ADVANCED LEVEL COURSES
October 24-26, 2025
Sunday, October 26, 2025, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
15. Advanced Risk Assessment
In this advanced and interactive course, attendees will evaluate a variety of challenging scenarios based on actual research protocol submissions and real-world events from multiple risk perspectives. Attendees will work in teams to conduct risk assessments on a diverse selection of scenarios that will include multiple systems used in research as a research project progresses from discovery to cell culture, to small animal models using recombinant materials, and human clinical trials. Risk assessments will focus on the likelihood of exposure and the severity of consequences from exposure to the multitude of hazards encountered in increasingly complex research as well as the surprises that may come across the biosafety officer’s desk. Attendees will be challenged to consider additional risks aside from infection and how best to mitigate them. Attendees should have a thorough understanding of pathogenic microorganisms, rDNA principles, other infectious substances and the link between biosafety, risk assessment, and risk mitigation for this advanced course. There is an emphasis on the interactive nature of the risk assessment process and differing views of risk tolerance will be considered; attendees should be prepared to participate in discussions and bring interesting or difficult examples of interest to them to discuss with the class.
Objectives:
- Prioritize risks based on the likelihood and consequences of an occurrence
- Identify risks requiring mitigation and mitigation strategies to minimize the unacceptable risks
- Identify institutional and external partners to help implement mitigation strategies
- Evaluate mitigation strategies for effectiveness, adjust strategies as warranted
Suggested Background: Fundamentals of Biosafety, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology, Basic Risk Assessment, Principles & Practices of Biosafety
Target Audience: Experienced Biosafety Professionals, Laboratory Workers
Audience Level: Advanced
COURSE FACULTY
Dr. David Harbourt is a Safety and Occupational Health Manager for the Center of Veterinary Medicine at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Prior to his current position, he served as the Program Director of the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program (NBBTP) at the National Institutes of Health. Before that, he served in a variety of roles at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) including Biosafety Officer, Chief of the Biosafety Division and Deputy Director of the USMARIID Transition Office (2012-2021). Prior to working at USAMRIID, he was a fellow in the NBBTP. Preceding the fellowship, he graduated with his B.S. in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech (’05) and his Ph.D. in Toxicology from UNC-Chapel Hill (’09).
Dr. Harbourt has been an active member of ABSA International since 2010; has previously served as the Chair of the Preconference Course Committee and Chair of the Training Tools and Resources Committee; and currently serves as a member of the Exam Development Board for the CBSP Exam. He has also been a member of the Standards Committee, Professional Development Team, and BSAT Community Advocate Committee for ABSA. He has recently been named Co-Chair of the ABSA Ambassadors Committee. Locally within the Chesapeake Area Biosafety Association, Dave has been a Councilor, Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for its annual symposium, and Chair of the Pre-Symposium Committee. Previously, Dr. Harbourt served as Chair of the DoD Biosafety and Scientific Review Panel.
Dr. Harbourt has published several articles on topics relevant to biosafety including bacteriology, virology, agent inactivation, effluent decontamination systems, and risk assessment. He has also taught courses both at ABSA and at local universities on biosafety, risk assessment, emergency management, and effluent decontamination systems. Dave is a Registered Biosafety Professional and Certified Biological Safety Professional through ABSA International and a Specialist Microbiologist (NRCM) through the American Society of Microbiology.
Katie George lives in Missoula, Montana and is currently an Associate Partner and Human Gene Therapy Biosafety Officer for Clinical Biosafety Services (Chesterfield, MO) working with clinics, universities, and hospitals in the United States and Canada prepare for IBC review of Human Gene Therapy (HGT) clinical trials.
Katie holds a BS in Biology from the University of Iowa, a PhD in Biochemistry from Northwestern University, and an MPA from Purdue University. After obtaining her PhD, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health researching mycobacterial pathogenesis. After her post-doctoral position, she served as faculty at the University of Montana teaching and leading a research team studying organophosphate pesticide toxicology. Later, she taught medical students at the Medical University of the Americas (Nevis, West Indies). During her career, Katie has worked as a toxicology consultant for the State of Montana Public Defenders and the State of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
Katie has been an ABSA member since 2020 and a Registered Biosafety Professional since 2021. She currently serves on the Distance Learning Committee for ABSA International.
Berenice Arriaga works at The University of Texas at El Paso, as the Assistant Director and Biosafety Officer in the office of Environmental Health and Safety. She received her bachelor’s in science (BS) in Microbiology and a master’s in business administration (MBA) with a Nursing concentration from The University of Texas at El Paso. Being a native from El Paso, TX, she started her career pretty early on volunteering in a Chagas Disease laboratory at UTEP. She later became the Laboratory Coordinator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) grant at UTEP. Here she oversaw the Prokaryotic Molecular Genetics (PMG) and Molecular Cell Biology (MCB) courses. Her biosafety career started in 2010 when she became the Biocontainment Safety Manager for the Biosafety Level 3 laboratories at UTEP. In this position, she was promoted to Biosafety Officer and obtained her Specialist Microbiology (SM) certification from the National Registry of Certified Microbiologist (NRCM). She is credentialed as well as a Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP) through ABSA and an Associate Professional through the Board of Certified Safety Professionals.
She currently oversees the Biosafety, Food Safety, Occupational Health, Indoor Air Quality, Ergonomics, Laboratory Safety Inspection and Workers Compensation Programs at UTEP. As an active member of ABSA, she serves currently in the Distant Learning Committee (DLC) and is currently serving as a Board member in the Southern Biosafety Association (SBA). This year 2024 she hosted at UTEP the first International Symposium in joint collaboration with SBA, AMEXBIO and ABSA. This was the first biosafety symposium between the USA and Mexico both hosted in person/virtual and in English/Spanish.
CONTACT HOURS
This course has been approved for 1.0 CM points toward RBP/CBSP recertification. ABSA International is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® Program. This course is approved for 7.5 P.A.C.E.® contact hours.
Sunday, October 26, 2025, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
16. ISO35001 Implemenation Workshop
In 2019, ISO published a new biorisk management standard that many biomedical research laboratories all over the world are adopting. This workshop will provide presentations, facilitated discussions, and tools to introduce concepts related to biosecurity and biosafety (biorisk) management systems. Attendees will gain a deep understanding of biorisk management (BRM) systems and learn to apply the ISO 35001 framework as a strategic planning tool. The course guides participants in mapping their current systems to the ISO standard, identifying gaps, and prioritizing improvements to enhance biosafety and biosecurity practices. Using the ISO 35001 as a planning and mapping tool, will enable institutions to effectively identify, assess, control, and monitor the laboratory biosafety and biosecurity risks associated with hazardous biological materials using the concept of continual improvement through the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) principle.
Objectives:
- Identify the key elements of a BRM system based on the review sections of the ISO 35001 BRM system standard
- Map existing BRM systems to the ISO 35001 and identify both strengths and opportunities to improve existing system
- Prioritize elements or areas that need improvement
- Select an area for improvement and identify a simple, short term, project idea to help strengthen one element within the existing system
Suggested Background: None
Target Audience: Experienced Biosafety Professionals, All Safety Professionals
Audience Level: Advanced
COURSE FACULTY
Eric Cook, MPH
Senior Member – Technical Staff
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM
Eric Cook is a Senior Member of the Technical Staff in the International Biological and Chemical Threat Reduction Program at Sandia National Laboratories where his work focuses on promoting global laboratory biorisk management. He serves as one of the program’s lead trainers. Eric served as the Biosafety Officer for Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH for five years where he managed the Biosafety Program and Institutional Biosafety Committee. Prior to working at Dartmouth, Eric was an Assistant Biosafety Officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for six years. While at MIT, Eric completed his Master’s Degree in Public Health at Boston University with a focus on Environmental Health. Eric has a B.S.in Molecular Biology from Brigham Young University where he worked in a recombinant DNA lab for two years assisting with work in phylogenetics. He is certified by the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists as a Specialist Microbiologist in Biological Safety Microbiology and previously by ABSA International as a Certified Biological Safety Professional. Eric has particular expertise in dangerous goods and infectious substance shipping. He worked for three years at Saf-T-Pak, Inc. developing training programs and packaging for shipping infectious substances.
CONTACT HOURS
This course has been approved for 1.0 CM points toward RBP/CBSP recertification. ABSA International is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® Program. This course is approved for 7.5 P.A.C.E.® contact hours.