Pre conference course E - BSL-3 Facilities: From Planning to Performance Verification (2 day course) - Instructors
Pre conference course E - BSL-3 Facilities: From Planning to Performance Verification (2 day course)
About the speakers
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Felix Gmünder
Academic Education and Degrees
Dr. Gmünder holds an MSc in Microbiology and a PhD in Biotechnology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). He is a trained clinical microbiologist, an ABSA-registered Biosafety Professional, and a Certified Safety Engineer in Switzerland.
Current Position
Currently, Dr. Gmünder is the Senior Expert in Biosafety and Biocontainment at Basler & Hofmann AG.
Experience
With decades of experience, he has led the planning, design, commissioning, and validation of (A)BSL-3 and (A)BSL-4 laboratories, as well as GMP/biosafety bulk production facilities across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Furthermore, Dr. Gmünder specializes in hands-on biosafety training, hazard analysis, and risk assessments, in particular related to cross-contamination prevention. He has also conducted audits, performance verifications, and certifications for high- and maximum-containment facilities for over 20 years.
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Nigel Silman
Educational qualifications
BSc (hons) in microbial biochemistry & genetics, Plymouth Polytechnic University
PhD in microbial physiology & biochemistry, University of Leicester
FIBMS in bacteriology, Paddington College, London
Current Position:
Self-employed technical specialist in biosafety & biosecurityExperience
Nigel Silman is a scientist with 40 years’ experience working with high-consequence infectious disease pathogens at a hands-on laboratory level. Nigel has worked in industry, academia and in the Government sectors during his career. Nigel spent 6 years working in diagnostic microbiology laboratories before moving into academia and then industry. Between 1996 and 2020, he worked for the UK Governments’ Department of Health and Social Care at its Porton Down facility.
At Porton Down, Nigel has worked in a number of different senior management roles but always with a focus on teaching and training in the subjects around biosafety, infection prevention & control, biosecurity and high-containment microbiology. Between 2002 and 2015 Nigel was the Head Operational Manager of the Novel and Dangerous Pathogens (NADP) Department which included the Rare and Imported Pathogens Reference laboratory (RIPL) and NADP Training Team who specialise in providing tailored biosafety, biosecurity and laboratory training to International and UK-based delegates as well as in-house staff training. The RIPL laboratories included BSL-2, BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories and provided expert reference capability to the UK for a wide range of high-consequence pathogens including Anthrax, Plague, Tularaemia, Ebola, Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever and Yellow fever viruses.
More recently the NADP Training team were heavily involved with developing a bespoke package of theoretical and hands-on training for laboratory staff deploying to West Africa to support the Ebola emergency. Nigel was a key member of a small team comprising consultant clinical microbiologists and senior HART ambulance team members who developed the PPE used by all UK clinical staff deployed to West Africa to work in the UK-run Ebola Treatment Units in Sierra Leone. In addition to developing the PPE standard for the UK, Nigel and the NADP Training Team supported the training for all clinical staff deploying to West Africa by teaching the correct ways to don and doff PPE safely by avoiding any potential for cross or self-contamination. Over 1400 clinical staff were trained in PPE use before deployment to Sierra Leone.
Most recently, Nigel has acted as a subject matter expert and specialist adviser to the Governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for the development of public health systems and laboratory facilities in those countries.