On 4 November 2020, UNICRI, in cooperation with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), held the 4th INB virtual meeting of the International Network on Biotechnology (INB). Network partners participating in the meeting represented universities and research institutes from 11 countries.
The meeting provided an occasion to update participants about recent developments related to the INB. The meeting also presented an opportunity for Network Partners to exchange views and develop proposals on two priority topics: approaches to integrate mandatory biosafety and biosecurity courses/modules into university curricula and communication strategies to reach governments and senior decision makers.
During the meeting, Mr. Dmitriy Nikonov offered an overview of the International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN), a partnership through which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), educational and research institutions, as well as other stakeholders cooperate to promote sustainable nuclear security education.
Dr. Ali Atoui from the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Lebanon and Prof. Anila Paparisto from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Tirana presented two case studies on how courses on biosecurity were introduced for the first time into the Lebanese and Albanian university curricula.
Dr. Gunnar Jeremias, Head of Interdisciplinary Research Group for the Analysis of Biological Risk (INFABRI) at the Universität Hamburg in Germany, analysed opportunities, challenges and lessons learnt related to the integration of mandatory biosafety and biosecurity courses and modules into university curricula in Germany.
Finally, Prof. André Khoury from Saint Joseph University Beirut in Lebanon described the importance of social media in Lebanon during COVID-19 and offered some practical measures to debunk fake news.
@Photo by Prasesh Shiwakoti (Lomash)
