66th Annual Biosafety and Biosecurity Hybrid Conference
Scientific Program
SUNDAY/MONDAY October 15/16
All times listed will be CENTRAL Standard Time
Sunday, October 15, 2023
6:30 – 8:30 pm Opening Reception in the Exhibit Hall
Monday, October 16, 2023
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
Rebecca Moritz, MS, CBSP(ABSA), SM(NRCM)
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Matt Anderson, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE
Matt is the Biosafety Officer and Responsible Official (RO) at the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL), where he has been since 2009. His duties include management of the biosafety program at UNL, serving as RO for UNL’s Select Agent Program as well as serving on the IBC, IACUC and Plant Growth Facility committees. He attended Dana College in Blair, NE (1994-1998) for his undergraduate studies and double majored in Biology and Chemistry. He earned his PhD in Chemical Biology from Washington University in St. Louis in 2005. His graduate work focused on molecular recognition of the main light sensing pathway in the human eye and understanding the forces and characteristics involved in the interaction between Rhodopsin (a G-protein coupled receptor) and its cognate G-protein,transducin. He completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship also at Washington University designing peptide-based scaffolds for site-directed targeting of lipid nanoparticles carrying both imaging agents and therapeutic compounds. He got his start in biosafety through a post-doctoral fellowship in biosafety at Washington University in St. Louis (2008-2009) under the mentorship of Susan Cook. He has been an ABSA member since 2008, currently serving as Chair of the ABSA E-communications Committee (2015-present), a member of the ABSA Scientific Program Committee (2018–present), ABSA Nominating Committee (2020), and Chair of the Local arrangements Committee for the 2023 ABSA Conference. He has been active in the Midwest Area Biosafety Network (MABioN) affiliate since 2008, having held positions as Councilor-at-Large (2012-2014), President Elect (2014-2016), and President (2016-2018) and Past-President (2018-2020). He obtained his RBP certification in 2015 and CBSP certification in 2019.At UNL Matt has been involved with numerous lab design and renovation projects including BSL-1, BSL-2 and BSL-3 laboratories. He has completed both ABSA pre-conference courses on Engineering for the Biosafety Professional as well as completed BSL-3 and ABSL-3 training courses from UTMB. As the RO he has been intimately involved with the operations of UNL’s BSL-3 laboratories and participated in every annual certification since the first lab opened in 2009.
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
Matt Anderson, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE
Matt is the Biosafety Officer and Responsible Official (RO) at the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL), where he has been since 2009. His duties include management of the biosafety program at UNL, serving as RO for UNL’s Select Agent Program as well as serving on the IBC, IACUC and Plant Growth Facility committees. He attended Dana College in Blair, NE (1994-1998) for his undergraduate studies and double majored in Biology and Chemistry. He earned his PhD in Chemical Biology from Washington University in St. Louis in 2005. His graduate work focused on molecular recognition of the main light sensing pathway in the human eye and understanding the forces and characteristics involved in the interaction between Rhodopsin (a G-protein coupled receptor) and its cognate G-protein,transducin. He completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship also at Washington University designing peptide-based scaffolds for site-directed targeting of lipid nanoparticles carrying both imaging agents and therapeutic compounds. He got his start in biosafety through a post-doctoral fellowship in biosafety at Washington University in St. Louis (2008-2009) under the mentorship of Susan Cook. He has been an ABSA member since 2008, currently serving as Chair of the ABSA E-communications Committee (2015-present), a member of the ABSA Scientific Program Committee (2018–present), ABSA Nominating Committee (2020), and Chair of the Local arrangements Committee for the 2023 ABSA Conference. He has been active in the Midwest Area Biosafety Network (MABioN) affiliate since 2008, having held positions as Councilor-at-Large (2012-2014), President Elect (2014-2016), and President (2016-2018) and Past-President (2018-2020). He obtained his RBP certification in 2015 and CBSP certification in 2019.At UNL Matt has been involved with numerous lab design and renovation projects including BSL-1, BSL-2 and BSL-3 laboratories. He has completed both ABSA pre-conference courses on Engineering for the Biosafety Professional as well as completed BSL-3 and ABSL-3 training courses from UTMB. As the RO he has been intimately involved with the operations of UNL’s BSL-3 laboratories and participated in every annual certification since the first lab opened in 2009.
Christina L. Hutson, PhD, MSCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, GA
Dr. Christina (Christy) Hutson received her MS at the University of Georgia within the College of Veterinary Medicine and her PhD also from the University of Georgia within the College of Veterinary Medicine (Pathology Department). Following completion of her master’s degree in September 2003, Dr. Hutson joined CDC’s Poxvirus program during the first U.S. mpox outbreak. She went on to study and characterize the prairie dog model of monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection and completed her PhD in Veterinary Pathology from the University of Georgia. Beginning in 2016 Dr. Hutson served as the Team Lead of the Virus-Host Molecular Interactions (VHMI) Team within CDC’s Poxvirus and Rabies Branch (PRB). The VHMI team performs fundamental research on viral biology including studies of pathogenesis, host-pathogen interaction, vaccine efficacy, and novel therapeutic (in vitro and in vivo) efficacy studies. This team also serves the core group of individuals that perform training and experiments within the high-containment laboratory (BSL-3 and BSL-4), including performing experiments with variola virus (causative agent of smallpox). Dr. Hutson serves as an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) Advisory Committee on Variola virus Research (ACVVR) which meets annually. In 2022 PRB was redesignated as the WHO Collaborating Center (CC) for Smallpox and Other Poxvirus Infections, with Dr. Hutson serving as the Director of the CC. In May 2022, Dr. Hutson became Chief of the Poxvirus and Rabies Branch. The branch is configured into 8 teams (with over 70 staff members); 3 laboratory teams, 1 ecology and disease surveillance team, 2 teams focused upon epidemiologic surveillance and clinical guidance, 1 team focused upon quality and regulatory compliance and 1 program management and operations team. During the 2022 global mpox outbreak, Dr. Hutson served as the lead for CDC’s Laboratory and Testing Taskforce.
9:25 – 10:00 am Exhibits, Posters, and Coffee Break
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
Rachel Gamble, DrPH, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA)
Associate Director of Biosafety and Biosecurity
Merrick & Company
Greenwood Village, CO
Dr. Rachel Gamble is the Associate Director, Biorisk Management Programs within Science & Technology in the Life Sciences practice at Merrick. Rachel has 15+ years of experience directing and managing safety programs for two biomedical research institutions with focused experience in biological safety and select agent regulations. She previously served as the Director of the Office for Environmental Safety as well as the director for the high containment/select agent research facility at Baylor College of Medicine. During this time, she also held faculty appointments at The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health in the Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences department and Baylor College of Medicine in the Molecular, Virology, and Microbiology department. She is currently assisting with the stand-up of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, KS, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in addition to various projects for government and academic institutions both domestic and international.
Rachel has been an ABSA member since 2006 and currently serves on the Training Tools and Resources Committee and the Scientific Program Committee. In addition to being an active ABSA member, she is active in her regional ABSA affiliate, the Southern Biosafety Association (SBA) and has held previous positions as the treasurer, vice president, president, and past president. Currently, Dr. Gamble is serving another term as the SBA’s vice president and a reviewer for Applied Biosafety—The Journal of ABSA International.
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
Peili Zhu, MD, PhD, RBP(ABSA)
University of California – San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Peili Zhu has been working as the Biosafety Officer at University of California – San Francisco 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 20 years in the Biosafety and Biosecurity field. As the BSO of UCSF, she oversees the UCSF Biosafety Program which consists of more than 700 bio-medical research laboratories and several BSL-3/ABSL-3 high containment facilities. She is very familiar with various federal, state, and local laws, policies and regulations relating to Biosafety/Biosecurity and has extensive experience overseeing the operations of BSL-2/ABSL-2 and BSL-3/ABSL-3 facilities. As the Responsible Official of the UCSF Select Agent program, she also has significant knowledge of Select Agent regulations and biosecurity.
Vibeke Halkjaer–Knudsen, PhD
Vipsit LLC
Helsinge, Denmark
Vibeke Halkjaer-Knudsen (Vips) is a Senior Subject Matter Expert (SME) in areas related to biological and chemical risk management, incident management and response, accident and incident root cause investigations, dual-use materials, and high containment lab design. She performs multidimensional impact and risk assessments from a product, GMP, GMO, environment, health and safety, emergency preparedness, animal welfare, chemical and biological point of view. She has extensive experience with lab design and sustainable solutions on all continents. She sits in several think tanks and advisory boards, revises guidelines when needed and has a true passion for building the next generation of biorisk management professionals. She serves several of these younger individuals as a mentor, coach and provides reach back capacity when the daily tasks become too challenging. For almost 20 years, she was a Director at the Danish Statens Serum Institute, responsible for quality control labs, Tuberculin production, large scale vaccine production and facility design. She has spent the last 12 years at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico as Principal and later Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, working with international stakeholders, within the biorisk management non-proliferation programs funded by the U.S. Government. Since 2006, she has been consulting as a private GMP and Biorisk Management Consultant on the side while continuing to work her daytime jobs. In the autumn of 2022, she decided to focus full time on her role as an experienced project manager, supporting clients who were implementing biorisk management standards in their labs and in making risk informed decisions for sustainable laboratory design around the globe. She earned her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Copenhagen.
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
Dalial Freitak, PhD
Karl-Franzen University of Graz
Graz, Austria
Dalial Freitak is an Estonia born biologist and works currently as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Biology at Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria. She has been studying insect immunity for over 15 years and her desire to understand how organisms adapt to stressors has led to paradigm shifting discovery of the underlying mechanisms behind immune priming in honeybees. She is currently leading the honeybee pathology lab at the University and is teaching students about immunology and social insects. Outside of basic research, Dalial is a founding member and CSO of Dalan Animal Health, Inc. – a company pioneering the development of a first vaccine for honeybees. In her free time, she likes to travel, read books, and cook.
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
Julianne Baron, PhD, RBP(ABSA)
Science and Safety Consulting
Venetia, PA
Julianne L. Baron, PhD, CPH, RBP(ABSA) is an infectious disease microbiologist with specialized expertise in laboratory and biological safety, risk assessments, emergency preparedness and planning, safety training, regulatory compliance, and scientific writing. She received her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. Dr. Baron then completed the prestigious National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program (NBBTP) postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Dr. Baron started Science and Safety Consulting, LLC to provide reliable, factual scientific information to help support her clients in conducting research safely, making educated decisions, and ensuring plan and program compliance. She has supported research laboratories, including high containment labs, and served as Alternate Responsible Official for the CDC’s Federal Select Agent Program. Dr. Baron has developed and provided both general and specialized safety training including Principles and Practices of Biosafety, Bloodborne Pathogens, Respiratory Protection Standard Awareness, and hands-on respirator use and fit testing, to hundreds of individuals. She has assisted professional organizations, research institutions, universities, and businesses with scientific and safety projects that include reviewing training materials and revising Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and safety plans, conducting gap analysis of institutional practices and written procedures, performing experimental decontamination validation, developing OSHA compliant laboratory safety programs, and creating emergency management and pandemic preparedness plans. Dr. Baron has over 15 years of laboratory research experience and has presented her work at national and international conferences. She has authored and co-authored many peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters. Dr. Baron is Certified in Public Health through the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE). She is a Registered Biosafety Professional (RBP) through the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) International. She has also received an Advanced Safety Certificate through the National Safety Council.
Kalpana Rengarajan, PhD, MPH, JM, RBP(ABSA)
Director of Research Safety | Senior Biosafety Officer
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Kalpana Rengarajan is the Director of Research Safety at the Environmental Health and Safety Office (EHSO) and is the Senior Biosafety Officer for 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. This includes biosafety support to the Emory Serious Communicable Diseases Unit (SCDU), which cared for 4 Ebola patients in 2014. The SCDU continues to be a major leader in the U.S. National Ebola Training Center. Her background includes a PhD in Immunology and she has worked as a Visiting Associate at the National Eye Institute, NIH. Prior to joining EHSO she worked as a Research Associate at the Emory Vaccine Center. Kalpana has a passion for Global Biorisk Management Public Health Preparedness and provides guidance internationally. She has a Masters of Public Health from Rollins School of Public Health (Emory University) and a Juris Masters of Law (Emory University). She is a Registered Biosafety Professional. Dr. Rengarajan serves on committees for the ABSA International (American Biological Safety Association) and the Campus Safety Health and Environmental Association (CSHEMA), to create professional development courses, and is a member of the technical writing team for ISO/TC 212/Working Group 5 (ISO Laboratory Biorisk management standard), and was a technical writer for the CEN Workshop Agreements relating to Biorisk Management Systems: CWA 15793:2011 and 16393: 2012. Dr. Rengarajan regularly teaches/facilitates and presents at ABSA and CSHEMA. She has also been teaching for the Laboratory Leadership Service (LLS) program at CDC.
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.