Sunday, October 15, 2023

6:30 – 8:30 pm Opening Reception in the Exhibit Hall

7:00 – 5:00 pm Registration
7:00 – 8:00 am Continental Breakfast in Foyer
9:00 – 4:00 pm Vendor Exhibits

8:00 – 8:15 am Welcome and ABSA International President’s Address
Master of Ceremonies: Rebecca Moritz, MS, CBSP(ABSA), SM(NRCM), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

8:15 – 8:20 am Local Arrangements Committee Welcome
Matt Anderson, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

8:20 – 8:25 am Scientific Program Committee Welcome
AJ Troiano, PhD, RBP(ABSA), FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Boston, MA

Session I Arnold G. Wedum Memorial Lecture Award

Introduction: AJ Troiano, PhD, RBP(ABSA), FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Boston, MA
Moderator: Matt Anderson, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

8:25 – 9:15 am Mpox Outbreak: Preparedness Efforts, Laboratory Response and Ongoing Efforts
Christina L. Hutson, PhD, MS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA

9:15 – 9:25 am Q&A Session

Session II Applied Biosafety

Moderators: Francine Rogers, MS, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), SM(NRCM), Tufts University, Boston, MA
Rachel Gamble, DrPH, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), Merrick & Company, Greenwood Village, CO

10:00 – 10:15 am Empirical Biosafety
Kelly Kim, MS, Gryphon Scientific, Takoma Park, MD

10:15 – 10:30 am Global Factors Influencing BSC Performance
Katlyn Montalbano, MPH, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

10:30 – 10:45 am Findings of the RAV3N Applied BioRisk and Biosafety Gap Assessment Workshop
Kurt Zuelke, DVM, PhD, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

10:45 – 11:00 am Q&A Session

Session III Continuous Improvement: Enhancing Your Biosafety Program

Moderators: Betsy Matos, PhD, CBSP(ABSA), Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Maya Nair, PhD, RBP(ABSA), University of North Texas Science Center, Fort Worth, TX

11:00 – 11:15 am Below the Iceberg: Safety and Compliance for Biomedical Research Review
Maren Schniederberend, PhD, RBP(ABSA), Yale University, New Haven, CT

11:15 – 11:30 am Biosafety Challenges for Rodent Gnotobiotic Facility
Peili Zhu, MD, PhD, RBP(ABSA), University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

11:30 – 11:45 pm Intentional and Unintentional Human Failures
Vibeke Halkjaer–Knudsen, PhD, Vipsit LLC, Helsinge, Denmark

11:45 – 12:00 pm Q&A Session

12:00 – 1:30 pm Exhibits, Posters, and Lunch

Session IV Poster Session

12:30 – 1:30 pm Presenters must be available during the session.

Session V Invited Speaker

Introduction: Susan Vleck, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Moderator: Noman Siddiqi, PhD, RBP(ABSA), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

1:30 – 2:20 pm Vaccination of Honeybee (Apis Mellifera) Against Brood Diseases: A Novel Approach to Prevent Spread of Infections
Dalial Freitak, PhD, Karl-Franzen University of Graz, Graz, Austria

2:20 – 2:30 pm Q&A Session

2:30 – 3:00 pm Exhibits, Posters, and Coffee Break

Session VI Public Health

Moderators: Julianne Baron, PhD, RBP(ABSA), Science and Safety Consulting, Venetia, PA
Kalpana Rengarajan, PhD, RBP(ABSA), Emory University, Atlanta, GA

3:00 – 3:15 pm The Role of Public Health Laboratories in the US to Meet Biosafety Preparedness Needs in Hospital and Clinical Laboratories
Anthony R. Sambol, MA, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), SM(NRCM), University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE

3:15 – 3:30 pm Implementation of an Outreach Program to Improve Laboratory Safety Worldwide
Aufra C. Araujo, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA

3:30 – 3:45 pm Infection Control and Biosafety Taskforce
Corrie Ntiforo, MSPH, RBP(ABSA), University of Texas Medical Branch—Galveston, Galveston, TX

3:45 – 4:00 pm Q&A Session

Session VII Biosafety Perspectives: Ethics, Genetic Engineering, and Evolving Regulations

Moderators: Jessica McCormick-Ell, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Kelly Flint, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), SM(NRCM), National Institutes of Health, Fort Detrick, MD

4:00 – 4:15 pm Editing the Building Blocks of Life: The Evolution of Genetic Engineering
Timo Alexander Kehl, PhD, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

4:15 – 4:30 pm Areas of Consensus and Improvement on Dual–Use Research Risk, Ethics, and Oversight
Elika Somani, National Institutes for Health, Bethesda, MD

4:30 – 4:45 pm Never Say Never: Repeal of Prohibition on Import of LSDV Into Australia
James Thomas Paulley, PhD, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, East Geelong, Victoria, Australia

4:45 – 5:00 pm Q&A Session

5:00 – Close Members’ Business Meeting

Door prizes will be awarded—must be present to win.