IFBA ECC Member (Mexico)

Organization: Mexican Biosafety Association (AMEXBIO)

Current Field/Position: I am the current president of the Mexican Biosafety Association. I have been working in this field for more than a decade, helping professionals improve workplace safety and build institutional capacity. I used to work at InDRE, the reference institute for epidemiological issues in Mexico, where I made an important contribution regarding response logistics during the H1N1 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the core of AMEXBIO and I worked together to concentrate the more stable and critical knowledge around the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the COVID-19 illness, ISO normativity, human factors, and other important aspects into discussions held during the XII International Symposium of Biosafety and Biosecurity. This symposium was delivered virtually and in Spanish, and present collaborations are focused on translating symposium content and outcomes into English. We are also presently engaged with biosafety and other professional associations in the region to disseminate important technical knowledge.

Special Interests: I am very interested in strengthening biosecurity in developing countries, including personnel training initiatives. It is important to develop biosafety culture in such a way that it permeates through all levels of an institution, and protecting the most vulnerable workers. The establishment of this culture should include education about biosafety and biosecurity at all levels.

What Attracted You to the ECC?: Sustainable and effective implementation of global and regional biosafety and biosecurity strategies and systems must take inclusivity into account. Women, youth, and other underrepresented groups across global biosafety and biosecurity landscapes must be included in decision-making processes to design and implement strategies which protect entire populations, including those most vulnerable to outbreaks or proliferation.