Biosecurity Professional Development Courses

Ryan N. Burnette, PhD, Merrick and Company, Washington, DC
Lauren Richardson, DVM, DACVPM, Merrick and Company, Washington, DC
Chuck Tobin, CTM, At-Risk International, LLC, Boca Raton, FL
Stephen Goldsmith, DVM, US Federal Bureau of Investigation, WMD Directorate, Washington, DC

A distinguishing factor between security and biosecurity programs is the fact that biosecurity programs are focused on assets that are biological in nature. This brings forth unique distinctions in implementing risk- and threat-based approaches to prevent the release, loss, or theft of these assets. This advanced workshop will challenge participants to fully analyze a single biosecurity driven scenario through a series of risk and threat management decision-making tools. Participants will learn the principles of biosecurity, which set it apart from traditional security, by applying tactical methodology to analyze a real-world biosecurity case study. The outcomes of this intensive course will be the identification of biosecurity-specific risk and threats, their corresponding prioritization against a mitigation plan, approaches for blending these inputs for comprehensive biorisk management, and finally, an integrated biosecurity plan. Participants will leave the course with tools that will be applicable to their host institutions for future engagements in building effective integrated biosecurity plans against scenarios.

Objectives:

• Summarize the stakeholder roles in biosecurity planning and assessment as part of a comprehensive biorisk management program
• Recognize, assess, and develop mitigations for risks, threats, and vulnerabilities to protect biological materials and other laboratory assets from unauthorized access, loss, theft, misuse, diversion, or intentional release
• Develop strategies for prioritization and communication of needs associated with implementing an integrated biosecurity plan

LouAnn Burnett, MS, CBSP(ABSA), Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
Laurie Wallis, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

How do you assess and effectively secure biological materials when you do not know what agents you might be encountering? How much biosecurity is enough when your resources are limited, or your setting is challenging? This course will use case studies and guided exercises to assess security risks and describe challenges, lessons-learned, and opportunities for protecting biological materials, especially in situations where information, resources, and support are scarce. Using the best practices shared, participants will develop new strategies to improve biosecurity in certain and uncertain settings with the goal of directly applying the knowledge gained in their professional settings. This course is intended for participants from all sectors where security of biological materials is critical, and all roles involved in assuring this security are encouraged to attend. This course is intentionally designed to be “borderless” to encourage participation of stakeholders across the world. Instructors will rely on universal and global principles of biosecurity to facilitate discussion, rather than on compliance with country-specific legal frameworks.

Objectives:

• Adapt biosecurity risk assessment processes to uncertain situations
• Define challenges with implementing and integrating strategies to reduce the risk of theft, diversion, loss or intentional misuse of biological materials from laboratories or laboratory-related activities
• Identify options for managing biosecurity risks in uncertain or challenging settings

Benjamin Perman, PhD, RBP(ABSA), U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC
Lindsay Odell, PhD, U.S. Army Reserve, Fort Detrick, MD

Personnel security is comprised of security measures focused on people and behaviors rather than typical physical barriers approaches. Personnel security can be thought as the “administrative controls” in any advanced security program. This course will teach administration, management, and researchers the basic principles of threat assessment and introduce students to the role of comprehensive personnel security in a laboratory biosecurity program. The course is intended to give students a basic toolkit that will allow them to implement successful comprehensive insider threat mitigation strategies using personnel security approaches at their home institutes and to convey concepts in personnel security to their colleagues. Participants will be presented with relevant case studies to learn about relevant threats in the biomedical and health sectors. Participants will learn about all aspects of personnel security including suitability, reliability, peer and self-reporting strategies, threat assessment, OPSEC, INFOSEC, and an introduction to elicitation, manipulation, and surveillance awareness. These concepts will be put into practice in interactive, live role-playing scenarios that include interview tactics, deception detection elicitation and surveillance detection. Regulatory issues relevant to implementation of personnel security management programs, in particular the Select Agent Regulations pertaining to Tier 1 agents, will also be discussed.

Objectives:

• Identify the types of threats posed to biomedical research, public health and clinical diagnostic facilities and institutions and describe some of the tools that can be used to assess these threats
• Identify the main components of laboratory security programs
• Describe how each mitigates the threats above and the unique role that personnel security programs play in insider threat mitigation
• Restate the purpose, requirements and major components of personnel security programs