Thanks to a generous new grant of $1.9 million from the Open Philanthropy Project, the
Nuclear Threat Initiative biosecurity program (NTI |
bio) will expand its efforts to counter global catastrophic
biological risks over the next three years.
Dr. Jaime Yassif will join
the NTI | bio team as a Senior Fellow to implement new projects funded by this
grant. Her work will focus on activities to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention, reduce
biological threats from powerful actors, and foster international dialogue and
action to reduce catastrophic biological risks.
“We appreciate this support from the Open Philanthropy Project
to expand NTI’s work to better understand and reduce high consequence and catastrophic
global biological risks. In a changing and
increasingly fragmented world, we need to vastly improve our capability to identify
and prevent biological events that could cause dramatic global consequences,”
said NTI Vice President of Global Biological Policy and Programs Elizabeth
Cameron. “We look forward to welcoming Jaime Yassif to the NTI | bio team as a
Senior Fellow, where she will be an excellent addition to our growing
biosecurity effort.”
This grant follows grants made to NTI by the Open Philanthropy
Project in October 2017 and July 2018 to improve biosecurity and foster a
Global Health Security Index.
The Open Philanthropy Project identifies
outstanding giving opportunities, awards grants, tracks the results, and
publishes the findings. Its mission is to give effectively and share findings
openly so that others may build on them. One of the Project’s focus areas is
global catastrophic risks including biosecurity and pandemic preparedness.
The
Nuclear Threat Initiative works to
protect our lives, environment, and quality of life now and for future
generations. We work to prevent catastrophic attacks with weapons of mass
destruction and disruption (WMDD)—nuclear, biological, radiological, chemical,
and cyber.
More about NTI’s biosecurity program can be found at www.nti.org/bio.
Media Contact: Cathy Gwin, 202-454-7706, [email protected]
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