Integrating Biosafety & Biosecurity into Funding Decisions

Funders play a key role in shaping how life science research is conducted. This webinar will introduce a new framework—developed collaboratively by a diverse group of internationally recognized experts—to help funders identify proposals that may require additional biosafety or biosecurity review and to support appropriate risk-mitigation efforts.

The framework outlines a three-step process:

• Rapid Screening to determine whether proposals present elevated biosafety or biosecurity risk
• Detailed Assessment for proposals that may involve agents or methods capable of causing large-scale harm if misused or accidentally released
• Risk Mitigation to ensure that any identified biosafety or biosecurity risks are addressed through feasible mitigation measures.

The International Bio Funders’ Compact is a public commitment by funders to incorporate biosecurity into decision-making, including pre-award reviews. This framework supports that aim by helping distinguish low-risk projects from those requiring deeper assessment and by recommending practical pathways to proceed safely and securely.

The discussion will walk through the core assessment questions to gauge probability and magnitude of harm, considerations for weighing risks and benefits, and practical measures for biosafety, biosecurity, and information management.

Program Highlights

Join NTI | bio for the release of a new framework, Guidance for Assessing Biosecurity and Biosafety Risks, featuring expert panel discussions.