Speakers at EBSA Conference 2023 and Preconference courses
EBSA Conference 2023 and Preconference courses
About the speakers
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Alkiviadis Vatopoulos
University of West Attica
National School of Public Health- National Public Health Organization (NPHO) -
Allan Bennett
Allan Bennett OBEAcademic Education and degreesB. Sc (hons), Microbiology – University of Glasgow 1979-1983M.Sc, Process Biotechnology – University of Birmingham 1983-1984Present Professional PositionHead of Biosafety, Air and Water Microbiology Group, UK Health Security Agency.Co-Head WHO Collaborating Centre in Applied Biosafety and TrainingPrincipal Investigator and scientific expert in aerobiology, biosafety, environmental microbiology, high containment laboratories, and disinfection. Heads a research group of 20 scientists undertaking research in the fields of respiratory virus transmission, aerobiology, biocontainment, water microbiology and SARS-CoV-2. Has over 100 (h=30) peer reviewed scientific publications.
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Andreas Kurth
Dr. Andreas Kurth is head of the Biosafety Level-4 Laboratory at the Center for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany since 2012. Dr. Kurth studied biology and earned his doctorate on biology/virology at the Technical University Dresden, Department of Biology, Germany and Oregon State University, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, USA, in 2004 where he studied the prevalence and transmission of caliciviruses in their natural reservoirs. He continued his research at the Robert Koch Institute, where he worked within the EM and Imaging unit, and the Highly Pathogenic Viruses unit focusing on rapid EM-diagnosis of viral infections, in vivo pathogenesis of poxviruses and the discovery of new and unknown viruses in bats. Starting in 2012, Dr. Kurth established the new biosafety level-4 laboratory at the RKI including commissioning, licensing and validating biosafety procedures for the final operation in 2018. As principle investigator of the Risk Group 4 - Experimental Infection and Transmission unit, Dr. Kurth elucidates mechanisms of virus pathogenesis and transmission in their reservoir species with special focus on bats, using a combined field and experimental research approach. Dr. Kurth has participated in several public health outbreak responses with the European Mobile Laboratory for Ebola virus and Yellow Fever virus diagnostics. Dr Kurth is partner of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Emerging Infections and Biological Threats, and has served as adviser for the WHO Biosafety Inspection of Smallpox Repositories and for new BSL-4 facility regulations and designs globally.
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Åsa Szekely Björndal
Åsa Szekely Björndal is a microbiologist with a PhD in medical virology. She is an expert in biosafety and laboratory biosecurity and provides guidance in the field of human infectious diseases and disease control and prevention including risk assessment for managing risk group 2, 3 and 4 pathogens. Åsa Szekely Björndal is the Institutional Biosafety Officer at Public Health Agency of Sweden providing internal and external expert advice on risk management. Åsa is Team leader of Biorisk Management at the Agency and is involved in national and international projects in the field and provides scientific advice and guidance on best practice in biosafety and biosecurity. Since 2005 she coordinates the Nordic Biosafety Network. Åsa has organized and conducted training workshop for more 20 years for laboratory personnel, laboratory heads and biorisk management professionals.
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Aysen Gargili Keles
Aysen Gargili Keles is a parasitologist and Professor at the Marmara University, Health Sciences Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey. She is affiliated with Basic Health Sciences Department and Biosafety & Biosecurity Graduate Program.
Professor Gargili Keles received her veterinary medicine degree, at the Istanbul University, Veterinary Faculty and her PhD degree from Istanbul University Institute of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey.
She worked at the Veterinary Faculty and Cerrahpaşa School of Medicine prior to join in Marmara University. In her academic life, she conducted diverse studies of parasitology and vector-borne diseases at Gifu University Faculty of Medicine in Japan, ICGEB in India, Ludwig Maximillien Universitat-Tropical Diseases Institute in Germany and University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston National Laboratory in the USA as postdoc scholar and visiting scientist. She conducted national and international research projects supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey and EU 7th Framework Programme, CRDF and HSP. Gargılı Keleş authored many papers, book chapters and papers presented at international/national congresses. She also serves on the national and international advisory boards especially on vector-borne diseases, which is her primary field of study. She is a member of the Lyme Disease Advisory Group of the Ministry of Health of Turkey. She served in the international CCHF epidemic monitoring group of the World Health Organization and one of the authors and editors of the report "The effects of climate change on health in Turkey" prepared by WHO. She is a member of TUBITAK Councellor Board. She has duties in the editorial and referee boards of eminent journals and she is a member of the Turkish Microbiology Society, Turkish Parasitology Society and EBSA. Currently she continues her duty as the Head of the Basic Health Sciences Department and Vice Dean at the Faculty of Health Sciences, and she is the founder and director of Biosafety and Biosecurity Graduate Program of Marmara University.
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Daniela Morelli
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Dimiter Prodanov
Dr. Dimiter Prodanov, MD, Ph.D., obtained an MD degree from the Medical University – Sofia in 1999 and a Ph.D. degree from the Twente University, Enschede, the Netherlands in 2006.
He was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the International Brain Research Organization to continue his research in neuroprosthetics at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, in 2006 and later at the University of Liege, Belgium. Since 2008 Dimiter Prodanov joined Imec, Belgium in the role of a Senior Scientist in neurotechnology. Since 2013 Dimiter Prodanov also became an affiliated researcher in Neuroscience Research Flanders and a member of the safety team in Imec. From 2016 to 2018 Dr. Prodanov successfully coordinated the H2020 project NanoStreeM. He is a biosafety coordinator, and a nanosafety specialist and he supports actively Imec’s research programs in life sciences, health care, and nanoelectronics. Dr. Prodanov has extensive experience in the risk assessment of viral vectors and related induced genetic modifications. Dr. Prodanov is an EBSA council member since 2021 and a member of the EBSA biocide task force.
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Eva Veronesi
September 2022 – now University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI, CH)
Senior Scientist- Project leader of SNF granted project MicRISK2030
- Work Package leader of Horizon Europe project E4Warnings
May-August 2022 World Health Organization - WHO (Geneve, CH)
TechnicalOfficer(temporaryposition)- Assist WHO in developing public health policy on new tools and recommendations
- Editing of manuals and technical documents
2014- 2022 I AE A , F A O, E F S A , E C , WHO
Consultant(part-time)- Supervision and coordination or research projects
- Technology transfer
2017- 2022 European Commission Horizon2020 - University of Zürich( CH)
Networking Stakeholder Coordinator for Infravec2- Strengthening capacity building and technical cooperation for prevention of emerging animal and zoonotic infectious diseases
- Project leader and coordination of public health and veterinary health authorities
2014 - 2021 University of Zürich (Zürich, CH)
Senior Scientist Group Leader- Viruses and arthropods transmission mechanisms
- Faculty lecturer at the Medical and Veterinary Entomology course for biologist
- 20 publications, > 40 presentations at Int. conferences, >700,000CHF extramural funding, supervision of 2 masters and 4 PhD students, management of 6 staff members
2002 - 2014 The Pirbright Institute (Pirbright, UK)
Research Scientist- Vaccine safety and efficacy experimental studies for bluetongue disease
- Teaching virology and molecular methodologies.
- 27 publications, > 30 presentations at Int.le conferences, supervision of 1 PhD student and management of 3 staff members.
2013-2018 Director of the European Society for Vector Ecology
- Organization of two international conferences (Thessaloniki 2014 and Lisbon 2016) including:
- Managing the scientific programme, abstract selection, advisory board managment, leading local organizations.
1995 - 2002 Centro Agricoltura Ambiente (Bologna, Italy)
Research Entomologist- Surveillance, biological control, and identification of invasive and local mosquitoes and other insects of veterinary and medical interest.
- Setting up of projects (data collection, analyses, technical reports, and peer reviewed publications).
- Coordination of public health units for surveillance of invasive mosquitoes including management of >20 staff.
- Supervision of 3 staff members.
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Gijsbert van Willigen
Gijsbert van Willigen is the biosrisk management professional of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. After his study Biology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (1987), he did his PhD at the Academic Hospital Utrecht in the field of thrombosis and hemostasis (1992). After several post-doc positions at the University Medical Center Utrecht and a sabbatical at the University of Helsinki (2000) he started as a biosafety Officer at the UMC Utrecht. In 2002 he switched to the Leiden University Medical Center and since then has a position as biosrisk management professional. Since 2020 he is also the biorisk manager at the Netherlands Center for the Clinical advancement of Stem Cell and Gene Therapies (NecstGen).
As a biosafety officer he has been admitted by the Dutch authorities for several containment levels up to (A)BSL3. His field of expertise include biosafety and biosecurity in diagnostic and research laboratories and animal experiments in high containment facilities ((A)BLS3). He is a renowed expert in the use of genetically modified organism in a clinical setting (gene therapy). He has been involved the construction of several BSL3 facilities in the Netherlands and is now involved in the construction of a new GMP-facility for NecstGen.
Over the years he was part of many national and international committees on biosafety and biosecurity, dual-use research and gene therapy. Since 2017 he is a representative of the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers in committees for the modernization of the regulatory framework for biotechnology in the Netherlands and the EU especially for the use of biotechnology in humans. Furthermore he was a speaker at several national and international conferences and a trainer in biosafety courses.
Between 2014-2018 he was member of the council of the European Biosafety Association; President of EBSA in 2016-2017.
Further details see: http://nl.linkedin.com/in/gvanwilligen
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Jean-Michel Claverie
Dr. Jean-Michel Claverie is Professor (emeritus) at the School of Medicine of Aix-Marseille University, France and a member of the Structural and Genomic Information Laboratory, a unit of the French National Research Center (CNRS) that he founded in 1995.
He received his initial training both in biochemistry, computer science and theoretical particle physics at the University of Paris and combined his multidisciplinary education into a Doctorate (Dr. Sc.) on the subject of mathematical modeling of biological system in 1977.
He then successively hold research positions at the Jacques Monod Institute (CNRS) in Paris, then at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, before creating in 1982 one of the first pre-Internet era computational biology laboratory at the Pasteur Institute (Paris) where he remained until 1990. He then returned to the USA, at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI, NLM-NIH, Bethesda) where he participated to the exciting beginning of the genomic era, as a NIH senior Fogarty scientist, until 1995. Before returning to France, he spent one year as director of bioinformatics at Incyte pharmaceuticals, a genomics company based in Palo Alto (California).
In Marseille, he headed the Structural & Genomic Information Laboratory (1995-2017) and directed the Mediterranean Institute of Microbiology (2008-2017). He is a co-founder and former vice-president (2015-2020) of the French Society of Virology.
Owing to his theoretical background, Jean-Michel Claverie worked on a wide range of topics ranging from the mathematical modeling of ultracentrifugation experiments and metabolic systems, microbial and human genetics, cellular immunology, and microbial genomics of intracellular parasitic bacteria. This topic led him to the serendipitous discovery of Mimivirus, the first "giant" virus, in 2003. He then totally reoriented his research on giant viruses, looking for them in increasingly exotic environments, including Siberian permafrost.
In the last 15 years he discovered and studied several new families of giant viruses, some of them revived from ancient (>48,000 y) Siberian permafrost layers. Following these findings, he become interested in evaluating the microbial threats that might arise from the warming of the arctic. In the context of the Covid epidemics, he also campaigned for a better transparency in the investigation of the origin SARS-CoV2 virus, and a better evaluation of the risk associated with the global environmental sampling advocated by the One Health approach.
Jean-Michel Claverie (H index=70, average citation>90) co-authored 261 scientific publications that gathered >23,500 citations from more than 17500 articles, as well as the best-seller book "Bioinformatics for Dummies". He served as a member of the board of reviewing editors of the AAAS journal "Science" for 10 years (2002-2012). He was a recipient of the CNRS Silver medal in 2003, and became a Knight in the National Order of the Academic Palms in 2016. He was listed among the Highly Cited Researchers in 2018 and 2019 (Clarivate Analytics, Cross-field category). 12 of the articles he co-authored are "highly cited" according to the Web of Science. Jointly with his wife, Dr. Chantal Abergel, he received the Prix Jaffé (French Academy of Sciences) in 2019 for their discovery and characterization of several families of giant viruses.
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Jeroen Dewulf
Full professor
Ghent University
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Department of Internal medicine, Reproduction and population medicine.Curriculum:
Jeroen Dewulf graduated in 1998 as a veterinarian from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Ghent University, Belgium. In 2002 he finished his Ph.D. in the epidemiology and control of classical swine fever. In that same year, he received a master of science degree in veterinary epidemiology from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands (Cum Laude). He became a diplomat in the European College of Veterinary Public Health in 2005.
Currently, he is a full professor in Veterinary Epidemiology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University. His main research interests are quantitative epidemiology and control of zoonoses with a specific emphasis on antimicrobial use and resistance in animals as well as the prevention of epidemic and endemic diseases with a focus on the application of biosecurity measures. Since 2021 he is the head of the department of Internal medicine, Reproduction and population medicine and in 2022 he became a member of the board of directors of Ghent University.
He is leading the Veterinary Epidemiology Unit and is supervising over 10 Ph.D. students who are doing research in the field of veterinary epidemiology. He is (co-)author of over 400 A1 publications in the field of veterinary epidemiology with an H-index of 65. Recently he has launched, together with some colleagues, the spin-off company Biocheck.Gent. He is also coordinating the EU research consortium BIOSECURE performing cutting-edge research on Biosecurity in terrestrial animal production.
Since 2009 he is a member of the scientific committee of the Belgian federal food agency and is the founder and chair of the board of the center of expertise on antimicrobial use and resistance in animals (AMCRA) in Belgium. He is also the author of the book “biosecurity in animal production and veterinary medicine” as well as the book “8 myths on antimicrobial resistance disproved, practical guide for reducing antibiotic use in animal husbandry”
Expertise:
- Veterinary epidemiology
- Preventive veterinary medicine
- Animal disease control
- Veterinary public health
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Biosecurity
- Applied statistics
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Jorge Perez Bruzon
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Kara Held
Kara Held, Ph.D. brings an extensive knowledge of Cell Biology, Pharmacology, and Biosafety to The Baker Company. Prior to her coming on board in 2017, she was a Lab Manager, Safety Officer, and Researcher at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Vermont Cell and Molecular Biology Program, Department of Pharmacology and then completed her postdoctoral training at Yale University in the Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program. Her experience in academic research brings a unique perspective, familiarity and hands-on knowledge base with laboratory science and biosafety. As the Science Director for Baker, she has helped provide some much-needed clarity into the nuances of Biosafety through the use of Biosafety Cabinets.
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Kelly Kim
Kelly Kim is a microbiologist with a focus on practical laboratory biosafety and biosecurity issues, with a particular focus on the development of empirical evidence for common biosafety practices. While getting her master’s in microbiology Kelly worked in a lab with a focus on Flavivirus replication. Prior to that work she worked as a medical assistant across several disciplines. Since joining Gryphon, she has supported several projects in extensive literature reviews and analysis, authored several biosafety publications, and contributed to the development of an innovations in biosafety workshop and book.
EDUCATION
- M.S. Colorado State University, Microbiology
- B.S. Colorado Christian University, Health Sciences
EXPERIENCE
- Gryphon Scientific LLC (2021 - Present)
- Colorado State University (2021)
- Boulder Centre for Orthopedics and Spine (2019-2020)
- Regenerative Orthopedics and Sports Medicine (2019)
- Eye Care Centre of Northern Colorado (2017-2019)
- Colorado Christian University (2015-2016)
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Kritas Spyridon
Graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (1988), Military service (1989-90)
PhD in Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ghent, Belgium ("High Distinction" 1990-94) with scholarship from the State Scholarship Foundation.
Master of Science in Health care management, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, GreeceVisiting professor at the Veterinary School of the University of Minnesota, USA (2002- Fulbright Scholarship, 2003, 2004 and 2011). Since 2011, honorary visiting professor in the same Department.
Diplomate of the European College of Porcine Health Management (ECPHM) since 2005. Since 1990, teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Greece, Europe and USA.
1997-2005: Professor and director of the Clinic of Internal Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly
2005-today: Professor and director of the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (since 2014-)
Scientific leader in >45 international research projects, most of them through the AUTH Research Committee.More than 140 scientific announcements at international, transnational and national scientific meetings.
More than 250 scientific publications in international and national journals, books, CDs, which have been cited internationally more than 6,250 times.
He is on the list of the leading scientists worldwide (Stanford University list).Chairman in many scientific meetings, reviewer in more than 35 international scientific journals, and observer and speaker in various countries (Denmark, USA, China, Taiwan, Japan, Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary, etc.). Evaluator/judge of scientific programs for funding from international state or EU bodies such as COST of the European Union, National Pork Council of the USA. (U.S. National Pork Board), Fonds Wetenschappelijk OnderzoekVlaanderen (FWO- Belgian Research Foundation), Swiss National Science Foundation (Swiss National Research Foundation).
Guest on many TV and radio shows and newspapers on bird flu, swine flu, rabies, African swine fever, COVID-19, etc
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Luca Nelli
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Marcel van Bergen
Dr. Marcel van Bergen is a BioRiskProfessional at the Radboud Campus (Radboud University and Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and affiliated companies. In 2010 he started there as a BioRiskProfessional / BioSafetyOfficer, OccupationalHealthHygienist (with focus on biological agents) and EnvironmentalSafetyOfficer.
Currently, he is in charge of the BioRiskPrevention team in Nijmegen.Since 2019 he is chairing the Dutch Biosafety Platform (BVF-Platform). He is a member of the EBSA Conference Program Working Group since 2018, and chairing this group since 2022.
From 1997 till 2010 he was active as Technician, Researcher, ProjectLeader, QualtiyAssuranceOfficer and BioSafetyOfficer at the Central Veterinairy Institute in Lelystad (Wageningen University, NL).In 2005 he finalised his PhD thesis on Molecular Typing of Campylobacter fetus (Utrecht University, NL).Additionally, from 2002 till 2010 he was a trainer for the Foodsafety Surveillance Programme of the World Health Organisation. -
Mirjam Schaap
Dr. ing. Mirjam Schaap is participant of the Biosecurity Office at the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands. After finishing her PhD in the field of toxicogenomics (2014) she has been working as a scientific advisor at the Centre for Environmental Safety and Security (RIVM). Next to her contribution to the Biosecurity Office, she is also member of the Biological Response Unit (operational and advise) and the Center for Environmental Health (collaborating with the health and environment department of Municipal Health Services). Mirjam is a IFBA Certified Professional in Biorisk Management.
Her main focus at the Biosecurity Office is on outreach and awareness. This includes developing products and tools like Biosecurity webtools (Vulnerability Scan and the Dual-Use Quickscan), the biosecurity newsletter (only in Dutch available), and also the organization of biosecurity webinars and symposia in the Netherlands.
As a biosecurity expert she participated in the peer review exercises conducted by the Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (2015), Germany (2016) and Morocco (2017). Depending on their exact scope, peer reviews can help to build confidence, contribute to strengthening national implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and also facilitate international cooperation and assistance.
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Patrick Rüdelsheim
Trained as a biologist, Patrick Rüdelsheim started his career in a Dutch seed company. He then joined Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Ghent, Belgium. After being in charge of Product Development and Registration, he was appointed Director Regulatory Affairs and Member of the Board.
Following the acquisition of PGS, he became Global Head of Biotechnology Regulatory Affairs for the AgrEvo group and remained in this function during the subsequent creation of Aventis S.A. and the acquisition by Bayer. In this function, he ensured the scientific argumentation for Product Safety and Quality as well as the compliance with all regulatory acquirements related to genetic engineering.
In 2003, he founded and became General Manager of Perseus BV, a service company focused on bio-safety and related regulatory requirements. Mid 2015, he was co-founder and served as Senior Regulatory Advisor for ABS-int, a multi-disciplinary initiative dedicated to Access and Benefit Sharing requirements for genetic resources. Since 2023, Perseus and ABS-int operate together as 3Bio, in which he acts as Director and Chief Regulatory Officer. In this capacity he offers his extensive and global experience in every aspect of biosafety and biotechnology regulation to a range of users and developers. He lectures on biosafety and regulations at the University of Ghent and the University of Antwerp.
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Thomas Binz
Thomas Binz studied biology at the university of Fribourg, Switzerland, and spezialized in microbiology during his diploma and PhD thesis.
During a postdoctoral research period he specialized in microbial molecular genetics.
Since 2002, he is leading the biosafety section at the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health which is responsible for the oversight of biological agents in laboratories and which issues biosafety regulations. He is active in the field of laboratory biosafety where he is involved in the scientific evaluation of the risk assessment and safety measures for work with pathogenic and genetically modified organisms.
Furthermore, he is assessing the biosafety of gene therapy. He was president of EBSA 2019-2021 and member of EBSA council from 2005-2006.
He is, since its foundation in 2007, a member of the International Expert Group for Biosafety and Biosecurity Regulation (IEGBBR)
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Ulrika Allard Bengtsson
Academic Education and Degrees
- MSc Agr, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala 1993.
- Speciality: Biotechnology and Animal Sciences
Present Professional Position
- Since 1994 Research scientist, department of virology, SVA
- Head of section of laboratory animal virology, dep of virology, SVA for two years (1998-2000)
- 2001-2021 Technical manager for laboratory animal virology at department of virology, immunobiology and parasitology (VIP), SVA
- Since 2004 Biosafety Officer at SVA.
Special Remarks
As the Biosafety officer at SVA for primarily the high containment facilities (BSL 3), the main activities are biorisk management activities like education and training, risk assessment, PPE evaluation and decision making, internal and external biorisk audits in both laboratories and animal facilities, facility planning, decontamination and contact person towards national authorities concerning biorisk issues. In charge of the implementation of the ISO 35001 at SVA. Involved in the establishment of the Nordic biosafety network (NBN), 2005, and since then member of the steering committee. Member of the International Veterinary Biosafety Workgroup (IVBW) since 1995. Member of the EuFMD Special committee for biorisk management (SCBRM) since 2018. During the Covid-19 pandemic involved in planning and validation of resources like PPE, consumables etc.
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Vasiliki Mollaki
Vasiliki Mollaki, PhD, Msc
Geneticist and Ethics ExpertStudies: Vasiliki Mollaki studied Genetics (BSc Genetics) at Cardiff University in Wales, UK. She received her postgraduate degree in Molecular and Genetic Medicine (MSc Molecular and Genetic Medicine) from Sheffield University, UK and completed her doctorate in 2006 at Sheffield University, UK, in the field of Genetics.
Research: Vasiliki Mollaki was occupied as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the National Centre of Scientific Research "Demokritos" in Athens, in research projects investigating the genetic basis of human disease.
Teaching: She was also an adjunct Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Technological Institute of Athens in the Faculty of Health and Caring Professions (2008 - 2018). Since 2017, she teaches Biolaw and Bioethics at the International Hellenic University, as an adjunct Professor. Since 2021 she is also an adjunct Professor in the Open University of Cyprus.
Ethics: Since 2011, she works as a Scientific Associate at the National Commission for Bioethics and Technoethics where she started her career in ethics.
She has been appointed as external Ethics Expert in the European Commission, where she carries out ethics evaluations for European research programs (since 2016). So far, she has participated in more than 60 Ethics Panels and Chaired 14 of them.
She is a member of the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the University of Patras and the University of West Attica.
She is a member of the National Committee for the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes.
Publications: She has published 3 monographs, 1 e-book, 15 articles in international scientific journals, 4 articles in national scientific journals and contributed 3 chapters in 3 collective books (ORCID id http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8479-8704).
She is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Bioethica.
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Vibeke Halkjaer-Knudsen
Current Position
Independent BRM consultant
Experience
30 years in the biorisk management field, involved in BRM training and lab design in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa.
With a multifaceted expertise spanning animal welfare, GMP, stem cells, GMOs, environmental health, and safety, Vibeke excels in conducting comprehensive impact and risk assessments. Her extensive experience encompasses laboratory, plants, and animal facility design, emphasizing sustainable solutions across global locations.
Since 2006, Vibeke has offered her services as a GMP and Biorisk Management Consultant, balancing consultancy with her regular employment until dedicating herself to private consulting full-time in autumn 2022. She aids clients worldwide in making informed risk decisions for designing sustainable laboratories, production facilities, and animal centers.
Her focus is multifaceted, from supporting and mentoring individuals from early career professionals – who need to get a foothold in the containment field, to seasoned BRM officers – who might need additional templates and systems to be effective. She supports institutions during hard times when additional skills and support are needed and inhouse capacity is missing, and she assists if the inspections failed and the project needs to get back on track.
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Wendy Shell
Bio Risk Officer | AGES – Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (Österreichische Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit GmbH), Mödling, Austria
Wendy Shell, CMIOSH MISTR BSc (Hons) MSc has over 12 years’ experience working as a Biosafety, Biosecurity and Bio Risk expert, as well as being a chartered health and safety professional. She has worked in this field, predominantly in the Government laboratory sector, in both the UK and in Austria. She was responsible for the development and implementation of human factors analysis in BSL3 and BSL4 in vivo and in vitro facilities as well as the incorporation of these into routine laboratory risk assessment and accident investigations. She has developed and delivered numerous biosafety and biosecurity training courses in the UK, Europe and Internationally. Currently she is the Bio Risk Officer at the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (business area Animal Health), with biorisk management responsibilities in diagnostic and research laboratories ranging from BSL2 to BSL3+ (BLS3Ag).
Academic Education and Degrees
MSc: Virology
BSc (Hons): Zoology
NEBOSH Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety (Distinction)