The International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA) welcomes its continued work with Germfree Laboratories in a series of new initiatives with a collaborative approach to sustainable global biosafety. This collaboration acknowledges the multifaceted nature of global biosafety systems and strategies, where both human and engineered determinants of health security must be addressed to achieve their effective implementation over the long term.

With Germfree’s legacy of scientific innovation to advance global health, this collaboration continues to serve the global community through capacity-building and implementation of a network of sustainable laboratories in resource limited countries. Germfree and IFBA continue their shared projects, informing the international community of best practices towards risk-based laboratory facilities that are engineered to be energy efficient, durable, cost-effective and locally maintained. Commitment to the effective design and implementation of sustainable laboratories is advanced under this new collaboration.

Germfree and IFBA seek to address the complementary human factors of this approach in supporting professional community-based initiatives such as the IFBA Equity-Focused Coordinating Committee (IFBA ECC). The IFBA ECC engages with and promotes underrepresented groups in global biosafety, including women and youth, achieving quantifiable outcomes towards the diversity, equity, and inclusion required for universalization of best biosafety and biosecurity practices worldwide. Germfree and IFBA’s support of the IFBA ECC and other shared work aims to build a future biosafety workforce with technical competency and skillsets which equip them with the ability to collaborate across sectors, disciplines, and regions to solve global biosafety’s most complex issues.

To learn more about IFBA partnerships with the private sector, click here.