Member Highlights

Happy Biomedical Research Awareness Day (BRAD)! Today the RAV3N network shares in honoring the animals involved in research and recognizing the critical role of animals in medical advances for both humans and animals. Thank you to all individuals who care for the animals, making research possible.

The RAV3N Biocontainment Laboratory Network recently partnered with ABSA International and Gryphon Scientific to hold an applied biosafety and biorisk gap assessment workshop. Global subject matter experts were tasked with identifying and describing topic areas where the lack of applicable data or experiential evidence is an obstacle to improving our understanding of biorisk management and biosafety practices.  Once potential gap areas were identified, the participants outlined and prioritized them into a list and suggested applied research that could be undertaken to address them. The report of the workshop findings will be published with the intention of providing expert recommendations to policy-makers and funding agencies for resource allocation to ensure that biorisk management practices, guidance, and regulations for containment laboratories are based on the best available science. This workshop was co-sponsored by USDA and US Department of State.

The University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) has been unanimously accepted as the first and only international organization in the Research Alliance for Veterinary Science and Biodefense BSL-3 Network (RAV3N), a partnership of 18 United States-based large biocontainment facilities focused on veterinary infectious diseases.

By Katie Pawlosky, National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Communications Director, November 2022

The Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch is proud to introduce Infectious Science, a podcast about new and emerging diseases and the One Health research to understand and prevent their spread. Since the COVID pandemic, public interest in this topic has grown. That excites us, because we are researchers, educators and community members who believe public health can be improved through knowledge.

The USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, opened its new research facility during a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the U.S. National Poultry Research Center. The new research facility will increase the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory staff's capabilities to respond to highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks as they provide research information for eradication and control, as well as data for control of Newcastle disease, reoviruses, infectious bursal disease, Marek's disease, and other exotic and emerging viruses of poultry and other birds.