Jaime Yassif serves as Vice President of NTI Global Biological Policy and Programs (NTI | bio). In this role she oversees NTI | bio’s work to reduce global catastrophic biological risks, strengthen biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, and drive progress in advancing global health security.
Prior to this, Dr. Yassif served as a Program Officer at the Open Philanthropy Project, where she led the initiative on Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness. In this role, she recommended and managed approximately $40 million in biosecurity grants, which rebuilt the field and supported work in several key areas, including: development of new biosecurity programming at several leading think tanks; cultivation of new talent through biosecurity leadership development programs; initiation of new biosecurity work in China and India; establishment of the Global Health Security Index; development of the Clade X tabletop exercise; and the emergence of a new discussion about global catastrophic biological risks. Previously, Yassif was a Science and Technology Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Defense, where she focused on oversight of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and East Asia security issues. During this period, she also worked on the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she helped lay the groundwork for the WHO Joint External Evaluations and the GHSA Steering Group.
Yassif’s previous experience includes work with Connecting Organizations for Regional Disease Surveillance, Chatham House, NTI, the Federation of American Scientists and the Tsinghua University Institute for International Studies. She holds a Biophysics Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, an MA in Science and Security from the King’s College London War Studies Department, and a BA in Biology from Swarthmore College.

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.

Cyril Martel is leading the biosecurity division of the Danish Center for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness (CBB). He has obtained PhD in immunology from the University of Copenhagen in 2010 and has a background within influenza research and surveillance. During the covid-19 pandemic, he has been part of both the national testing and vaccination efforts. He has extensive experience as a bioweapons specialist from CBB, and has participated in numerous exercises, inspections and outreach activities since 2016, both nationally and internationally.

Marcel van Bergen is a BioRisk Professional / Management Advisor at the Radboud Campus (Radboud University and Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and affiliated companies. In 2010 he started there as a BioSafety Officer, Occupational Health Hygienist (with focus on biological agents) and Environmental Safety Officer. Currently, he is leading the BioRisk Prevention team in Nijmegen. Since 2019 he is chairman of the Dutch Biosafety Association (BVF-Platform). Additionally, he is a member of the EBSA Scientific Working Group since 2018, and chairing this group since 2022. From 1997 till 2010 he was active as Technician, Researcher, Project Leader, Quality Assurance Officer and Bio Safety Officer at the Central Veterinary Institute in Lelystad (Wageningen University, NL). In 2005 he completed his PhD thesis on Molecular Typing of Campylobacter fetus (Utrecht University, NL). Additionally, from 2002 till 2010 he served as a trainer for the World Health Organization.

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.