The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the significant demand on the biosafety and biosecurity profession and many countries face an overall shortage of these specialized individuals. To address this gap, the IFBA is leading a multisectoral effort towards a future sustainable workforce by formalizing a biosafety & biosecurity career path within the higher education system. The development of this new BSc. undergraduate program is an important step forward to solving the overall global shortage of these professionals. This multisectoral, collaborative approach to building capacity through education is long-term, creating the biosafety and biosecurity professionals of the future. We must continue to forge strong partnerships across sectors to create a universal call to action for biosafety and biosecurity education as a formal degree program in higher learning institutions. Now is the right time to seize the opportunity and lessons learned from the recent pandemic to boldly reimagine and reboot the biosafety and biosecurity profession.
Click here to read the IFBA’s white paper “Addressing the Global Shortage of Biosafety & Biosecurity Professionals through Education: Establishment of a New Undergraduate Degree Program”
The IFBA is grateful for the funding support provided by the Weapons Threat Reduction Program of Global Affairs Canada, Pandemic Tech, NuAire and Germfree for this project.