Abstract
We are pleased to introduce this themed issue of Applied Biosafety that focuses on chronicling and showcasing biosafety pivots – a series of innovations and best practices implemented out of necessity to build preparedness and resilience in educational, research, and field environments in response to SARS-CoV-2 and in preparation for future public health crises. This themed issue has been timed to recognize ABSA International's upcoming Biosafety and Biosecurity Month in October 2022.
Emery et al. cataloged the implementation of work tasks involved in supporting COVID-19–related safe work protocols, diagnostic testing, research, and vaccine development throughout the pandemic. This program management tool that evaluated and identified tasks that were critically important ensured support and resources were in place, and can serve as a template for biosafety programs to plan and prepare for the next pandemic or health crisis.
An email survey of biosafety professionals administered by Gillum et al. further identified specific support they provided during the pandemic. The survey responses were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed and describe various roles and activities in which biosafety professionals were involved in the pandemic. This information could serve to advance preparedness and resilience during future public health emergencies.
Two articles describe how interventions were applied in academic settings. The article by Philpott et al. describes how Oregon State University College of Pharmacy and Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine pivoted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure continuity in student training with attention to providing hands-on practice of medicine and surgery for veterinary students and experiential patient-centered care and other activities for PharmD students. They implemented space occupancy restrictions, hygiene requirements, distancing, barriers, increased ventilation, face cover use, and directional movement through laboratories.
In-person instruction for smaller classes was phased in, whereas larger classes continued to be taught online. The College of Pharmacy modified the curriculum to postpone the hands-on skills courses for Spring 2020 and used TeleMed™ technology. The veterinary college changed client/owner interfacing and implemented a procedure- and species-based risk mitigation process to reduce the risk of animal-to-human COVID-19 transmission.
Gentry-Weeks describes how social norming of safe public health behaviors, the development of low cost rapid screening and surveillance methods, an online COVID-19 reporting system, contact tracing and quarantine, reduced classroom capacity, increasing air flow, enhanced cleaning, and production of sanitizer were used in undergraduate microbiology teaching laboratories at Colorado State University. Instructors were flexible and quickly changed their courses for remote delivery or launched extra risk management procedures for face-to-face delivery of laboratory, performance, or studio classes.
Bats have been identified as reservoirs for a wide variety of pathogens to include paramyxoviruses, lyssaviruses, and notably coronaviruses. As such, research on this species will likely increase. The article by Powell et al. provides first-hand biosafety guidance and recommendations when conducting field research with bats, including many aspects of biological risk assessment. The risk assessment centers on activities being conducted and while developed by teams researching bats in North and Central America can be extrapolated to bat research worldwide, as well as general field research with wild animals.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed data from clinical trials and approved vaccines and therapeutics to ameliorate symptoms. Review of human gene therapy trials by institutional biosafety committees also continued in compliance with the National Institutes of Health guidelines for research involving recombinant and synthetic nucleic acids, and publication of breakthrough results is expected to prompt several new trials. Eisenman et al. provide an important overview of the human gene therapy trial review process by summarizing the FDA guidance documents on shedding and environmental impact assessments.
The articles in this issue of Applied Biosafety provide timely applied information that can be used by individuals and institutions for decision making during current and future outbreak situations. These articles are available online by our publisher, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., at https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/applied-biosafety/661/overview.