Speakers at Pre conference course B. An introduction course on biosafety (for a beginner level, WHO the LBM)
Pre conference course B. An introduction course on biosafety (for a beginner level, WHO the LBM)
About the speakers
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Daniel Kümin
Academic Education and Degrees
PhD in Molecular BiologyPresent Professional Position
Head of Biosafety, Agroscope, SwitzerlandDr. Daniel Kümin obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Humboldt University Berlin, Germany, whilst working for a Biotech start-up developing viral vectors for gene therapy and vaccines. Following his academic career he worked as a biosafety professional designing, constructing, commissioning, operating and refurbishing high- and maximum-containment laboratories. He also worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several years. Recently, he joined Agroscope as their Head of Biosafety.He is the founder and principal trainer / consultant of Rock Hard Biosafety, a company providing training and consultancy services in biosafety, pharmaceutical manufacturing, design and operation of high- and maximum-containment laboratories as well as transferring knowledge and know-how of said areas to more common applications (e.g. disinfection in public transport) with a number of national and international projects.He currently serves as the President of the Swiss Biosafety Network SBNet. -
Kathrin Summermatter
Academic Education and DegreesPhD in BiologyPresent Professional PositionHead of Biosafety CenterManaging Director of the Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory, Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Berne, SwitzerlandThe Institute for Infectious Diseases of the University of Bern combines diagnostics, teaching and research under one roof and covers the entire spectrum of microbiological diagnostics.Kathrin Summermatter is heading the Biosafety Center of the Institute for Infectious Diseases of the University of Bern, Switzerland. She is also the managing director of the BSL3 at the Institute for Infectious Diseases and sitem-insel. She has been involved in Biosafety for more than 20 years. From 2002 -2019 she was the head of the biosafety department and the deputy director of the Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI), the Swiss reference lab for highly contagious animal diseases (Biosafety Level 3 and 3Ag Laboratories). In addition, she was the coordinator of BIOSAFETY-Europe. She has been a long-standing member of the European Biosafety Association (EBSA) and the American Biosafety Association (ABSA). In 2003/2004 she was the president of EBSA. She is a member of the International Veterinary Biosafety Workgroup and a board member of the Swiss Biosafety Network (SBNet). She is the chair of the Technical Advisory Biosafety Board (TAG-B) of the WHO and a member of the WHO's Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO). She is also the director of the WHO-Collaborating Center for Biosafety and Biosecurity.