IBC 101/Best Practice Meeting

Biosafety Administrators Association (BSAA)

During a Best Practice meeting, members of the Biosafety community proposed establishing a common resource (i.e., BSAA) to facilitate communication, training opportunities, and the sharing of ideas. BSAA was founded to provide professional support to those administering biosafety compliance programs. It gives member organizations the opportunity to share written templates, and establish best practices that will strengthen cohesiveness and consistency among organizations’ biosafety compliance programs. 

BSAA Memberships

BSAA donations through membership fees clearly reflects an individual’s commitment to the Biosafety profession.  In addition, the provided support will help BSAA to establish additional educational and training opportunities for Biosafety professionals.  BSAA will also be able to provide various tools and resources that facilitate communication and the sharing of best practices through the website (https://ibcadministrators.com/).    

Membership Benefits:  https://ibcadministrators.com/join

Program Summary

IBC 101/Best Practice Meeting is a day and a half training opportunity for both new and seasoned Biosafety committee members, program compliance coordinators, and other individuals who contribute to the institution’s biosafety compliance program.

During the training, both didactic and interactive sessions address the institutional responsibilities, charge of the IBC, and the relevant governing standards.  The meeting also provides individuals the opportunity to identify, share and discuss best practices that are used to satisfying compliance responsibilities associated with organizations’ biosafety programs.  In addition, the training will assist attendees in identifying the regulatory and informational resources needed to understand, develop, and oversee an institution’s Biosafety Oversight Program.  The training will also use a variety of 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.

Additional meeting details:  https://ibcadministrators.com/meetings

Program Agenda*

1. Institutional Biosafety Program Demographics

2. The Office of Science Policy (OSP)

3. The Biosafety Committee

1. Role and functions
2. Regulatory mandates

1. 1. rDNA Guidelines
   2. BMBL

0. 3. Membership requirements
1. What are the specific requirements
2. Who can satisfy each role
3. Anyone required to be at meetings, and who’s just recommended

0. 4. Meeting requirements
1. How often must the IBC meet
2. What’s a quorum
3. Does any specific member need to be present to hold a convened meeting

4. Overview of the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules and Requirement for Institutional Biosafety Committees 

5. The protocol and the review process

1. Exemptions from registration/review
2. What components of the proposed activities should be reviewed
3. Conducting the risk assessment
4. Containment of rDNA
5. Initiating research
6. Continuing reviews

7. CRISPR-Cas9 technology;
8. The training program
9. Human gene transfer research 
10. Investigations

1. Exposures
2. Accidental releases
3. Allegations of non-compliance and reporting mechanisms and IACUC

11. Oversight and PAM programs 

12. Required Records

1. Minutes
2. Records of review/approval

13. Select Agents and the Dual Use Process 

*The agenda is subject to change