News

The UK's Telegraph newspaper filmed parts of a documentary on the threat of bioterrorism during this year's SBNet Meeting talking to a number of participants. Please see the following links for further details:

Article

YouTube

With the passing of Helmut Bachmayer Europe has lost a pioneer of biosafety. His human, humorous and unflustered personality will be sorely missed by many people who were fortunate to have crossed his path. As an expert he was unequalled. He defended scientific meticulousness on all levels vigorously. Helmut influenced processes and guidelines of many companies. His input to the standardisation of biosafety management systems was pivotal. Helmut was also engaged in national and international biosafety associations. His contribution to strengthen biosafety in Europe, co-initiating the industry meetings during the ABSA conference as well as his involvement as a biosafety expert for WHO are just a small number of examples depicting Helmut's influence. His continued interest in all matters of biosafety followed him to the last.

Additionally, Helmut, with his courses and presentations, was a wonderful trainer and mentor to numerous biosafety experts on both sides of the Atlantic. A great number of people lost a father figure, mentor and friend whom they owe a great amount of gratitude, personally as well as technically.

It is Helmut's wish that today's biosafety experts continue his curious, vigorous and humorous way to develop and promote biosafety in all its facets.

RIP

We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to each and everyone who participated in the 12th Applied Biosafety Meeting in Lugano on August 23rd and 24th 2018, be that as participant, speaker, exhibitor or sponsor. Preliminary feedback from a number of people indicates that the meeting was a roaring success. Thank you. All this would not be possible without your continued support!!!

All presentations will be made available in the members' section once we have received permission from presenters.

If you have any feedback, suggestions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact our office at swissbiosafety@wildapicot.org.

Furthermore, during the AGM held on August 23rd 2018 members present accepted some modifications to our bylaws. You may find the updated version on our website or here.

Last but not least, we would like to kindly invite you to our next meeting scheduled for August 22nd & 23rd 2019 in Berne. Mark your calendars! Keep an eye on our website for any further news or developments in the field of biosafety.

We would like to draw your attention to two new risk assessment guides currently available online from the Public Health Agency of Canada as follows:

Pathogen Risk Assessment

Biosecurity Risk Assessment

Yarbrough et al. looked at contamination of instruments, the environment and laboratory staff during routine diagnostics work in the laboratory. The article, published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, may be accessed through the following link.

The Italian Biosafety Platform will be holding their 7th Biosafety Conference in Siena from September 13th to 14th. More information may be found under the following link.

WHO is currently working on a new edition of its Laboratory Biosafety Manual. Please see the link for further details.

A member app is now available to all members (currently only for Apple iOS).

With the app members can:

• view the member directory
• view a member's profile
• email their fellow members
• view the event calendar and event details
• register for an event
• view their existing event registrations
• view their member profile

Deleting existing event registrations and updating your member profile can still only be done via our website.  

The app may be downloaded from Apple's App Store via the following link.

Please see below for a link to an article which may be of interest to you all:

 

http://jcm.asm.org/content/early/2018/03/15/JCM.00225-18.abstract?papetoc

Please see the course announcement below.

You may be familiar with the Biosafety and Biosecurity Training Course, which was held in Fort Collins, CO, from 2004 – 2017. We had over 700 individuals from around the world attend the BBTC during that time. We have transitioned the on-site BBTC to a web based course, BBTC-Global. 2017 was the last year for the on-site BBTC in Fort Collins.

Please review the following information regarding the BBTC-Global. Note: Deadline for registration is May 15, 2018.

 

The BBTC-Global is a remote-based course presented through an interactive Learning Management System.  The course is chaired by Dr. Robert P. Ellis, and is facilitated by Mr. Sean Kaufman.

 

Topics include the most current information for the following:

General Session:

June-July, 20 hours presented in 10 modules (4 hours per week) – will be general Biosafety and Biosecurity.
Topics to be covered include rDNA/Synthetic NA (recombinant DNA) Guidelines; Risk assessment; Entity specific inspection and audit preparations and responses; Entity Specific Audit Program; Select Agent regulations and changes, administration, and inspection preparations; Design and management of insectaries; HEPA filters and biosafety cabinet certification; BSL–2 and BSL–3 Building Design and Operations; Synthetic Biology, Dual Use Research of Concern Guidelines/Oversight; Clinical and Public Health Lab Biosafety; and Ethics and Culture of Biosafety.

 

Animal Session:

July, 14 hours presented in 7 modules (4 hours per week); will be animal oriented.
Topics to be covered include large animal ABSL–2 and –3 facilities design, containment and management; Laboratory animal ABSL–2 and –3 facilities design, containment and management; Veterinary hospital, clinic, and farm and ranch Biosecurity [infection control]; Prion disease research Biosafety; ABSL-3 research with multiple agents/multiple species; Field Investigations; and Select Agent inspection preparations.

 

Plant Session:

August, 14 hours presented in 7 modules (4 hours per week); will be plant oriented.
Topics to be covered include Greenhouse design and management; Regulations and permit procedures; Containment of recombinant plants; Infectious disease research with plants; Biopharmaceuticals; Plant disease diagnostic lab network; Diseases of crops; and Select Agent inspection preparations.

 

Participants include individuals from universities, private industry, and government. Disciplines represented include biosafety, laboratory designers, laboratory management, program managers, veterinarians, vivarium management, maintenance and engineering, and facility operations.

 

A detailed schedule/program and faculty biographies are posted on our web site. Please continue to check the web site for updates: www.bbtcfortcollins.com

 

2018 Registration and Payment Information : Deadline to register for sessions is May 15, 2018

* General, Animal, and Plant Sessions, (Complete Course) June-July-August 2018: $2100

* General and Animal Sessions: $1600

* General and Plant Sessions: $1600

* General Only Session: $1000

* Animal Only Session: $700

* Plant Only Session: $700

 

Registration fee includes all course material and a course completion certificate.

 

NOTICE: The 2018 BBTC-Global Program will have the (ABSA) American Biological Safety Association Certification Maintenance Points (CM Pts) for biosafety professionals.

 

Registration information and detailed schedule/program are available at our web site:

http://www.bbtcfortcollins.com/

http://www.bbtcfortcollins.com/course-information/

 

The Course is chaired by Dr. Robert P. Ellis, PhD, CBSP.  For more information please contact Robert Ellis robert.ellis@colostate.edu or 970-491-8268

Or

Contact the Course facilitator, Mr. Sean Kaufman, MPH, at sean@seankaufman.com or 404-849-3966