Introducing the Winners of the 2024 Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition

NTI | bio, in partnership with 80,000 Hours, the Global Health Security Network, the iGEM Foundation, the International Federation of Biosafety Associations, the Next Generation Global Health Security Network, Pandemic Action Network, SynBio Africa, and Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation, is excited to announce the winners of the eighth annual Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition:

• John Hurst, Johns Hopkins University
  Home country: United States
• James Kimber, University of Adelaide
  Home country: Australia
• Pierce Manlangit, Paro Institute
  Home country: Philippines

Dozens of students and early-career professionals from 19 countries across five continents entered the 2024 competition, which sought innovative and creative papers focused on how investments in biosecurity can contribute to a more equitable society while also reducing biological risks. An international panel of 20 judges evaluated the papers and chose the winning team through a three-round process. A list of this year’s judges can be found below.

In their winning paper, Improving Practices in Biosecurity Investment: The Role of Equitable Participation and Resource Distribution in Mitigating Biological Risks, the authors examine inequity in biosecurity as related to both resource allocation and participation in global institutions. They propose six policy recommendations which seek to comprehensively address inequity across these two areas, including strengthening the text of the WHO Pandemic Agreement; revising Confidence Building Measures within the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) to measure the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and increasing worldwide use of standardized tools for measuring equity in biosecurity participation.

Competition winners will receive travel support to attend the Fourth Meeting of the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva, Switzerland. They will present their paper during a UN Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and NTI side event, Youth Insights for Strengthening Global Biosecurity on Thursday, August 22nd at 1:15PM – 2:45PM CEST. More information can be found here.

In addition to the winning paper, the judges of this year’s competition also selected a runner-up from among the top-scoring papers. The authors of the runner-up paper are:

• Dominique Anne S. Aluquin, National University of Singapore
  Home country: Philippines
• Jo Yi Chow, Nanyang Technological University
  Home country: Malaysia
• P.T. Nhean, Independent Biosecurity Researcher
  Home country: Cambodia

In their paper, The SEED Framework: Advancing gender equity in Southeast Asia agriculture for sustainable and resilient biosecurity, the authors highlight the crucial role of women in biological risk interventions within Southeast Asia’s agricultural sector. They propose the Sustainable Empowerment and Equity for Disease Prevention (SEED) Framework, which offers policy recommendations and practices across three pillars: Financial Investment, Meaningful Inclusion, and Sociocultural Understanding. The authors emphasize a gender-sensitive approach to capacity-building programs for female farmers. By implementing the SEED Framework, these programs can bridge the gender gap and reinforce existing One Health interventions, while ensuring that women are equipped and educated on essential biological risk prevention and response strategies, ultimately leading to reduced global catastrophic biological risks.

The Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition promotes the establishment of a global cross-sector cadre of early-career professionals dedicated to reducing catastrophic biological risks.

2024 Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition International Judges Panel

• Mr. Peter Babigumira AHABWE, Board member, NextGen GHSA Network

• Ms. Mayra AMENEIROS, Senior Fellow, International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS)

• Ms. Katherine BUDESKI, PhD Student, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

• Mr. Yorgo EL MOUBAYED, Program Coordinator, iGEM Foundation

• Mr.  Alonso FLORES, Safety and Security Program Officer, iGEM Foundation

• Dr. Anemone FRANZ, Physician

• Dr. Maleeka GLOVER, Executive Director, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS)

• Prof Aamer IKRAM, Chair Advisory Board TEPHINET, Strategic Advisor Int’l Associations of Public Health Institutes, and Fellow & Councilor Pakistan Academy of Sciences

• Dr. Gregory D. KOBLENTZ, Associate Professor and Director of Biodefense Graduate Program, George Mason University

• Dr. Yong-Bee LIM, Deputy Director of the Converging Risks Lab at the Council on Strategic Risks 

• Ms. Sandra MATINYI, Cofounder and Executive Director, Nuo Bioscience 

• Dr. Piers Millett, Executive Director, International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) 

• Dr. Andrew NERLINGER, Executive Director, Global Health Security Fund

• Ms. Stephanie NORLOCK, Senior Program Officer, International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA)

• Dr. Stephen OPIYO, Bioinformatics and Data Scientist; SynBio Africa, Uganda; and Patira Data Science, USA and Uganda

• Dr. Saskia POPESCU, Assistant Professor University of Maryland/Policy Researcher RAND

• Ms. Jintana SRIWONGSA, Advisor & Regional Coordinator, RPHL Network

• Dr. Claire STANDLEY, Associate Research Professor, Center for Global Health Science and Security, Georgetown University 

• Dr. Ashley S. TSENG, Lieutenant, U.S. Public Health Service, Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Ms. Sacha WALLACE-SANKARSINGH, MSc MPH, IFBA LAC Region Program Coordinator and Founder of the Caribbean Society for Biosafety and Biosecurity (CSBB)