetic nucleic acid molecule research and research that has dual use potential. In addition, she advises on biosafety and biosecurity policy issues. She received her PhD in biophysics from Cornell University and completed two years of postdoctoral training at Washington University in St Louis. Prior to joining NIH she was the Biological Safety Officer at Northwestern University. She is a registered biosafety professional was a founding member and first president of the Midwest Area Biosafety Network (MABioN).
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Kara Held, PhD., Baker Co., Sanford, ME
poster: DEVELOPMENT OF CULTIVO™ ULTRA PLUS TOTAL BIODECONTAMINATION PROCEDURE (ID #4)
Recent recruit Kara Held, Ph.D. brings an extensive knowledge of cell biology and pharmacology to The Baker Company. Prior to her coming on board, she was a Lab Manager and Researcher at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute studying SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) using iPS cell-derived motor neurons. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Vermont Cell and Molecular Biology Program, Department of Pharmacology with Dr. Wolfgang Dostmann working on secondary messanger signaling in primary vascular smooth muscle cells. Then she completed her postdoctoral training at Yale University in the Vascular Biology and Therapeutics program under Dr. William Sessa studying miRNA control of blood vessel contraction. Her current experience in academic research brings a unique perspective, familiarity and hands-on knowledge base with laboratory science.
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Mei-Chuan Huang, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
scientific program:BIOSAFETY PROGRAM FOR ANIMAL BIOSAFETY LEVEL 2 FACILITY AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA—SAN FRANCISCO (ID #244)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 11:10 AM – 11:30 AM
Mei-Chuan Huang received her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY in 1998. She is currently the assistant Biosafety Officer at Environmental Health and Safety at University of California—San Francisco. She received her Registered Biosafety Professional (RBP) designation in January 2015. She joined the biosafety field in the end of 2010, completed her postdoctoral training at UCSF and was a junior faculty at Department of Microbiology and Immunology at UCSF prior to joining Environmental Health and Safety. She has over 20 years’ experience working with mice and other species. Her job focuses on biosafety and animal biosafety and she is also the safety specialist for animal facilities at UCSF.
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Shigeo Iki, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan
poster: POSSIBILITY OF PACKAGING TO PREVENT PATHOGEN SPLASH BY CAUSING OF MISS-PACKED WITH DRY ICE INTO THE INNER PACKING OF PATHOGEN TRANSPORT CONTAINERS (ID #10)
1994—Graduated Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
1996—Complicated agriculture’s MS course of graduate school of Hokkaido University
1996—2007 Hokkaido Institute of Public Health (research of bacteria, parasites and viruses)
2007—National Institute of Infectious Diseases (control and research of biosafety)
2008—Conferred a degree of PhD. from Sapporo Medical University
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Christine M. Johnson, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
poster: IMPLEMENTATION OF A BIOSAFETY STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVE AT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY (ID #19)
Christine Johnson has been the Senior Coordinator for the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) at Colorado State University for the past 9 years. Prior to becoming the IBC Coordinator she spent 10 years doing research in infectious disease laboratories, with focuses on Leishmaniasis and Tuberculosis. She has a Master of Science in Microbiology and extensive experience working in the BSL3. She is also the co-founder and Past-President of the Front Range Biological Safety Association.
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Teri L. Kissner, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD
poster: INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW AND OVERSIGHT OF DUAL USE RESEARCH OF CONCERN (DURC) AT THE U.S. ARMY MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES (USAMRIID) (ID #31)
Ms. Teri L. Kissner earned her Master’s degree in Microbiology/Immunology from Hood College in Frederick, MD. Prior to her current position, she has worked as a Research Microbiologist in the Integrated Toxicology Division, USAMRIID where she conducted extensive research on immunology and pathogenesis of infectious agents and microbial toxins. Ms. Kissner is now working as a Microbiologist (Select Agent Manager) in the Select Agent Management Branch, Biosurety Division, USAMRIID.
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Jay Krishnan, National Microbiology Laboratory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
poster: EVALUATION OF ETHIDIUM BROMIDE DESTROYER IN A RESEARCH LABORATORY (ID #5)
Jay received his Master’s degree from the University of Manitoba; he has several years of experience researching and validating various decontamination agents and technologies, especially vaporous hydrogen peroxide, gaseous chlorine dioxide and dry fogging system. He has published several articles in peer reviewed journals including Applied Biosafety, and has received the Richard C. Knudsen Memorial Publication Award from ABSA in 2006. Currently, he serves in the editorial review board of the Applied Biosafety.
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Edward Krisiunas, WNWN International, Inc, Burlington, CT
poster: DEVELOPMENT OF A PROCESS CONTROL DEVICE (PCD) FOR USE IN MONITORING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN AUTOCLAVE PROCESSING INFECTIOUS/BIOHAZARDOUS WASTE (ID #6)
Mr. Krisiunas is a healthcare waste management consultant with over 33 years’ experience in the field of healthcare waste management, infection prevention and control, biosafety, and occupational health and safety. His undergraduate degree, BS in Medical Technology, is from Western Connecticut State College and his Maters in Public Health is from the University of Connecticut.
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David Lam, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
poster: TRANSFERRING 100,000 SAMPLES OF RG-3 BIOLOGICAL AGENTS IN SINGAPORE—A LESSON LEARNED (ID #11)
Currently, David is working as the Senior Manager, Biological Safety at the Singapore General Hospital. He is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of workplace safety & health management system in the areas of biological, laboratory and facility safety. Part of his work also involves in the design for safety of new and renovation of laboratory facilities in SGH. Prior joining SGH, David was working at the DSO National Laboratories as the Biosafety & Facilities Manager. He was responsible for the implementation of safety management system in the division. He also involved in the testing and commissioning, operation & maintenance of the BSL-2 & BSL-3 laboratories. David has been actively involved in the promotion of biosafety in the region. From 2005 – 2010, he served in the Asia Pacific Biosafety Association (A-PBA) EXCO committee in varies positions. From 2011 – 2013, he also served as the Vice-president of the Biorisk Association of Singapore (BAS). He has also been a biosafety trainer and speaker in conferences and workshops both in Singapore and overseas. He is one of the biosafety trainers at the Asia Pacific Biosafety Training Network organized by National Institutes of Health, Maryland USA.
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Vaughan P. Landon, MEd, MHS, Battelle National Biodefense Institute, Frederick, MD
poster: PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PRIMARY CONTAINMENT SYSTEM FOR LARGE ANIMALS IN ABSL-4 (ID #3)
Paul is currently the Environmental, Health and Safety Manager at the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center in Fort Detrick, MD. He has worked in chemical, industrial and biological safety for the last 12 years including an industrial hygiene internship at the Dupont Chambers Works (Performance Chemicals Division) in Deepwater, New Jersey. He served as a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist as well as the Acting Chief of Safety, Radiation Protection and Environmental Health Office at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick from 2004 to 2008.
Prior to his career in Industrial Hygiene, Paul was a Biology and AP Biology teacher for 14 years.
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Kevin Lorcheim, Clordisys Solutions Inc, Lebanon, NJ
poster: LINEARITY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONCENTRATION AND CONTACT TIME FOR STERILIZATION WITH CHLORINE DIOXIDE GAS (ID #8)
Kevin Lorcheim received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University. He has been with ClorDiSys Solutions, Inc since 2006 as an Engineer working with the R&D team supporting the pharmaceutical, life science, and food industries. Kevin was a part of the team validating the use of chlorine dioxide gas for the inactivation of beta-lactams as well as the team validating the use of chlorine dioxide gas for the decontamination of Biological Safety Cabinets under NSF International’s NSF 49 protocol.
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G. Marshall Lyon III, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
scientific program:ROUNDTABLE—CULTURE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
Dr. Lyon is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine. He is also the Director of Transplant Infectious Diseases. Since 2004 he has been a physician-member of Emory’s Serious Communicable Diseases Unit. This is the unit which successfully cared for four patients with Ebola virus disease including the first two patients cared for in the United States. Dr. Lyon is also the Vice-Chair for the Institutional Biosafety Committee and the Research Health and Safety Committee at Emory University.
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Bassel Mamdouh, Central Health Laboratories, Cairo, Egypt
poster: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BIORISK MANAGEMENT COORDINATORS FOR THE HEALTH SECTOR IN EGYPT (ID #13)
Basal Mamdouh is a Biorisk Management Advisor and Laboratory Quality Management System (LQMS) Team Leader at Central Public Health Laboratories (CPHL), Ministry of Health of Egypt where his work focuses on promoting national laboratory biorisk management. He serves as one of the National committee for strategic planning. Bassel served as the CPHL focal point of the Four-Way Linking Project for assessing health risks at the Human-Animal Interface in Egypt with a focus on the avian influenza (H5N1) for three years where he managed the Biosafety Program through routine risk assessment to identify and evaluate the existing and emerging health threats and then implement new scientifically-based measures to control the risks and evaluate and improve the impact of measures already in place. He also served as a Technical Manager of the Molecular Biology unit. Prior to the current position, Bassel was a Biosafety Coordinator at the Virology department for four years. Bassel has a bachelor’s degree in Medicine from Ain Shams University. Bassel completed his Master’s Degree in Microbiology and Immunity at Cairo University with a focus on Molecular Biology. He studied Occupational Health, Safety and Environmental control program (OSHA) at American University in Cairo where he had possibility to apply his experiences and improve his skills through setting up a number of projects such as Biorisk Management, Job Hazard Analysis and Hazard & Operability (HAZOP) studies. Bassel has particular expertise in Occupational Health, Safety (OHSAS 18001) & Environmental control (ISO 14001) systems. In addition he is expert in project planning & control techniques and leading a National Laboratories Improvement Program (LPIP) for development of the biorisk performance in the joint laboratories and fever hospital laboratories at all Egyptian governorates.
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Delena W. Mazzetti, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
scientific program:EQUINE FACILITY BIOSAFETY: CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM LARGE ANIMAL ABSL-2 CONTAINMENT (ID #202)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 10:50 AM – 11:10 AM
Delena Mazzetti is a Senior Biosafety Specialist at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Delena is an American Biological Safety Association Registered Biosafety Professional. She holds BS and MPH degrees from the University of Kentucky. Prior to working in biosafety, Delena worked at the bench and on the farm of both academic and commercial biomedical and agricultural research institutions. Delena has worked in the field of biosafety for 5 years at the University of Kentucky.
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Esmeralda L. Meyer, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
scientific program:HOW CAN WE FACILITATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE R-DNA GUIDELINES TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY? (ID #228)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 4:10 PM – 4:30 PM
Esmeralda Meyer is the Assistant Director and Associate Biosafety Officer at Emory University Environmental Health and Safety Office. She is also the liaison between the Biosafety Office and Emory Healthcare for training and preparedness of the Serious Communicable Diseases Unit at Emory. She has long standing research experience working with human and non-human primate species of Plasmodium at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
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Rebecca Moritz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
scientific program:GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH: THE EYE OF THE STORM—THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STORY (ID #216)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 9:40 AM – 10:00 AM
Rebecca Moritz is a biosafety and biosecurity expert with a Bachelor of Science in Bacteriology and a Master of Science in Medical Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She serves as the Select Agent Program Manager and Alternate Responsible Official for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Select Agent Program. Rebecca Moritz is chair of UW-Madison’s Dual Use Research of Concern Subcommittee and an appointed consultant to the UW-Madison Institutional Biosafety Committee. She is also a lead member of the UW-Madison Biosecurity Task Force, comprised by a diverse body of experts from across campus and responsible for regularly reviewing the research programs and practices of its select agent researchers. She is a Certified Biosafety Professional with the American Biological Safety Association and member of several ABSA committees, including the Legislative Committee. Additionally, she is a Specialist Microbiologist with the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists. Moritz has conducted research in both private sector and academic laboratories, including in high containment laboratories.
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Said Mouhri, BIOPHARMA, Rabat, Morocco
poster: DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INCIDENCE RESPONSE PLAN FOR BIOPHARMA (RABAT MOROCCO) (ID #25)
Said Mouhri is a Veterinarian by training and a Doctoral student working as Manager of the Bacteriology lab in BIOPHARMA. In addition to ensuring laboratory safety practices at BIOPHARMA, Said was involved in organizing the 2015 African Biosafety Association Conference in Rabat Morocco.
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Sara Myers, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
poster: DEVELOPING AN ANIMAL BIOSAFETY LEVEL 2 AUDIT TO ASSIST STAFFS IN MEETING BIOSAFETY REQUIREMENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ANIMAL CARE FACILITIES (ID #20)
Sara Myers is the Occupational Health and Safety Specialist for the Animal Care and Use Program at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.
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Brandy Nelson, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
scientific program:ZOMBIES, MAD SCIENTISTS AND SUPERHEROES: AN APPROACH TO PROMOTING SAFETY CULTURE WITH RESEARCH LAB PERSONNEL (ID #222)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 2:40 PM – 3:00 PM
Brandy Nelson is the University of Kentucky’s Institutional Biosafety Officer. In this role Brandy serves as a member of the Institutional Biosafety Committee, the University’s Responsible Official for Select Agent and Toxin research, the Institutional Contact for Dual Use Research and the manager of the Department of Biological Safety. Brandy is an American Biological Safety Association Certified Biosafety Professional and a National Registry of Microbiologists Specialist in Microbiology. She holds BA and MS degrees in biology from Transylvania University and Eastern Kentucky University, respectively. Brandy has worked in the field of biosafety for 10 years both at UK and the University of Louisville. Prior to her work in biosafety she spent many years working at the bench in academic and commercial biomedical research laboratories.
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Steve Oberste, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
scientific program:POLIOVIRUS CONTAINMENT: MITIGATING FACILITY-RELATED RISKS IN THE ENDGAME AND POST-ERADICATION ERAS (ID #247)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 10:00 AM – 10:20 AM
Steve Oberste received his PhD at the University of Florida. He studied the molecular mechanism of poliovirus replication and animal models for HIV and AIDS at National Cancer Institute’s Frederick Cancer Research Facility and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus phylogenetics and vaccines at USAMRIID, before joining CDC’s Enterovirus Section in 1996. Currently, Steve is the Chief of CDC’s Polio and Picornavirus Laboratory Branch, overseeing CDC laboratory efforts that support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
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Patricia Olinger, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
scientific program:ROUNDTABLE—CULTURE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
Patricia Olinger, RBP, is an Assistant Vice President in the Office of Research Administration and the Executive Director of the Environmental, Health and Safety Office (EHSO) at Emory University. EHSO has University-wide responsibility for all aspects of Environmental, Health and Safety support, including Biosafety and EHS compliance support to Emory Healthcare. In addition, she is the Elizabeth R. Griffin Foundation Director of Global Programs. Prior to joining Emory in 2006, Ms. Olinger spent 21 years in the pharmaceutical industry, providing support to both human and animal health models developing a true OneHealth perspective.
Ms. Olinger is a Registered Biosafety Professional, has supported the development of Biorisk Management Systems from the conception of the CEN Workshop Agreement 15793, is the Deputy Convener of the ISO Working Group for the ISO International Biorisk Management deliverable, a past President of the Campus Safety Health and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA), a current member of the External Laboratory Safety Working Group to the Director of CDC and the APLU/AAU Laboratory Safety Taskforce. She is a former council member of the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) and a former Scientific Advisory Board member of the NIH National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program (NBBTP). One of her passions is Global Health Biorisk Management strengthening and preparedness.
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Brian O’Shea, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH
scientific program:PROPER MANAGEMENT OF INCIDENT REPORTING IN BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH LABS (ID #210)
Monday, October 12, 2015, 9:50 AM – 10:10 AM
Brian is the Senior Biological Safety Officer and Alternate Responsible Official for Battelle Memorial Institute. He directly oversees research safety at the Battelle Biomedical Research Center as well as the Battelle Eastern Science and Technology Center. Brian received his PhD from the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M University and subsequently completed his post-doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, Germany. Brian is the author of many peer reviewed publications as well as a voting member of many review committees including ABSA’s Publications Committee.
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Elijah Paintsil, Yale University, New Haven, CT
scientific program:SURVIVAL OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS IS TEMPERATURE, SYRINGE TYPE, AND VOLUME DEPENDENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR INFECTION CONTROL STRATEGIES (ID #220)
Monday, October 12, 2015, 3:50 PM – 4:10 PM
Dr. Elijah Paintsil is an Associate Professor of Pediatric, Pharmacology, and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine. His clinical interest is pediatric infectious diseases with special interest in the management of multidrug resistant HIV infection and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. The Paintsil Lab focuses on increasing our understanding of the host determinants of individual differences in response to HIV treatment, particularly treatment-induced mitochondrial toxicity and transmission of hepatitis C virus.
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Jolly Qian, Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Singapore
scientific program:CONVERSION OF A BIOSAFETY LEVEL 3 (BSL-3) LAB TO AN ARTHROPOD CONTAINMENT LEVEL 2 (ACL-2) LAB (ID #117)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 10:30 AM – 10:50 AM
Dr. Jolly Qian Zhuolei works as the Biosafety officer and ACL-2 operations manager at the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD), Singapore. Jolly was recruited as the BSL-3 operations manager by NITD and decommissioned the BSL-3 lab successfully afterwards. Subsequently, she helped to plan and designed an Arthropod Containment Level 2 lab and then she was appointed as the manager in charge of the overall operations in the ACL-2 lab. Apart from the insectary role, she serves as the biosafety officer and IBC chairman for the institute. She is also the chairperson of NITD Institutional Animal Care and Use (IACUC). Prior to Novartis, Dr. Jolly was a Safety and Health Manager in the Office of Safety, Health, and Environment (OSHE) at the National University of Singapore, a position in which she served for nearly four years. Jolly holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from the National University of Singapore. She is a Biosafety Coordinator, recognized by Ministry of Health Singapore. She became Registered Biological Safety Professional (RBP), as recognized by ABSA Credentialing Evaluation Board, in 2013. Jolly used to serve the Asia Pacific Biosafety Committee as one of the EXCO members and now she serves the Biorisk Association of Singapore as committee member.
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Md Mizanur Rahman, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD
poster: SIMPACT OF COMBINED REGULATORY INSPECTIONS ON U.S. ARMY MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES (USAMRIID) (ID #32)
Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman earned his Master’s and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Applied Microbiology, respectively. Prior to his current position, he spent a number of years working in U.S. Government agencies and academic institutions in areas such as drug discovery, host-pathogen interactions, and glycobiology using multipronged research approaches. Currently he is working as a Microbiologist (Select Agent Manager) in the Select Agent Management Branch, Biosurety Division, USAMRIID where he is involved in managing biological select agent and toxins (BSAT). He has interest in infectious disease research, biological select agent management and biosafety and biosecurity policy development.
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Jason G. Ramage, BAI/DHS S&T Compliance Assurance Program Office, Washington, DC
poster: DHS REGULATORY COMPLIANCE PROGRAM—REVIEW PROCESSES AND COORDINATION EFFORTS (ID #17)
Jason Ramage is a Deputy Program Manager with BAI, Inc. supporting the Compliance Assurance Program Office in the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate.
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Kalpana Rengarajan, Emory University, Atlanta
scientific program:GABIOSAFETY-HEALTHCARE INTERACTION BEYOND EBOLA (ID #231)
Monday, October 12, 2015, 4:30 PM – 4:50 PM
Dr. Kalpana Rengarajan is the Associate Director of the Environmental, Health and Safety Office (EHSO) and Biosafety Officer for Emory University. EHSO has University-wide responsibility for developing, implementing and maintaining EHS programs to control occupational exposures and to oversee the implementation and compliance with the mandated federal/state laws, regulations, and guidelines. Dr. Rengarajan currently serves on committees on American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) and Campus Safety Health and Environmental Association (CSHEMA) for developing professional development courses. Dr. Rengarajan has worked as a scientist for over 15 years including at National Institutes of Health for 5 years. She was one of the technical writers for the CEN Workshop Agreements relating to Biorisk Management Systems: 16393: 2012. She serves as a Global Team Leader on the Elizabeth Griffin Foundation for international projects promoting biosafety and biosecurity.
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Shannon E. Ronca, University of Texas Medical Branch—Galveston, Galveston, TX
scientific program:DEVELOPING A NEUROLOGICAL ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL SAFE FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN HIGH- AND MAXIMUM-CONTAINMENT FACILITIES (ID #296)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Shannon Ronca is a third year graduate student concurrently pursuing a Masters in Public Health and a PhD in Experimental Pathology at UTMB. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Genetic Engineering from Cedar Crest College, where she also minored in Global Health. Her undergraduate research focused on bacteriophage as potential therapeutics to intestinal pathogens, such as E. coli. Her PhD dissertation research is focused on determining the causes of and evaluating solutions to neurological sequelae of viral infections, specifically alphavirus and arenavirus infections. As part of her MPH service project, she will be interning at the WHO as part of the Global Surveillance and Risk Assessment team.
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Virginia I. Roxas-Duncan, USAMRIID, Fort Detrick, MD
scientific program:THE BIOLOGICAL SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS (BSAT) CENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT CONCEPT AT THE U.S. ARMY MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES (USAMRIID) (ID #295)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 9:20 AM – 9:40 AM
Dr. Virginia I. Roxas-Duncan received her PhD in Agronomy (Molecular Biology) from Texas Tech University, and obtained a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Michigan, Department of Dermatology. She then joined the Integrated Toxicology Division, USAMRIID as a Research Microbiologist, where she conducted research on the development of recombinant vaccines and therapeutic countermeasures against biological agents. Currently, Dr. Roxas-Duncan is the Chief of the Select Agent Management Branch, Biosurety Division, USAMRIID.
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Bryan Shelby, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
poster: SHIPPING TRENDS OF ENTITIES THAT FREQUENTLY TRANSFER SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS: 2003-2014 (ID #12)
Bryan Shelby has been the Deputy Associate Director for Science with the CDC Division of Select Agents and Toxins since 2013, after serving for three years as an inspector. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the CDC and Emory University and completed his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Tulane University.
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Erin E. Smith, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
scientific program:HOW TO FIT A SQUARE PEG INTO A ROUND HOLE: COMPLYING WITH REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS IN A BSL-3AG FACILITY (ID #227)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 4:05 PM – 4:25 PM
Erin E. Smith is a biosafety specialist at Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute. As a team member of the biological safety program, her responsibilities include assisting with the internal biosafety and biosecurity training programs and supporting the oversight of laboratory biosafety and biosecurity programs. She is also the lead contact for the occupational medicine program and respiratory protection program at the BRI. As an alternate responsible official, Erin’s overall duty is to make sure the BRI is in compliance with the select agent regulations. Her background is in infectious disease research at the BSL-3 level. She enjoys all the challenges that comes with working in the biosafety program at the BRI. Current position Biosafety Specialist/Alternate Responsible Official at Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute. Previous position Research Assistant II at Colorado State University.
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Jacinta Smith, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
poster: EXCLUSION OF ATTENUATED SELECT AGENTS AND MODIFIED SELECT TOXINS (ID #29)
Jacinta Smith is a microbiologist for the CDC Division of Select Agents and Toxins (DSAT) and a CDR in the U.S. Public Health Service. She performs technical reviews of restricted experiment and exclusion requests and also served as a select agent inspector. Prior to DSAT, Jacinta worked as a microbiologist for the National Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Team (NARST) at the CDC.
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Molly S. Stitt-Fischer, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
scientific program:USING PEER-REVIEW FACULTY COMMITTEES TO OBTAIN BIOSAFETY CONSENSUS (ID #250)
Tuesday, October 13, 2015, 2:20 PM – 2:40 PM
Molly Stitt-Fischer received her PhD from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh in April 2008. She also earned a MS in molecular toxicology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (February 2002) and a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology from Allegheny College (May 1999). She completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship with the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program in 2010, and is a member of the charter class of Certified in Public Health examinees and is a Certified Biological Safety Professional. Dr. Stitt-Fischer joined the University of Pittsburgh Department of Environmental Health and Safety as the Biosafety Officer in December of 2010, and serves on the Biosafety Advisory Panel for DIYbio.org.
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Ara Tahmassian, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
scientific program:ROUNDTABLE—CULTURE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
Ara Tahmassian is the Chief Research Compliance Officer at Harvard University, where he is responsible for research compliance activities across the university. He is also the Project Director for a grant aimed at developing a comprehensive mentoring and responsible conduct of sciences program in the Boarder Middle East and North Africa region. Previously he has served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research at University of California—San Francisco; the Associate Vice President for Research Compliance at Boston University, the Principal Investigator for the core BSL-3 select agent laboratory, and the Associate Director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) at the BU Medical Campus. Dr. Tahmassian holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nuclear Engineering and a PhD in Radiobiology from Queen Mary College—London University, and is a Diplomate of American Board of Sciences in Nuclear Medicine; and serves on a number of national and international committees and boards.
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Chuong Dai Do Thi, Scientific Institute of Public health, Brussels, Belgium
poster: CONSIDERATIONS FOR SELECTING THE CORRECT RESPIRATORY PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR WORK WITH PATHOGENIC MICRO-ORGANISMS (ID #24)
Chuong Dai DO THI obtained a Master of Science in Biology from the “Université Libre de Bruxelles” (ULB,Belgium) in 1987. She has gained a lot of experience in molecular biology during her career at both the university and the industry (1987-2003). She has been working as scientist in the SBB since 2003. She is involved mainly in the scientific expertise and administrative follow-up of biosafety dossiers regarding the contained use of GMOs and/or pathogens, providing scientific support to the Belgian Competent Authorities.
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Shota Tsanava, National Center of Disease Control and Public Health, Tbilisi, Georgia
poster: MOBILIZATION FOR EBOLA VIRAL DISEASE OUTBREAK PREVENTION IN GEORGIA (ID #26)
Dr. Shota Tsanava is the Chief of the Repository, Vivarium, Zoo-Entomology and Biosafety departments at the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) in Tbilisi, Georgia. Dr. Shota has been actively involved in several Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) funded research projects assessing the epidemiology and ecology of brucellosis and tularemia in Georgia as well as the ecology and genetic clustering of major bacterial and viral pathogens (e.g., Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, Bacillus anthracis, Hantaviruses, Flaviviruses, Arenaviruses, Phleboviruses, and Alphaviruses) in Georgia. Dr. Shota is associated with half a dozen publications spanning nearly ten years covering such especially dangerous pathogens as Y. pestis, B. anthracis, F. tularensis as well as Entamoeba histolytica.
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Betsy Weirich, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
scientific program:BIOSAFETY AND CONTAINMENT CONSIDERATIONS FOR U.S. HOSPITALS PREPARING FOR EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE (EVD) (ID #262)
Monday, October 12, 2015, 3:30 PM – 3:50 PM
Betsy has been working on the Ebola response as part of the CDC’s Emergency Operations Center Laboratory Task Force since August 2014. She is the domestic clinical lab team lead and in charge of updating the CDC website for clinical laboratory guidance, the international field laboratory guidance, and briefing materials for congressional hearings and the White House; she participates as the clinical lab lead on site visit assessments for Ebola preparedness in U.S. hospitals; responds to all inquiries involving clinical laboratory operations and biosafety concerns; and works with the infection control, medical care, and international lab task teams to coordinate consistency in CDC guidance and response. Betsy serves on the CDC Laboratory Safety Review Board to review all CDC protocols for BSL-3/4 laboratories, the CDC Laboratory Safety Training Evaluation Work Group; and is a CDC representative for the national Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee through the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL).
Other activities at CDC include developing, reviewing, editing and conducting biosafety training for CDC, clinical and public health labs, ABSA, Eagleson Institute and Emory University. Ms. Weirich co-authored the 5th Edition BMBL lab biosafety guidelines published by CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) on safe work practices in diagnostic laboratories and protection of lab workers from occupationally acquired infections; and represents CDC with HHS in development and implementation of a national, voluntary, and non-punitive reporting system for laboratory acquired infections. Betsy was previously a lead inspector in the national CDC Select Agent Program; a laboratory biosafety advisor/instructor in Singapore, Brazil, and Kenya and the Laboratory Response Network; and served as Co-Chair of the ABSA Training and Education Committee and on the ABSA Curriculum Development Committee.
Betsy worked for many years as a laboratorian in both clinical and academic research labs, and managed BSL-3 labs in private industry. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she received her MS in bacteriology.
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Peili Zhu, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
scientific program:BIO-RELATED EXPOSURE MONITORING AND FOLLOW-UP SYSTEM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA—SAN FRANCISCO (ID #243)
Monday, October 12, 2015, 10:10 AM – 10:30 AM
Peili Zhu has been working as the Biosafety Officer at UCSF since 2010. She received her MD from the Southeast University of China in 1983 and PhD from the Basel University of Switzerland in 1994. She has worked 6 years in medical clinics, 7 years in biomedical research and 13 years at EH&S. As the BSO of UCSF, she oversees the UCSF Biosafety Program which consists of more than 600 bio-medical research laboratories and several BSL3/ABSL3 high containment facilities. She is very familiar with various Federal, State, and local laws, policies and regulations relating to biosafety and has extensive experience overseeing the operations of BSL3/ABSL3 facilities. As the Responsible Official of the UCSF Select Agent Program, she also has significant knowledge of Select Agent regulations and biosecurity.