This course is a brief introduction to the history of biosecurity. It provides the concepts required for the two other courses in the Principles of Laboratory Biosafety Pathogen Security program.
This course is intended for people working in laboratories / laboratory personnel, those involved in designing or managing containment facilities, biosafety professionals, or those with an interest in biosafety.
After completing this course, learners will be able to:
•recognize key events in the history of biosecurity
•define biosecurity
•recognize the importance of biosecurity as it relates to biosafety in facilities handling pathogens and toxins
This course will take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.
Course updated in June 2023.
Laboratory biosecurity should address the policies and procedures related to physical biosecurity, staff security, transportation security, material and information control. It should also include incident and emergency response protocols, including instructions regarding outside responders. Lastly, it is essential to train all personnel on security policies and procedures to help ensure correct implementation. All of these factors form the basis of the biosecurity plan.
This course is intended for people working in laboratories / laboratory personnel, those involved in designing or managing containment facilities, biosafety professionals, or those with an interest in biosafety.
After completing this course, learners will be able to:
• state the importance of biosecurity as an element of a biosafety program
• identify the elements required to establish and implement a biosecurity plan in their own laboratories
This course will take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.
Course updated in March 2023.
The Introductory Course on Dual-use in Life Science Research has been developed to increase awareness on dual-use and to promote the responsible conduct of research among scientists, educators, institutional administrators, biological safety and security professionals, funding organizations, policy and decision makers, and the public.
This course is intended for people working in laboratories / laboratory personnel, those involved in designing or managing containment facilities, biosafety professionals, or those with an interest in biosafety.
After completing this course, learners will be able to:
•explain the key concepts of dual-use
•describe the national and international efforts that govern dual-use and the potential areas of intervention within the research continuum
•identify life science research with dual-use potential
•conduct a risk assessment on research with dual-use potential, including an understanding of the ethical considerations
•develop and implement risk mitigation strategies, including a communication plan
•apply the considerations for dual-use identification, risk assessment, and risk mitigation in a case study
This course will take approximately 175-190 minutes to complete.
This course was updated July 2023.
With innovation and technological advancements, information and knowledge related to biological research is increasingly being stolen and misused by those who wish to cause harm or advance their economic competitiveness. This course will describe the motives, tactics, and indicators of insider and outsider threats. It will propose mitigation strategies which will aim to reduce the occurrence of biosecurity events associated with insider and outsider threats. January 2020.
This course has been designed for a global audience and is intended for individuals who handle and store pathogens and toxins in controlled environments (e.g., laboratory technicians, researchers, senior managers, and biological safety officers).
After completing this course, learners will be able to:
• define biosecurity and biosecurity events
• define insider and outsider threats
• describe motives and tactics of insider and outsider threats
• discuss indicators of insider and outsider threats
• identify mitigation strategies to reduce biosecurity events associated with insider and outsider threats from occurring
• recognize that an insider and outsider threat could carry-out a biosecurity event
This course will take approximately 60-75 minutes to complete.
January 2020.