BIOSAFETYBolstering Biosafety Education to Address Biosecurity Professionals Shortfalls

Published 8 November 2022

Many countries face an severe shortages of biosafety and biosecurity professionals. To address these shortages, experts call for a multisectoral effort toward a future sustainable workforce by formalizing a biosafety & biosecurity career path within the higher education system.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the significant demand on the biosafety and biosecurity profession and many countries face an overall shortage of these specialized individuals. To address this gap, the IFBA is leading a multisectoral effort towards a future sustainable workforce by formalizing a biosafety & biosecurity career path within the higher education system. The development of this new BSc. undergraduate program is an important step forward to solving the overall global shortage of these professionals. This multisectoral, collaborative approach to building capacity through education is long-term, creating the biosafety and biosecurity professionals of the future. We must continue to forge strong partnerships across sectors to create a universal call to action for biosafety and biosecurity education as a formal degree program in higher learning institutions. Now is the right time to seize the opportunity and lessons learned from the recent pandemic to boldly reimagine and reboot the biosafety and biosecurity profession.

Click here to read the IFBA’s white paper Addressing the Global Shortage of Biosafety & Biosecurity Professionals through Education: Establishment of a New Undergraduate Degree Program

Here are excerpts from the paper:

Executive Summary
Biosafety and biosecurity professionals provide an essential role in safeguarding infectious disease agents in clinical and research laboratories and other settings where biological materials are handled. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the significant demand on the profession and many countries face an overall shortage of these specialized individuals. Given that biosafety and biosecurity professionals work in laboratories behind the scenes of the frontline response, the profession remains largely unknown to students interested in pursuing a career in the sciences. As such, students tend to be steered towards more visible education paths in the biological and health sciences.

To address this gap, the IFBA is leading a multisectoral effort towards a future sustainable workforce by formalizing a biosafety & biosecurity career path within the higher education system. Now is the right time since the recent lived COVID-19 experiences of youth have motivated them to become involved. Over the past 6 months, and with funding support from Global Affairs Canada, the IFBA has been collaborating with Kenya’s Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) to develop and pilot a new undergraduate BSc degree program specifically in Biosafety and Biosecurity. This new BSc program leverages MMUST’s existing programs in the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences. All students undertake related core courses in microbiology and related disciplines in the first two years followed by specialized biosafety & biosecurity courses, practical laboratory and field experience and a capstone project in their later academic years.

The lessons learned from this pilot program will be used for future program roll out to additional universities across Africa and globally. This project presents a recommended solution towards a sustainable future global workforce of biosafety and biosecurity professionals. Supporting this approach are multisectoral partnerships committed to biosafety and biosecurity education and our common vision of more graduates and young scientists entering the profession.

Problem Statement
Competent biosafety & biosecurity professionals are a foundational element in global health security, preparedness and response to outbreaks of infectious disease, and the safe and secure handling of biological materials in laboratories and other settings. Despite this central role, recent experience and lessons learned from the COVID 19 pandemic confirms an overall global shortage of these professionals. This white paper formally approaches the scope and determinants to the current shortages facing the biosafety and biosecurity workforce, and to recommend solutions towards a sustainable, diverse and sufficient future global workforce of biosafety and biosecurity professionals.

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A Call to Action
The development of a BSc. undergraduate program in biosafety and biosecurity is an important step forward to solving the overall global shortage of these professionals. This multisectoral, collaborative approach to building capacity through education is long-term, creating the biosafety and biosecurity professionals of the future. We must continue to forge strong partnerships across sectors to create a universal call to action for biosafety and biosecurity education as a formal degree program in higher learning institutions. Now is the right time to seize the opportunity and lessons learned from the recent pandemic to boldly reimagine and reboot the biosafety and biosecurity profession.