March 19, 2019
Biosecurity Research Institute staff present at USDA ARS biosafety symposium
The Kansas State University Biosecurity Research Institute was well represented at the USDA ARS fifth International Biosafety and Biocontainment Symposium recently in Baltimore.
John Henneman, BRI director of biocontainment operations, co-taught a four-hour course titled "Risks of Deferred Maintenance in High-Containment Facilities." He also gave an invited symposium presentation on the same subject, which described the consequences of postponing critical maintenance, identified the need for planning, defined the critical equipment to be maintained, and discussed the need for continuous financial support.
Craig Beardsley, National Agricultural Biosecurity Center program administrator, taught a four-hour course titled "Animal Disease Response Training: Kansas State University National Agricultural Biosecurity Center." The course explained and emphasized the need for pre-planning and animal disease response training to ensure the best practices for responding to an agricultural disease emergency and included discussion of the needs and actions necessary to coordinate with responders from various disciplines, agencies and government levels.
Lance Luftman, BRI security director, and Julie Johnson, BRI biosafety officer/responsible official and assistant vice president for research compliance presented a poster, "Medical Emergency Response Plans to Maximize Personal Safety While Maintaining Biocontainment." Johnson also moderated symposium sessions as a member of the 2019 Symposium Steering Committee.