Past EBSA events

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    11 January 2024

    EBSA Thursday - How ISO standards and technical specifications can support you in your daily life as BSO (and how you can support ISO with your technical knowledge as BSO)

    ISO35001:2019 Biorisk management for laboratories and related organizations is the well-known ISO management system standard supporting you in organizing biosafety and biosecurity in your organization and helping you to address all biorisk management issues that need to be addressed in a concerted manner. It builds on the continuous improvement plan- do-check-act-cycle to keep your biosrisk management system up to date and under control. ISO35001 was designed by biosafety experts like you form different countries around the globe, being a truly international standard, within the context of the International Standardization Organization, ISO, Technical Committee TC212, Clinical laboratory testing and in vitro diagnostic test systems

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    19 October 2023

    Demystifying ABS, Nagoya Protocol and the EU ABS Regulation – what you need to know when importing and using genetic resources.

    A 2,5 hour online course (including a break and question session)

    Instructor: Dominic Muyldermans

    Description: The principles of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) were first recognised under the Convention on Biological Diversity, refined in the Nagoya Protocol and are further implemented in national ABS laws. In EU an additional compliance regulation applies.

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    21 September 2023

    EBSA Thursday - Joint EBSA – IVBWG Construction design workshop

    EBSA members can join a part of the 20th Workshop of the International Veterinary Biosafety Working group online.

  4. 20 June 2023

    Commissioning and decommissioning of contained use facilities

    Antwerp

    During this workshop you will first get an introduction on the topic ‘commissioning and decommissioning’. In the afternoon there will be plenty of opportunity to share your experiences during our round table discussion. Focus will be on BSL2 facilities.

    To end the day, you will get an insight into the ITM’s history and get a tour at this unique location. 

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    19 April 2023

    Pre conference course F. Introduction to Human Factors in a Laboratory or scientific facility

    Athens

    Instructors: Adam Stevenson and Wendy Shell

    Aim: To be aware of human factors and how to take account of such in a laboratory or in vivo containment facility.

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    19 April 2023

    Pre conference course C. Recombinant virus and viral vectors for research, gene therapy and vaccination: “GMO or not? Safe or not? Manageable or not?

    Athens

    There are a variety of investigational human and veterinary medicinal products consisting of or containing GMOs. GMOs for human medicines may include the following: human cells modified ex vivo; vaccines; recombinant virus-based vectors, including those containing genome editing nucleic acid sequences (which may also be delivered non-virally) and bacterial vectors.Medicinal products based onmRNA are on the rise. One need to define which constructs are still GMOs or not, which constructs are less or more hazardous than the wildtype virus, they are derived from, and which might serve as agent to harm others. How are people and the environment protected when they are widely used, also outside controlled laboratory settings. There is guidance and regulation. Which ones to apply is the one hundred Euroquestions.

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    19 April 2023

    Pre conference course B. An introduction course on biosafety (for a beginner level, WHO the LBM)

    Athens

    The role of a biosafety professional (BSP) within an institution is a challenging position. In addition, a BSP very often plays the interface between different activities within a facility including animal handling, engineering, maintenance and cleaning.

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    18 April 2023

    EBSA Conference 2023 and Preconference courses

    Athens

    2 days of EBSA pre conference courses on Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 April 2023

    2 days of EBSA conference on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 April 2023.

    Check out

    And register

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    18 April 2023

    Pre conference course G. Operations, Maintenance and Management of Containment Level 2/3 Facilities

    Athens
    • Essential elements of and metholodolgies to perform risk assessment
    • Assessing the risk of biological materials (microorganisms, cells, tissues)
    • Evaluating the risk of procedures/activities
    • Defining measures to control/minimize the risk (containment, GMT, PPE, training)
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    18 April 2023

    Pre conference course H. Tips for the successful evidence-based decontamination of contained use laboratories using liquid and gaseous disinfectants

    Athens

    The application of appropriate decontamination methods is the key element in reducing surface contamination in the laboratory to prevent laboratory-acquired infections and cross contamination in the laboratory.

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    18 April 2023

    Pre conference course E. The world of infection - working with infected animal models

    Athens

    Working with an animal model of infection means introducing an additional risk into the infection chain.  

    Not only the animals need to be handled appropriately to reduce a potential risk to the scientist, the equipment also plays a major role in minimising risk during individual infection experiments. 

    Infection models with obligate pathogenic human germs must be treated carefully and calmly. The 3Rs of laboratory animal science are not only a guarantee for ethically sound experiments, but also serve the safety of the researchers. 

    This course is rated as advanced. Therefore basic knowledge of Biosafety is a prerequisite as well as initial knowledge in working with animals.

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    18 April 2023

    Pre conference course D. The gift of failure – learning from accidents, incidents and near-misses

    Athens

    Sadly, accidents will always happen. They can be prevented, but only if we take care to understand how and why they happen. Their impact can be reduced, but only if we take time to prepare. Gaining that understanding and having a plan are key safety processes. 

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    18 April 2023

    Pre conference course A. The holy grail in biosafety: risk assessment

    Athens

    Even though national and international regulations provide a framework on how to work safely with a certain pathogen or hazard, specific risk assessments are indispensable to identify appropriate safety measures to ensure that the risk associated with working with biological agents is on an acceptable level. This course will set out the principles of a risk assessment process, addressing the definition of key steps, risk evaluation and identification of high-risk laboratory procedures or selection of risk control measures.

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    16 March 2023

    Recent developments in plant genetic engineering technology

    The online course will provide an up-to-date overview of the use of modern targeted genetic engineering technology in plants, focusing on the CRISPR/Cas system. It  provides an overview of the different methods used, the types of genetic and epigenetic modifications that can be achieved, their applications and consequences. The consequences will also be discussed in the GMO regulatory context and with regards to potential  risks and uncertainties.

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    08 November 2022

    Managing infectious aerosols in a laboratory setting: Lessons learned from COVID-19

    This online course will describe how aerosols are formed and infect people.   

    The types of equipment to generate and measure aerosols will be described as will a review of information used to inform risk assessments for the generation and spread of aerosols.

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    20 September 2022

    Chemical disinfectants used in laboratories: efficacy spectrum and regulation of their use

    This online course is aimed at offering recommendations regarding the choice of the disinfectant as a function of the material to be treated. Limits of the use of disinfectants will be described, with emphasis on the development of resistance and thus the need to be (re)validated regularly. The other part of the course will focus on the biocide legislation and the regulation of biocides.

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    18 May 2022

    Pre conference course C. Working Safely in the Biosafety Cabinet  (½ day)

    Ghent

    The biosafety cabinet (class II) is the most important and most widely used primary barrier in the microbiological and biomedical laboratory (BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4). 

    Check all details here

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    18 May 2022

    Pre conference course I. Moving on without leaving a trace - decommissioning in practice (1 day)

    Check all details here

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    18 May 2022

    Pre conference course E. How to convince and influence for biosafety and security (1 day)

    Gentbrugge

    To shape the attitude of non-experts towards the risks of infectious disease, it is not sufficient to just ‘tell the facts’. The way the information is presented and the source credibility of the organisation are crucially importan. Unfortunately, in many cases the importance of these factors is underestimated. What can (governmental) organisations do to effectively shape the perception?
    Check all details here

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    17 May 2022

    Pre conference course G. (Bio)containment of GM plants - from Green Houses to Field Trials (1 ½ day, afternoon 17.05, 18.05)

    Gentbrugge

    Check all details here