New Opportunities Projects
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Biosafety Containment Training Program
Collaborating Institution: University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX
Principal Investigator: Anne-Sophie Brocard, PhD
Expected Product: Establishment of a standardized training course for biosafety containment work.
Description: The UTMB Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Biocontainment Training Program has been developed and was successfully implemented last year. As part of the Western Regional Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (WRCE), we would like to be able to respond to the needs of WRCE members to train personnel and alleviate initial training time from researchers. This program is the first of its kind, as it is customized to the need of the bench scientist, principal investigator, and facility in which the research will be conducted. The program has resulted in groundbreaking efforts towards standardizing safety practices in biocontainment facilities allowing a smooth transition of personnel within facilities as well as for collaborative interactions.
As funding increases for infectious disease research with the emphasis on emerging infectious diseases, training in biocontainment becomes more critical due to the increase in potential laboratory-acquired infections due to a lack of proper training. The program is offered to BSL2, BSL3, and BSL4 users, with a strong emphasis on BSL3 training, since BSL3 users are at greater risk for laboratory-acquired exposures. Emphasis will be directed towards the protection of the laboratorian as well as protection of research materials from contamination. The training program offered is a hands-on course with needed theoretical information to support the practical training. The program is designed to address the specific needs of each scientist based on his or her research utilizing a one-on-one training focus. This model allows attention to specific details in manipulation techniques. User confidence is enhanced when training is in a controlled nonhazardous environment, allowing errors to occur without consequences to the trainee and environment. For example, the time and resources traditionally dedicated to the initial BSL4 suit training will be accomplished as part of the training program. Following containment training, the trainees will then finish their in-lab mentoring with experienced users focusing on their area of research. In-lab mentorship will be reduced, the trainees will have mastered standardized laboratory practices, and the BSL4 trainee will have had suit training prior to entering the laboratory.
The program is designed specifically to accommodate the needs of scientists, principal investigators, and institutions. The core has the capability to offer a refresher course or to customize training related to biosafety/biocontainment if there is a request by WRCE scientists or support staff.
The training program will allow all scientists a standardized training course in biosafety containment work from BSL2 to BSL4 levels, thus alleviating resources of PI and allowing research to continue. |
