Biosecurity: Changing the Game

In this episode, Dr. Dinah Nasike is joined by: Dr. Alex Kyabarongo, a veterinarian, former Political Affairs Intern at the Biological Weapons Convention, and currently a Masters of Biodefense Candidate at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University; and Sandra Matinyi, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and the Executive Director of Nuo Bioscience, Uganda. Together, they discuss the Biological Weapons Convention: what is it, why was it created and for whom, and how is it holding up in today's world of rapidly developing science and the escalating risk of epidemics?

Links for more information:

• ScienceDirect
• Siege of Caffa
• British Forces in North America
• Germany's Anthrax Horses
• Japan’s Unit 731 (1930s–1945)
• Rajneesh Cult and Salmonella
• What is dual-use research of concern?
• The German BW Program
• The Japanese BW Program
• The Soviet Biological Weapons Program and Its Legacy in Today’s Russia
• U.S. Biological Warfare and Biological Defense Programs
• The Impact of Biological Warfare in the Cold War Era - AMO
• 1925 Geneva Protocol – UNODA
• Nuo Bioscience
• The Youth for Biosecurity Initiative – UNODA
• Dual-Use Research | NIH Office of Intramural Research
• Mirror Life Science
• The BWC Confidence-Building Measures
• Revolutionizing the Biological Weapons Convention: Integrating Science Diplomacy for Global Security | Science & Diplomacy
• Implementation Support Unit – UNODA
• Biowarfare, bioterrorism and biocrime: A historical overview on microbial harmful applications - ScienceDirect
• Scythian Wars
• iGEM
• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

In part two of "A Rising Tide: The Escalating Wave of Global Infectious Disease Outbreaks," Dr. Dinah Nasike continues her discussion with biosecurity experts Beth Cameron and Wilmot James, both Senior Advisors to Brown University's Pandemic Center, and Peter Babigumira, a Senior Technical Advisor at Makerere University’s Infectious Diseases Institute and an Epidemic Intelligence Analyst at the Uganda Ministry of Health.

• Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)
• Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative
• The Joint External Evaluation (JEE)
• The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005)
• Biosecurity Game Changers Fellowship Program
• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

In this episode of Biosecurity: Changing the Game, "A Rising Tide: The Escalating Wave of Global Infectious Disease Outbreaks," Dr. Dinah Nasike is joined by biosecurity experts Beth Cameron and Wilmot James, both Senior Advisors to Brown University's Pandemic Center and Peter Babigumira, a Senior Technical Advisor at Makerere University’s Infectious Diseases Institute and an Epidemic Intelligence Analyst at the Uganda Ministry of Health.

• Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)
• Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative
• The Joint External Evaluation (JEE)
• The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005)
• Biosecurity Game Changers Fellowship Program
• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

In this follow up to the previous episode of Biosecurity: Changing the Game, Dr. Dinah Nasike and her guest, Darlington Akogo (Founder and CEO, minoHealth AI Labs; AI4Radiology Chair, United Nations ITU & WHO Focus Group on AI For Health) continue their discussion on the use of AI in the field of biomedical research in Africa.

Links:

• WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin
• The WMDP Benchmark: Measuring and Reducing Malicious Use With Unlearning | CAIS
• BULL Database – Spanish Basin attributes for Unravelling Learning in Large-sample hydrology | Scientific Data
• FMEA vs Hazard Analysis: Definitions, Differences, and Relationship
• Welcome to the Moroni Lab - Biofabrication for Medicine
• MRC Uganda | LSHTM
• International Development Innovation Alliance
• African Union Champions AI for Africa’s Socioeconomic Transformation
• GUDRA
• Focus Group on "Artificial Intelligence for Health"
• About ITU
• KaraAgro AI – Precision Agriculture Platform
• minoHealth AI labs
• NTI - The Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and the Life Sciences
• Digital Diagnostics for Africa Network
• DHIS

In this edition of Biosecurity: Changing the Game, Dr. Dinah Nasike and her guest, Darlington Akogo (Founder and CEO, minoHealth AI Labs; AI4Radiology Chair, United Nations ITU & WHO Focus Group on AI For Health) discuss the use of AI in the field of biomedical research in Africa.

Links:

• WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin
• The WMDP Benchmark: Measuring and Reducing Malicious Use With Unlearning | CAIS
• BULL Database – Spanish Basin attributes for Unravelling Learning in Large-sample hydrology | Scientific Data
• FMEA vs Hazard Analysis: Definitions, Differences, and Relationship
• Welcome to the Moroni Lab - Biofabrication for Medicine
• MRC Uganda | LSHTM
• International Development Innovation Alliance
• African Union Champions AI for Africa’s Socioeconomic Transformation
• GUDRA
• Focus Group on "Artificial Intelligence for Health"
• About ITU
• KaraAgro AI – Precision Agriculture Platform
• minoHealth AI labs
• NTI - The Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and the Life Sciences
• Digital Diagnostics for Africa Network
• DHIS

This episode is the second half of Dr. Dinah Nasike's discussion with a group of next generation leaders who have decided to get involved in taking biological threats off the table by pitching a powerful proposal to the world on the 100 Days Mission: The Biosecurity Emerging Leaders Declaration at the 61st Munich Security Conference.

This episode's guests include:

• Yorgo El Moubayed: Program Coordinator, International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Foundation; Technical Consultant, IBBIS
• Kirsten Angeles: Independent Biosecurity Governance Researcher; NTI | bio BWC delegate 2023, Southeast Asia Biosecurity
• Thokozani Liwewe: Lilongwe District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Malawi
• José Garza Martínez: Researcher/Lecturer, Tecnologico de Monterrey; Instructor, Center of AI Safety; NTI | bio BWC delegate 2023
• Yuhan Bao, Liaison Officer, International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Foundation

Links:

• Biosecurity Emerging Leaders Declaration at the 61st Munich Security Conference
• iGEM
• Munich Security Conference
• IPPS - 100 Days Mission
• CEPI
• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

In this episode, Dr. Dinah Nasike brings together a group of next generation leaders who have decided to get involved in taking biological threats off the table by pitching a powerful proposal to the world on the 100 Days Mission: The Biosecurity Emerging Leaders Declaration at the 61st Munich Security Conference.

This episode's guests include:

• Yorgo El Moubayed: Program Coordinator, International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Foundation; Technical Consultant, IBBIS
• Kirsten Angeles: Independent Biosecurity Governance Researcher; NTI | bio BWC delegate 2023, Southeast Asia Biosecurity
• Thokozani Liwewe: Lilongwe District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Malawi
• José Garza Martínez: Researcher/Lecturer, Tecnologico de Monterrey; Instructor, Center of AI Safety; NTI | bio BWC delegate 2023
• Yuhan Bao, Liaison Officer, International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Foundation

Links:

• Biosecurity Emerging Leaders Declaration at the 61st Munich Security Conference
• iGEM
• Munich Security Conference
• IPPS - 100 Days Mission
• CEPI
• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

In the second part of this edition of Biosecurity: Changing the Game, Dr. Dinah Nasike and her guests discuss the 100 Days Mission - an ambitious initiative developed after the Covid-19 pandemic meant to ensure that vaccines, diagnostics and treatments are developed, produced and distributed within 100 days of a major disease outbreak.

Guests: 

• Thokozani Liwewe, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and Clinical Lead for the District Health Office under the Ministry of Health in Malawi
• Yorgo El Moubayed, Program Coordinator at the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Foundation and Technical Consultant at the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS).
• Edyth Parker, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and Team Lead for Bioinformatics at the Institute of Genomics and Global Health
• Kirsten Angeles, Biosecurity Policy Researcher and NTI | bio BWC delegate 2023, Southeast Asia Biosecurity
• Jon Arizti Sanz, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow at the Pandemic Center and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Links:

• UNODA – United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs
• iGEM
• Munich Security Conference
• Platform Technology
• PMC: mRNA Platforms
• Nature: CRISPR-based genetic sequencing
• European Medicines Agency (EMA)
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• IPPS - 100 Days Mission
• CEPI

In this edition of Biosecurity: Changing the Game, Dr. Dinah Nasike and her guests discuss the 100 Days Mission - an ambitious initiative developed after the Covid-19 pandemic meant to ensure that vaccines, diagnostics and treatments are developed, produced and distributed within 100 days of a major disease outbreak.

Guests: 

• Thokozani Liwewe, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and Clinical Lead for the District Health Office under the Ministry of Health in Malawi
• Yorgo El Moubayed, Program Coordinator at the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Foundation and Technical Consultant at the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS).
• Edyth Parker, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and Team Lead for Bioinformatics at the Institute of Genomics and Global Health
• Kirsten Angeles, Biosecurity Policy Researcher and NTI | bio BWC delegate 2023, Southeast Asia Biosecurity
• Jon Arizti Sanz, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow at the Pandemic Center and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Links:

• UNODA – United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs
• iGEM
• Munich Security Conference
• Platform Technology
• PMC: mRNA Platforms
• Nature: CRISPR-based genetic sequencing
• European Medicines Agency (EMA)
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• IPPS - 100 Days Mission
• CEPI

In this continuation and conclusion of the conversation that began last episode, Dr. Dinah Nasike dives into the history and evolution of biosecurity: what biosecurity is; how it started; how it has evolved to become what we know as biosecurity today; and the events in the historical timeline that acted as tipping points and caused major shifts in global discourse around biosecurity.

Dr. Nasike’s guests are biosecurity experts Beth Cameron and Wilmot James, both Senior Advisors to Brown University's Pandemic Center and Peter Babigumira, a Senior Technical Advisor at Makerere University’s Infectious Diseases Institute and an Epidemic Intelligence Analyst at the Uganda Ministry of Health.

Links:

• Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (GPWMD)
• Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)
• Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative
• The Joint External Evaluation (JEE)
• The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005)
• The International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science
• Biosecurity Game Changers Fellowship Program
• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)