WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE:
Scientific Program
October 29, 2025
7:00 am – 5:00 pm Registration
7:00 – 8:00 am Continental Breakfast in Foyer
Session 14 | Invited Speaker
Introduction: Susan Vleck, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Moderator: Adam Fleming, PhD, CBSP(ABSA), Deloitte Consulting, LLP, Waldorf, MD
8:00 – 8:45 am A New Paradigm for Fast-Acting, Broad-Spectrum, Self-Cleaning Antimicrobial Surfaces Promising High Inactivation Efficacy with No Antimicrobial Resistance
Richard Spontak, PhD, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
8:45 – 9:00 am Q&A Session
Dr. Richard Spontak, a Distinguished Professor at NC State University, received his BS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from Penn State and UC Berkeley, respectively. He pursued post-doctoral research at Cambridge University and later joined Procter & Gamble before accepting a faculty position at NC State. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal papers, received 9 patents and delivered over 400 invited lectures around the world. His research focuses on nanostructured polymers, polymer nanocomposites, coatings, and stimuli-responsive and multifunctional soft materials, as well as advanced electron microscopy. In recognition of his research at NC State, he was awarded the Alexander Q. Holladay Medal for Excellence (the highest NC State faculty award), the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Award (the highest engineering faculty award), the Alcoa Foundation Distinguished Engineering Research Award, and the Alumni Outstanding Research Award. In addition, he has received the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) International Award, the ACS (Rubber Division) Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) Colwyn Medal and Medal for Excellence, the Institute of Chemical Engineers Underwood Medal and Global Award, the American Chemical Society (ACS) (PMSE Division) Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings and Cooperative Research Award, the Society of Polymer Science (Japan) International Award, the Acta Materialia Hollomon Award for Materials and Society, the German Society for Electron Microscopy Ernst Ruska Prize, and the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society Walston Chubb Award for Innovation and 2025-26 Distinguished Lectureship. An elected fellow of the American Physical Society, the IOM3, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the ACS (PMSE Division), and the SPE, Dr. Spontak was named the Lars Onsager Professor at, and received an honorary doctorate (doctor honoris causa) from, the Norwegian University of Science & Technology, and is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences.
9:00 – 9:05 am | Stretch
Session 15 | What’s New in Decontamination
Moderators:
Rachel Gamble, DrPH, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), Pond & Company, Peachtree Corners, GA
Kaci Van Dalen, MS, National Institutes of Health—NIAID, Bethesda, MD
9:05 – 9:20 am Retrofitting Vent Lines and Using Chlorine Dioxide to Decontaminate Pall® Filters
Jonathan Harris, MS, National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC), Battelle National Biodefense Institute (BNBI), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, Fort Detrick, MD
9:20 – 9:35 am Solid Hydrogen Peroxide for Safe Transport and Compact Bio-Decontamination
Fernando Antunes, PhD, University of Lisbon—Institute of Molecular Sciences, Lisboa, Portugal
9:35 – 9:50 am Biosafety Considerations for High Level Disinfection and Sterilization of Reusable Medical Equipment
Allison Reeme, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CIC, Acacia Safety Consulting, Milwaukee, WI
9:50 – 10:05 am Enhanced Risk Mitigation and Reduced Waste for Steam Sterilizer Cycles in High-Containment Facilities
Juha Mattila, MEng, STERIS, Tuusula, Finland
10:05 – 10:35 am Q&A Session
Jonathan Harris is a Biosafety & Biosecurity Specialist who has worked at the Battelle National Biodefense Institute (BNBI) for 6 years, where he has focused most of his time on BSL-3 and BSL-4 biosafety. Prior to working at BNBI, he spent 4 years working in laboratory safety at AstraZeneca.
Fernando Antunes at the European Union Intellectual Property Office and is a co-founder of the spin-off Delox. In recognition of his scientific and innovation contributions, he was awarded the inaugural 2023 Ciências ULisboa Prize for Innovation. He has international experience, including multidisciplinary training in chemistry, toxicology, and pathology, with a six-month stay at Mount Allison University, Canada (1996), serving as a Research Associate at the University of Southern California (USA) from 1997-2001, and short stays as a Visiting Researcher at Linköping University (Sweden) in 2001 and Matsuyama University (Japan) in 2007. To date, he has published 86 articles in international journals with over 6000 citations (h-index of 37 according to Web of Science). His work has appeared in prestigious journals such as Nature Biotechnology, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Three of his articles belong to the top 1% of most cited articles, and 15 are in the top 10%. In 2018, he founded Delox (recently incorporated in the USA), a spin-off company that commercializes a new nanomaterial for biodecontamination applications. Recently, Delox was selected for the prestigious EIC ACCELERATOR funding program from the European Commission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led a consortium of academic, industry, and military partners that developed a chamber for biodecontaminating FFP2 respirators, addressing the scarcity of these items at the time. His current interests lie in (1) biodecontamination, (2) application of microcalorimetry to biomedical research, namely immunotherapy, and (3) social and economic valorization of knowledge.
Allison Reeme, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CIC, has over 8 years of experience in infection prevention and hospital epidemiology at an academic medical center consisting of acute care, procedural and outpatient care settings. She has led multiple quality improvement projects, assisted in hospital credentialing preparedness, mitigating outbreaks of multidrug-resistant organisms and designing clinical spaces. Allison has 8 years of experience serving as a Human Gene Therapy expert (HGT) and Biosafety Expert on Institutional Biosafety Committees, supported CAR-T cell manufacturing facilities and assisted with the training and education of clinical staff supporting HGT clinical trials. Allison has also participated in multiple OSHA and NIH compliance programs in both the clinical and laboratory setting. She is certified through the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, is a Registered Biosafety Professional through ABSA International and has doctoral degrees in Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics and Translational Science.
Juha Mattila is Senior Manager, Technical Services on sterilization applications, equipment, and critical utilities for STERIS Life Sciences. He covers Moist Heat and VHP Sterilization and VHP biodecontamination technologies, and WFI & Pure Steam Systems. He has a BSc in HVAC and Process Engineering, and an MEng in Business Informatics. He has 25 years of experience within pharmaceutical and medical device industries and related research, biocontainment lab applications, including R&D, engineering, and product management. He is an active member of PDA, ISPE and Finnish Biosafety Network and subject matter expert member in relative international standard work groups of ISO, ASTM, CEN and SFS, representing Finland.10:35 – 10:45 am | Coffee Break
Session 16 | Topics in Biosafety Training
Moderators:
Shelley Jones, MS, RBP(ABSA), Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Aderemi Dosunmu, PhD, CBSP(ABSA), Mount Sinai, New York, NY
10:45 – 11:00 am Assessing Safety Training in Medical Examiner and Coroner Communities
Monica Diaz, MS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
11:00 – 11:15 am It’s a (Lab) Mystery! Developing a Non-Traditional Training Module for Use in a Biosafety Program
Kerri Kwist, MS, RBP(ABSA), Clemson University, Clemson, SC
11:15 – 11:30 am Infectious Learning: Building a Resilient HCW Training Program for HCID Response
Corrie Ntiforo, RBP(ABSA), University of Texas Medical Branch—Galveston, Galveston, TX
11:30 – 11:45 am Q&A Session
Monica Diaz is currently a Biosafety/Biosecurity Specialist at the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC). Prior to working at NBACC, Monica was a National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program (NBBTP) Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Before entering the fellowship, she earned her Master’s in Biohazardous Threat Agents & Emerging Infectious Diseases from Georgetown University (2022) where she was researching an unknown toxin produced by Candida albicans with a mitochondrial electron transport chain I mutation. Prior to her graduate studies, Monica received her Bachelor’s in Forensic Biology from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott (2021). Her training in forensics led to an internship at the Yavapai County Medical Examiner’s Office where she trained as a medicolegal death investigator and autopsy technician. Her internship capstone project was a research paper on the disproportionate rate of firearm suicides among the elderly population in Yavapai County and how to mitigate the risks.
Kerri Kwist is the Biosafety Officer at Clemson University. She has worked in this position for 10 years. Previously, Kerri worked in labs in bioengineering, endocrinology, histology, and forensics and taught as an adjunct instructor. Kerri has a Master of Science in Microbiology and Molecular Medicine from Clemson University as well as a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas Tech University. Kerri is a Registered Biosafety Professional through the American Biological Safety Association and is an active member of the Southeastern Biological Safety Association.
Ms. Corrie Ntiforo is the Director of the Department of Biosafety, the Institutional Biosafety Officer and Alternate Responsible Official for the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). She has over 17 years of professional biosafety experience. Her primary expertise is in biosafety oversight of high and maximum containment facilities.
12:00 – 1:30 pm | Honor Awards and Special Recognition Luncheon
Presenter: Sherry S. Bohn, PhD, MSL, CBSP(ABSA), SM(NRCM), University of Maryland—Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
Arnold G. Wedum Distinguished Achievement Award
Everett J. Hanel, Jr. Presidential Award
John H. Richardson Special Recognition Award
Diane Fleming Leadership Award
Scientific and Informational Poster Awards
Hashimoto Award for Service and Honor
Richard Rebar Recognition of Certified Biological Safety Professionals and Registered Biosafety Professionals
Dr. Sherry S. Bohn, the current President of ABSA International, is a respected microbiologist and expert in biosafety. She has more than 17 years of experience working in private companies, government agencies, and universities. Following 14 years focusing on biosafety and biosecurity, Dr. Bohn is now the Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She is a CBSP (ABSA International) and holds a Masters in Law from University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Carey School of Law. Her current work focuses on creating the business case for safe and secure environments for scientific research. A published author and a certified expert in managing change, Dr. Bohn is committed to improving biosafety through education, innovation, and mentoring others.Session 17 | Richard Knudsen Award
Introduction: Sunny Hoffman, MPH, RBP(ABSA), Columbia, MO
Moderator: Julianne Baron, PhD, RBP(ABSA), Science and Safety Consulting, Venetia, PA
1:30 – 1:50 pm Rate of Errors During Routine Biological Manipulation
Kelly Kim, MS, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Adam Fleming, PhD, CBSP(ABSA), Deloitte Consulting, LLP, Waldorf, MD
1:50 – 2:00 pm Q&A Session
Kelly is an Assistant Biosafety Officer at Colorado State University (CSU), where she brings expertise in biosafety, biosecurity, and AI safety. She holds a master’s degree in microbiology from CSU and has led projects focused on developing evidence-based biosafety practices. In addition to her work on campus, Kelly has been involved in international efforts to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity, contributing to publications, speaking at national and global conferences, and helping design and facilitate international training workshops. Her work reflects a deep commitment to advancing safe, responsible science both locally and around the world.
Dr. Adam Fleming is a senior consultant for Deloitte Consulting LLP, a Certified Biological Safety Professional, and holds a PhD in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. He was one of two lead authors of the revision of the WHO Global Action Plan for Poliovirus Containment and has designed and delivered biorisk management capacity building training and workshops to a variety of audiences in both high and low- and middle-income countries. He currently serves as a biorisk management subject matter specialist on a variety of projects for U.S. federal agencies and commercial clients. Prior to his work with Deloitte, he served as a biosafety officer and responsible official overseeing safety and compliance in BSL-2 and BSL-3 laboratories.
Session 18 | Managing Microbes
Moderators:
Eric Lewis, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ
Kalpana Rengarajan, PhD, MPH, JM, RBP(ABSA), Emory University, Atlanta, GA
2:00 – 2:15 pm Lessons From Implementing Biological Materials Reporting System at Duke
Antony Schwartz, PhD, CBSP(ABSA), SM(NRCM), Duke University, Durham, NC
2:15 – 2:30 pm Removal of a Large Legacy Microorganism Collection
Simon White, PhD, Triumvirate Environmental, Somerville, MA
2:30 – 2:45 pm Developing Applications for Tracking Pathogens in High-Containment Laboratories in Brazil
Claudio Mafra, DVM, PhD, Brazilian Society for Biosafety and Biosecurity, Vicosa, Brazil
2:45 – 3:00 pm Q&A Session
Dr. Antony Schwartz is the Director of Biological Safety at Duke University, where he serves as the Institutional Biosafety Officer, Responsible Official for the Select Agent Program, and Institutional Contact for Dual Use Research (ICDUR). In these roles, he ensures institutional compliance with federal regulations governing biosafety, biosecurity, and dual-use research oversight. He also holds an appointment as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Schwartz and his team oversee biological hazards across research laboratories and healthcare settings, including the Duke Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL), clinical trials and microbiology labs, autopsy and gross anatomy labs, phytotrons, and arthropod containment facilities. His oversight spans BSL-1 through BSL-3/ABSL-3 spaces, including BSL-2+ and ABSL-2 environments. Prior to Duke, Dr. Schwartz was the Responsible Official for the National Institutes of Health Select Agent Program in Bethesda, Maryland. He was previously a postdoctoral fellow in the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program (NBBTP), a competitive, in-residence fellowship at NIH designed to prepare professionals to manage BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories handling high-risk pathogens such as Ebola, Monkeypox, and Nipah virus. He has also served as a BSL-4 instructor and course facilitator at NIH and NIAID facilities. Dr. Schwartz holds a PhD in Microbiology with a minor in Technology Commercialization. A Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP) through ABSA International, Dr. Schwartz has held numerous leadership roles in the organization, including Councilor, Chair of the Pre-Conference Course Committee, Vice Team Lead for the Regulatory and Technical Affairs Team, Journal Board Reviewer, and Co-Chair of the inaugural Biosecurity Symposium Steering Committee. He remains actively engaged in biosafety and biosecurity through research, publications, professional outreach, and mentorship.
Simon White obtained his PhD from the University of Leeds in bionanotechnology and continued his work in viruses through this post-doc and as an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut. He worked on a number of human, animal, plant and bacterial viruses, including polio and hepatitis B. He currently works as a biosafety consultant at Triumvirate Inc.
Dr. Mafra is a veterinarian (Federal University of Viçosa, 1988) with a Master’s in Parasitology (UFMG, 1991) and a PhD in Biological Sciences (Biochemistry) from UFRGS (1998). He completed postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, USA, focusing on biodefense and emerging infectious diseases. As a retired full professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UFV, he continues as a professor and advisor in the Applied Biochemistry graduate program. His extensive expertise includes biosafety, parasitic diseases, parasite biochemistry and molecular biology, bioinformatics, and molecular epidemiology, with research emphasis on ticks, tick-borne diseases, and the complex interactions among pathogens, vectors, hosts, and the environment. Dr. Mafra has held multiple leadership roles, including Vice-President of ANBio, President of the Brazilian Society for Biosafety and Biosecurity (SB3), and President of the Certification Body of IFBA (Canada). He is a member of several national and international working groups, such as Brazil’s Maximum Biocontainment Facility Workgroup and CEPI’s Biorisk Working Group (Norway). He collaborates with institutions, including the Ministry of Health, PAHO, iGEM Foundation, and the Galveston National Laboratory (UTMB). He has consulted for organizations like ABNT, CNPq, FINEP, FAPESP, and the OAS on bioterrorism. An active researcher, Dr. Mafra has authored over 70 scientific articles, multiple books, patents, and software registrations. He has also guided numerous theses and postdoctoral projects. His career reflects a sustained commitment to advancing biosafety, biocontainment, and public health, contributing to national preparedness and global biosecurity efforts.3:00 – 3:15 pm | Coffee Break
Session 19 | Hot Topics
Introduction: Colleen Kovacsics, PhD, RBP(ABSA), FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Morrisville, NC
Moderator: Darlene Ward, RBP(ABSA), Advarra, Boca Raton, FL
3:15 – 3:35 pm Robert I. Gross Student Award: A Case Study: Developing Evidence-Based Solutions for Biosafety Challenges
Jay Bickell, MRIGlobal, Gaithersburg, MD
3:35 – 3:50 pm Prevention of Laboratory Animal Allergy
Gregg Stave, MD, JD, MPH, Duke University, Durham, NC
3:50 – 4:05 pm What Does Flexibility in Biocontainment Design Mean and Why Does it Matter?
E. Scott Kreitlein, MArch, BHDP Architects, Saratoga Springs, UT
4:05 – 4:20 pm The Iceberg of Incident Reporting
Adrian Worrall, PhD, London, England, United Kingdom
4:20 – 4:45 pm Q&A Session
Jay Bickell is a Staff Scientist on the Biosafety and Global Engagement team at MRIGlobal, specializing in biorisk management consulting and biosafety training development. She previously supported BSL-3 operations at the University of Washington. Jay holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and is currently pursuing a master’s in biodefense at George Mason University, focusing on addressing global health challenges through biosafety and biosecurity.
Gregg M. Stave, MD, JD, MPH, is a consultant and Medical Professor in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Duke University. He spent 15 years as a corporate medical director for GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Stave received his undergraduate degree from MIT in Life Sciences, his MD and JD from Duke University, and an MPH in Epidemiology from UNC—Chapel Hill. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine (Occupational Medicine) and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). Dr. Stave is co-editor of the award-winning Physical and Biological Hazards of the Workplace, currently in the third edition. He is the author of numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed articles including many on laboratory animal allergies. He is the lead author of the recently published ACOEM Guidance Statement on Laboratory Animal Allergy. He is the recipient of the 2025 ACOEM Lifetime Achievement in OEM Award.
Scott Kreitlein has over 30 years of experience designing and planning some of the most complex science related projects in the industry. He has specific expertise in high-containment and barrier type facilities, with completed work both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Adrian Worrall is an Occupational Psychologist interested in the behavior of people at work and the behavior of the organizations they work within. He has a special interest in laboratory safety culture, learning from incidents, Human Factors and Systems Thinking. Adrian was Head of the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Centre for Quality Improvement and President of the Quality in Healthcare Section of the UK Royal Society of Medicine. Adrian is experienced in the development of service standards, audit and certification. He is a Lead Auditor for ISO35001: biorisk management standard for laboratories. Adrian is especially committed to supporting laboratory staff and researchers in low- and middle-income countries.
4:45 pm | Close of Conference
Anne-Sophie Brocard, PhD, RBP(ABSA), CBSP(ABSA), SM(NRCM), The University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX