60th Annual Biosafety and Biosecurity Conference
Scientific Program
October 16-18, 2017
Professional Development Courses
Scientific Program | Abstracts (PDF 324KB)
Posters | Poster Abstracts (PDF 782KB)
Photos | Preliminary Program (PDF 1MB)
(Abstracts are on locked PDF documents. Password will be distributed by the ABSA office.)
October 15, 2017
ABSA International Forum
1:00 – 1:15 pm – Welcome and Introduction
Eric Cook, MPH, CBSP, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
Sophie Brocard, PhD, RBP, CBSP, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
Maureen O’Leary, PhD, CBSP, ABSA International President
Gabriel O’Riordian, EBSA President
1:15 – 1:45 pm – International Norms for Biosafety
Gigi Gronvall, PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
1:45 – 2:15 pm – What is the United States Government doing to Promote Biosafety and Biosecurity
Karen Zimmerman, PhD, Biosecurity Engagement Program, Washington, DC
2:15 – 3:15 pm – International Project Talks
3:15 – 3:30 pm – Q&A-International Task Force Survey Results
3:30 – 4:00 pm – Poster Session/Networking
Stakeholder Discussion on Current and New Biosecurity Policies
4 pm – 6 pm
October 16, 2017
Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall
7 am – 8 am
Monday Morning
8:00 – 8:15 am – Welcome and ABSA President’s Address
Master of Ceremonies: Maureen O’Leary, PhD, CBSP, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
8:15 – 8:20 am – Local Arrangements Committee Welcome
Jennifer Gaudioso, PhD, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
8:20 – 8:25 am – Scientific Program Committee Welcome
Betsy Matos, PhD, RBP, CBSP, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
8:25 – 8:30 am – ABSA International Historical Address
Joseph Kozlovac, RBP, CBSP
Session I: Arnold G. Wedum Memorial Lecture Award
Introduction: Jessica McCormick-Ell, PhD, RBP, CBSP, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
8:30 – 9:30 am – The Next Pandemic: On the Front Lines Against Humankind’s Gravest Dangers (PDF, 41MB)
Ali Khan, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Session II: Behavior/Enhancing Compliance
Moderator: Judy LaDuc, RBP, University of Massachusetts—Amherst, Amherst, MA
9:30 – 9:50 am – Laboratory-acquired Infections (PDF, 791KB)
Karen Byers, MS, RBP, CBSP, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
9:50 – 10:10 am – A Change in Climate Can Lead to a Better Safety Culture (PDF, 13.8MB)
Kimberly DiGiandomenico, MS, RBP, MedImmune, LLC, Gaithersburg MD
10:10 – 10:30 am – A Holistic Research Safety Approach Improves Laboratory Safety Culture (PDF, 4.3MB)
Esmeralda Meyer, MD, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Exhibits, Posters, and Coffee Break
Session III: International Biosafety
Moderator: Kalpana Rengarajan, PhD, JM, RBP, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
11:00 – 11:20 am – Developing Biorisk Management Systems in the Middle East and Africa Through Project-based Mentoring—The Twinning Program (PDF, 4.2MB)
Eric Cook, MPH, CBSP, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
11:20 – 11:40 am – Establishment of Safety Culture Awareness for Field Veterinarians at the Animal Health Research Institute—Benha Branch (PDF, 12.7MB)
Ali Asy, PhD, Animal Health Research Institute, Benha, Egypt
11:40 – 12:00 pm – Biosafety of Work Environment in Natural Foci of Especially Dangerous Infections in Kazakhstan (PDF, 16.3MB)
Svetlana Issayeva, Aral Anti-Plague Station, Aralsk, Kazakhstan
Exhibits, Posters, and Lunch
Session IV: Poster Session
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Presenters must be available during the session.
Session V: Inactivation and Decontamination
Moderator: Shirly Mildiner-Earley, PhD, CBSP, SM(NRCM), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
1:30 – 1:50 pm – Summary of Validated and Verified Viral Inactivation Methods (PDF, 17.4MB)
David Harbourt, PhD, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD
1:50 – 2:10 pm – Using the Highlight Disinfectant Color Additive to Confirm Coverage and Contact Time for Any Decontamination Process (PDF, 12MB)
Jason Kang, Kinnos, Inc., Brooklyn, NY
2:10 – 2:30 pm – Improving Decontamination Processes for Laboratory Waste (PDF, 8.8MB)
Aufra Araujo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Session VI: Biosafety Program Management
Moderator: Cristine Lawson, PhD, RBP, National Institutes of Health, Fort Detrick, MD
2:30 – 2:50 pm – Agricultural and Plant Biosafety Program Management at Rutgers University (PDF, 4MB)
Aparupa Sengupta, PhD, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
2:50 – 3:10 pm – Looking Beyond the Risk Group: Risk Assessment Challenges in Models of Emerging, Re-emerging, and Zoonotic Disease (PDF, 9.3MB)
Molly Stitt-Fischer, PhD, CBSP, SM(NRCM), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
3:10 – 3:30 pm – BSL-2 Laboratories Accreditation Program Implementation in Northwestern University Labs (PDF, 3.3MB)
Iwona Spath, RBP, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Exhibits, Posters, and Coffee Break
3:30 pm – 4 pm
Session VII: Regulatory Issues
Moderator: Francine Rogers, MS, RBP, CBSP, SM(NRCM), Boston, MA
4:00 – 4:20 pm – Implementation of the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act and Regulations: A Year of Transition (PDF, 3MB)
Cinthia Labrie, MSc, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
4:20 – 4:40 pm – Establishing Safety Standards Across the Growing DIYbio and Community Biotech Laboratory Landscape (PDF, 7.7MB)
Todd Kuiken, PhD, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
4:40 – 5:00pm – Surviving the OSHA Audit (PDF, 851KB)
David Casavant, The Sustainable Workplace Alliance, Lake Wales, FL
Members’ Business Meeting
5 pm – Close
Door prizes will be awarded—must be present to win.
NIH Town Hall Meeting
6 pm – 7 pm
October 17, 2017
Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall
7 am – 8 am
Tuesday Morning
8:00 – 8:05 am – Welcome
Master of Ceremonies: Patrick Condreay, PhD, RBP, pc Biosafety Consulting Services, LLC, Carrboro, NC
8:05 – 8:10 am – ABSA International Historical Address
Speaker: TBD
Session VIII: Griffin Lecture Award
8:10 – 8:25 am
Introduction: Caryl Griffin, MSN, MDiv, Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation, Kingsport, TN
8:25 – 9:25 am – A journey of biological risks between compliance and risk optimisation (PDF, 13.4MB)
Uwe Mueller-Doblies, PhD, Merck Sharpe & Dohme Limited, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Session IX: Training
Moderator: Anil Saxena, RBP, Booz Allen Hamilton, Rockville, MD
9:25 – 9:45 am – Development and Implementation of a Customized BSL-3 Safety Training Program (PDF, 5.1MB)
Michele Edenfield, MS, RBP, Booz Allen Hamilton, Atlanta, GA
9:45 – 10:05 am – Developing a Situation-based Training (PDF, 5.1MB)
Gabriel Ó Riordain, CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
10:05 – 10:25 am – Biosafety Training for iGEM Students (PDF, 5.7MB)
Claudia Gentry-Weeks, PhD, CBSP, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Exhibits, Posters, and Coffee Break
10:25 am – 10:55 am
Session X: Eagleson Lecture Award
11:00 – 12:00 pm
Introduction: Mary Ann Sondrini, Eagleson Institute, Sanford, ME
Dark Life: The Microbiology of Extreme Cave Environments
Hazel Barton, PhD, University of Akron, Akron, OH
Exhibits, Posters, and Lunch
12 pm – 1 pm
Next Generation/New Biosafety Professionals Shared Interest Group Meeting
12 pm – 1 pm
Session XI: Poster Session
1 pm – 2 pm
Presenters must be available during the session.
Session XII: Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC)
Moderator: Shelley Jones, MS, RBP, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
2:00 – 2:30 pm – Beyond the 15 Agents—Should Your Institution Review Life Science Research for Potential DURC? (PDF, 289KB)
Rebecca Moritz, MS, CBSP, SM(NRCM), University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI
Robert Ellis, PhD, CBSP, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
2:30 – 3:00 pm – Dual Use Research of Concern Panel Question and Answer
Panelists: Robert Ellis, PhD, CBSP, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Kathryn Harris, PhD, RBP, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Rebecca Moritz, MS, CBSP, SM(NRCM), University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI
Exhibits, Posters, and Coffee Break
3 pm – 3:30 pm
Session XIII: Emergency Response
Moderator: Peili Zhu, MD, PhD, RBP, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
3:30 – 3:50 pm – Broadening Perspectives: Interagency Emergency Response Exercises Between the National Guard, Civilian Agencies, and Academic Institutions (PDF, 6.8MB)
Marcia Finucane, CBSP, University of Colorado—Denver, Aurora, CO
3:50 – 4:10 pm – Conducting a Multi-agency, Multi-jurisdictional, Full-scale Exercise at a Biofacility
Brian O’Shea, PhD, CBSP, SM(NRCM), Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH
4:10 – 4:30 pm – The Department of Defense Response to Shipments of Incomplete Inactivated Bacillus anthracis Spores
Michael Chute, RBP, Department of Defense, Frederick, MD
4:30 – 5:00 pm – Tulane University: Response to Tier 1 Agent Release
Angela Birnbaum, RBP, CBSP, Tulane University, Covington, LA
Banquet at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
6:30 pm – 8 pm
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
Tuesday evening’s event will be held at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Our evening will include an opportunity to visit the museum and to see traditional Pueblo dances. Sample a variety of traditional Puebloan foods and enjoy visiting with your colleagues in the courtyard around fragrant piñon fire pits or listening to a local band on the patio. There are 19 Pueblo tribes in New Mexico and each Pueblo is a sovereign nation. Today Pueblo people are located primarily in New Mexico; however, at one time their homeland reached into what is now Colorado and Arizona, where they founded dwellings and trading centers like those located at Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico and Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado. Much of New Mexico’s famed cuisine is rooted in the agrarian Pueblo tradition where chile, squash, beans, and corn were grown. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is a world-class museum and cultural center created as a place where Pueblo people can tell their story. Please join us for this uniquely New Mexican evening.
October 18, 2017
Continental Breakfast
7 am – 8:10 am
Wednesday Morning
8:10 – 8:15 am – Welcome
Master of Ceremonies: President-Elect: TBD
8:15 – 8:20 am – ABSA International Historical Address (PDF, 465KB)
John Balog, RBP
Session XIV: Invited Speaker
8:20 – 9:20 am
Introduction: Claudia Gentry-Weeks, PhD, CBSP, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Who’s Behind the Wheel? CRISPR, Gene Drives and Where We’re Going (PDF, 6.9MB)
James Carney, PhD, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
Coffee Break
9:20 am – 9:50 am
Session XV: Richard Knudsen Award
Introduction: Janet Peterson, CBSP, Ellicott City, MD
Shedding Risk With Intracerebral Inoculation of Theiler’s Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus: Informing A Risk Assessment (PDF, 2.7MB)
Pawlowski, David, RBP
Session XVI: Human Gene Transfer
Moderator: Jacqueline Wagner, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
10:20 – 10:35 am – Development of Resources for Human Gene Transfer (HGT) Clinical Trials in Response to 2016 NIH Guidelines Revision (PDF, 7.8MB)
Andrew Maksymowych, PhD, RBP, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
10:35 – 10:50 am – Biosafety Concerns for Human Gene Transfer Studies (PDF, 3.5MB)
Peili Zhu, PhD, RBP, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
10:50 – 11:05 am – The IBC’s Role in Facilitating Human Gene Transfer in Multicenter Clinical Trials (PDF, 141KB)
Daniel Kavanagh, PhD, WCG Biosafety, Brookline, MA
11:05 – 11:30 am – Human Gene Transfer Panel Question and Answer
Panelists:
Daniel Kavanagh, PhD, WCG Biosafety, Brookline, MA
Andrew Maksymowych, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Jessica Tucker, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Peili Zhu, MD, PhD, RBP, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Honor Awards and Special Recognition Luncheon
Presenter: Maureen O’Leary, PhD, CBSP, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Arnold G. Wedum Distinguished Achievement Award
Everett J. Hanel, Jr. Presidential Award
John H. Richardson Special Recognition Award
International and National Poster Awards
Hashimoto Service Award
Recognition of Certified Biosafety Professionals and Registered Biosafety Professionals
Presenters: Donald Wang, MPH, RBP, CBSP, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
Susan Cook, PhD, CBSP, Washington University—St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Session XVII: Facility Biosafety
Moderator: Darlene Ward, RBP, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
2:00 – 2:20 pm – Keep It Simple—BSL-3 Laboratory Ventilation Systems (PDF, 271KB)
Daniel Cook, Cornerstone Commissioning, Boxford, MA
2:20 – 2:40 pm – Decontamination with Cold Plasma Activated Ionized Hydrogen Peroxide: Does It Behave Like a Gas? (PDF, 9.2MB)
Miguel Grimaldo, MEng, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
2:40 – 3:00 pm – Colombian National Institute of Health—BSL-2/ABSL-2 Laboratory and Specific Pathogen Free Facility Commissioning Process (PDF, 20.8MB)
Lia Vizotti, World BioHazTec Corp, Bogotá, Colombia
Coffee Break
3 pm – 3:30 pm
Session XVIII: Biosafety Promotion and Development
Kelly Flint, RBP, CBSP, SM(NRCM)
Moderator: Kelly Flint, RBP, CBSP, SM(NRCM), National Institutes of Health, Fort Detrick, MD
4:00 – 4:20 pm – Building a User-friendly Biosafety Program from Scratch (PDF, 3.2MB)
Ray Scheetz, MS, RBP, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
4:20 – 4:40 pm – Disseminating Biosafety Information to the Nonscientist (PDF, 4MB)
Lolly Gardiner, MRIGlobal, Gaithersburg, MD
4:40 – 5:00 pm – From Scratch to the Establishment of the Center of Excellence for Training of Biosafety and Biosecurity in Pakistan: Things Can Be Done (PDF, 44.2MB)
Saeed Khan, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi Pakistan
Close of Conference
5 pm
Master of Ceremonies
President-Elect: TBD