Topic Summary

During the training, both didactic and interactive sessions will be used to facilitate detailed discussions on the components of an Institutional Biosafety Program.  In addition to a detail oriented slide deck (Power Point presentation), attendees will review and discuss common programmatic templates that can be used across the Biosafety Administrative Community.  The meeting will also provide individuals the opportunity to identify, share and discuss best/common practices that are used to satisfying compliance responsibilities across organizations.  The training will also use scenarios that will challenge attendees to consider, deliberate, and develop action plans for a variety of situations with the goal of identifying community best practices. During the session, attendees will collectively discuss the topic by, for example, posing questions to the speakers and other attendees, offering their own effective ideas, and ultimately identify compliant processes for producing and overseeing the use of transgenic animals.  Continued in-depth discussions will occur as part of the IBC 301 program to cover other topics not mentioned below.  

Brief Agenda and Discussion Points

Presenter(s) Biographies

Bill Greer, Assistant Vice President for Research, University of Michigan

Bill graduated from The Pennsylvania State University in 1985 with a degree in Microbiology.  He currently oversees the animal care and use, biosafety, lab safety, controlled substances and autonomous systems research compliance programs.  His previous roles included the Associate Director for Research Compliance, IACUC Vice-Chair, and Biosafety Committee Chair at The Pennsylvania State University, and the production manager and safety director at Intervet, State College, PA (Formally Tri Bio Laboratories). Bill has overseen animal care and biosafety programs for over 30 years. 

In 2005, he organized and held the very first research administrators Best Practice Meeting, which establish a venue for research oversight professionals to informally meet and discuss programmatic concerns.  He continues to facilitate at least five annual Best Practice meetings covering both biosafety and animal care and use programs.  In 2010, he chaired the founding committee for the non-profit education based IACUC Administrators Association (IAA), and continues to serve as the organization’s president and chair of the board of directors.  Since 2007, Bill has served as ad hoc consultant to AAALAC Council where he performs institutional program reviews, assessments, and status determinations.  He served as a member of the Council of Certified Professional IACUC Administrators (CCPIA).  Bill continues to serve as an educator for the IBC and IACUC Administrative communities and has lectures at multiple venues including PRIM&R, AALAS, BTAA, and C3, as well as facilitates IBC and IACUC Best Practice Meetings.

Andrew Maksymowych, Ph.D., Associate Director, Biosafety Programs

Andrew has been at the University of Pennsylvania since 2006.  He is Penn’s Associate Director for Biological Safety Programs, Penn’s Institutional Biosafety Officer, IBC Administrator, and the Institutional Contact for Dual Use Research.  He sits on the Vice Provost’s for Research, Human Research Advisory Committee, the Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, and the Cadaver and Body Parts Oversight Committee.  Andrew obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Villanova University, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Bryn Mawr College.  He has more than 20 years of teaching and 35 years of research experience.  A major portion of which included oversight of research safety and compliance programs.  Prior to his journey at Penn, he held a faculty appointment at Thomas Jefferson University where his research focused on the analysis of structure-function relationships in proteins, including protein toxins that poison the human nervous system.  Most recently, the mechanism of action of botulinum neurotoxins.  Andrew attended his first Best Practice Meeting in 2015 and has since been continually involved with Biosafety Administrator’s Association.

Raymond F. Scheetz, MS, RBP is currently the Institutional Biosafety Officer and a Compliance Manager at The Penn State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa, located in the Research Quality Assurance office a division of the College of Medicine Office of Research Affairs.  He is responsible for the oversight of all Biosafety compliance aspects within the College of Medicine, providing ancillary reviews of IACUC and IRB protocols, biosafety training and required annual lab surveys, administration liaison for research lab activities and emergencies, and operation of the equipment and asset management plan. He is a member of the College of Medicine Institutional Biosafety Committee, Research Mission team and COVID 19 Ramp up Research task force.  Ray also serves as a Biosafety consultant for CBS (Clinical Biosafety Services)/Shield Consulting.  Formally the Lab Manager in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Penn State College of Medicine for 25 years.  Responsibilities included the Management of the BL3 facility located within the Department.

Lauren Danridge joined the University of Michigan Animal Care & Use Office in September 2017 as the Assistant Director of the new Quality Assurance Program; in January 2018, she was named Associate Director of the Animal Care & Use Office. Lauren came to the University of Michigan from Rutgers University (formerly UMDNJ), where she served as both the Manager and Assistant Manager for Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee Administration. In these roles, she was responsible for managing a variety of administrative processes, including protocol development, processing, and tracking; grant reporting; and the development of multiple systems to assist researchers with protocol compliance and responsible research conduct. She was also a voting member of the IACUC and involved in the overall management of the animal care and use program. Lauren has hands-on basic science research experience, and she also served as a research administrator for basic science departments; assisting faculty with pre- and post-award grant activities, manuscripts, presentations, and protocols. 

As an active contributor to the national animal care and use community, Lauren regularly presents on best practices for IACUC research administration at conferences and higher education institutions. In her role as Associate Director of the Animal Care & Use Office, she supports the Animal Care & Use Program by assisting in the leadership and management of oversight programs for the protection of animals involved in research at the University. Current programmatic goals are to reduce regulatory burden, continue engaging the research community in programmatic improvements, and streamlining business processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

The Meeting times are Eastern Standard Times