On Wednesday 14 May 2025, the Biosecurity Office will organise an international symposium at the MECC in Maastricht. 

Leading international speakers will talk about biosecurity and dual-use. The symposium will take place prior to the annual conference of the European Biosafety Association (EBSA) at the same location. During the first International Biosecurity Symposium, international experts will take you into the world of biosecurity and dual-use. Topics such as artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and education will be discussed. In addition, attention will be paid to biosecurity in practice. The unique connection with the EBSA congress and sufficient space for networking allows for connections with European stakeholders, thereby strengthening the (inter)national biosafety network.

Program

14.00 hrs       Opening and welcome by the Netherlands Biosecurity Office
14.10 hrs   Biosecurity, AI and emerging technologies
    Jaime Yassif, Vice President, NTI Global Biological Policy and Programs, NTI | bio, USA
14.35 hrs   Dual-use of emerging technologies & WHO dual use guidance
    Filippa Lentzos, Kings College London, UK
15.10 hrs   Selected abstract 1
15.30 hrs   Coffee break & networking
16.00 hrs   Biosecurity and dual-use in practice in Denmark
    Cyril Martel, Centre for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness (CBB), Denmark
16.25 hrs   Biosecurity and dual-use in practice in the Netherlands
    Marcel van Bergen, UMC Universitair Medisch Centrum (Universitair Medisch Centrum) Radboud, the Netherlands
16.50 hrs   Selected abstract 2
17.10 hrs   Short break
17.30 hrs   WHO biosecurity guidance document
    Kazunobu Kojima, WHO Geneva, Switzerland
17.55 hrs   Culture of biosafety and biosecurity: what gets measured gets done
    Dana Perkins, USA
18.20 hrs   Closure by Biosecurity Office and EBSA president
18.30 hrs   End of meeting and start of EBSA welcome reception

Speakers

Dana Perkins received a PhD in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, U.S., and a M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry/Immunology from the University of Bucharest, Romania. She is an international consultant who worked until recently as a Senior Science Advisor with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Perkins is a former member of the Group of Experts supporting the UN Security Council 1540 Committee on Weapons of Mass Destruction Non-Proliferation. She currently serves as a member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on the Responsible Use of the Life Sciences and Dual-Use Research (TAG- RULS DUR) and of the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA). She is also a Microbiologist with the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve; in this capacity, she has held several command positions in medical units and served as the Director of Women, Peace, and Security Studies at the U.S. Army War College.

Dr Filippa Lentzos is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Science & International Security at King’s college London. She is cross-appointed to the Department of War Studies and the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, and she leads several research projects, including on Global BioLabs, disinformation, responsible science and BWC verification. Outside King’s, she is an Associate Senior Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden, and a Non-Resident Scholarat the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in the United States. Filippa chairs the WHO Technical Advisory Group on the responsible use of the life sciences and dual-use research (WHO RULS DUR), and she is a member of the WHO Health Security Interface – Technical Advisory Group (WHO HSI-TAG). She is also a rostered expert for the UN Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical or Biological Weapons (UNSGM), and she serves as the NGO Coordinator for the Biological Weapons Convention.