Current Projects

International Biosafety Norms

Final Report to PASCC (PDF)

This project endeavors to help all nations better understand their obligation to promote safety in their laboratories, and elevate the conversation from the laboratory level to a political level. The Center will promulgate contemporary, forward-looking norms and expectations, developed through expert consultations and international outreach, that urge all nations to consider maintaining a biosafety infrastructure capable of preventing and mitigating the consequences of a contagious disease, so that a laboratory accident does not become a public health emergency of international concern.

The Center will draft the norms as recommended updates to the World Health Assembly’s Resolution 58.29, “Enhancement of Laboratory Biosafety,” adopted in 2005 following an international outbreak of SARS. The updates will focus on strengthening biosafety inside and outside of labs in the age of synthetic biology.

Project team lead: Gigi Kwik Gronvall, PhD

Project team: Matthew Shearer, MPH; Tom Inglesby, MD

Project supported by: Open Philanthropy Project

Resources:

• Improving Security through International Biosafety Norms: Final Report to PASCC (July 2016)
• Addressing the Gap in International Norms for Biosafety (December 2015)
• Synopsis of Biological Safety and Security Arrangements (July 2015)
• National-Level Biosafety Norms Needed for Dual-Use Research in the Life Sciences (July 2014)