Biosecurity for All: The Role of Scientists

A Virtual Side Event for the BWC Preparatory Committee Meeting
6 April 2022 – 13:15-14:45 CEST
Sponsored by the Chinese Mission in Geneva and the IAP Secretariat

In July of 2021, the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), a network of over 140 academies of science, medicine, and engineering from around the world, endorsed the ‘Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists’ (Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines).

The Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines were created to address the lack of a commonly agreed upon set of ethical guidelines focused on responsible conduct and the prevention of intentional misuse of bioscience research for practitioners in the life sciences. The Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines were developed by representatives from IAP, the Tianjin University Center for Biosafety Research and Strategy, and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Organizers relied upon feedback from a group of international biological scientists and experts in biosecurity governance throughout the drafting process, incorporating iterative feedback through a series of virtual workshops. The final version of the Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines represents a set of ten guiding principles and standards of conduct designed to promote responsible sciences and strengthen biosecurity governance at national and institutional levels.

This side event features international biological scientists and biosecurity experts dedicated to establishing a core ethical framework that is recognized by the global biological science community. During this side event, each panelist will speak about their work and history on issues relating to biosecurity governance as well as their experience with the Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines.

Moderator:

• Dr. Iqbal Parker, Emeritus Professor of Medical Biochemistry and Structural Biology, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Panelists:

• Mr. Luis Alberto Ochoa Carrera, High Containment Lab/Pandemic Safety Manager, Mexican Biosafety Association, AC, Mexico
• Dr. Flerida Cariño, Former Professor of Biochemistry, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Representative, Department of Science and Technology Biosafety Committee, Bicutan, Metro Manila, Philippines
• Dr. Tatyana Novossiolova, Research Fellow, Center for the Study of Democracy, Belgium
• Ms. Zhao Chihong, Director, Office of Laboratory Management, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China

The event will take place on Zoom, to attend contact Giovanni Ortolani, IAP Communication Assistant, at gortolani@twas.org