NIH Holds Biosecurity Personnel Meeting

The National Institutes of Health will seek input on the attributes of the Personnel Reliability Program on April 3, 2009. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) will be making a set of recommendations regarding personnel reliability programs for individuals who would work with select agents. A portion of their recommendations will address the measures that institutions should undertake to assess whether individuals are trustworthy and reliable to work with these agents. The meeting will occur from 8:00 am to 5:15 pm at the Bethesda Marriott located at 5151 Pooks Hill Road. The meeting will be conducted as a series of panels where participants will be asked to discuss particular topics relevant to NSABB deliberations. In addition to presentations on the characteristics of extant personnel reliability programs, panels will explore measures and approaches for assessing (1) scientific and professional integrity and compliance with biosafety and biosecurity standards, and (2) emotional stability, sound judgment, and freedom from vulnerability to coercion. Each panel will include ample time for in-depth discussion of the issues surrounding each topic. Specific discussion questions will be posted ahead of time on the NSABB Web site at: http://oba.od.nih.gov/biosecurity/biosecurity.html. The Board is interested in hearing perspectives from such individuals as investigators who work with select agents, senior research officials at institutions registered for select agent work, security think tank analysts, responsible officials under the Select Agent program, and individuals who promote the responsible conduct of research and have studied issues of research integrity. Others are equally welcomed and encouraged to participate. The meeting is open to the public and free of charge. Due to limited space, pre-registration is encouraged. To register, please visit http://oba.od.nih.gov/biosecurity/biosecurity_meetings.html. Any groups or individuals who cannot attend the meeting are encouraged to submit in advance of the meeting written comments to: nsabb@od.nih.gov. More information about the NSABB is available at http://oba.od.nih.gov/biosecurity/biosecurity.html.