Toggle – Rebecca Caruso

Rebecca Caruso is the Director of the Harvard Medical School Committee on Microbiological Safety and a 2020 recipient of the Daniel D. Federman Staff Award for Exceptional Service. With over 24 years of experience in biosafety, she oversees nearly 2,000 active biological research projects and more than 300 new high-risk or regulated biological studies annually. Her expertise spans biosafety and biosecurity oversight, program development, and policy implementation, including pivotal work from 2002 to 2010 on the design and operation of the National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory at Boston University. She also served as Biosafety Manager and Alternate Responsible Official for the Federal Select Agent Program during that time. Throughout her career, Rebecca Caruso has advanced biosafety education and collaboration, including her leadership role as Co-Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the Harvard Yale Biosafety Symposium since 2016. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the rapid implementation of biosafety protocols to support ongoing research. Rebecca holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Marist College, Master’s in Public Health from UMASS Amherst and advanced graduate studies from Boston University. A certified and registered biosafety professional with ABSA International, she has published in Applied Biosafety, Environmental Science and Technology, and other leading journals. Rebecca is also an advocate for women in science and medicine, having Co-Chaired the Joint Committee on the Status of Women at Harvard Medical School from 2016–2018.