Advocacy

Leadership and Transformational Change

The ERG Program and its partners are committed to building awareness of biosafety, biosecurity, and the importance of safe research practices through outreach and advocacy. Experts from the ERG Program regularly present on these topics to diverse institutional, national, and international audiences. Topics include:

  • The history of the program and the importance of promoting safe research practices, including Beth’s story;
  • The life-saving importance of connectivity amongst all stakeholders in research;
  • The potential risks and benefits of rapidly changing global research capacities;
  • Motivational presentations to laboratory animal research workers on the importance of safe work practices; and
  • The importance of management and leadership in promoting a culture of safe research.
Jim Welch speaks at a seminar at Georgetown University

Occupational Medicine

Unlike traditional workplace accidents, biological or zoonotic exposures may result in delayed onset, often manifesting as symptoms associated with more common ailments, and individuals may not connect their disease/health condition with their work. As a result, potentially lethal laboratory-acquired conditions which are rare in the general population, and can often be mitigated or reduced with immediate, life-saving intervention, are sometimes undiagnosed, leading to death or debilitating illness.

We support efforts to provide professional growth opportunities for occupational medicine providers who serve workers in research and laboratory environments where there is a risk of biological zoonotic disease exposures. We strongly encourage research institutions and organizations to include their occupational medicine providers in the design of research protocols to integrate safety into planning, so that prevention measures, medical surveillance, and response to exposure (the best support or response) can be planned in advance.

ERGP-CGHSS will carry on the legacy of the ERG Foundation in partnering with the Eagleson Institute, the US CDC, and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in organizing an annual professional colloquium for health care providers and other interested parties that serve the biological /agricultural research community.

Global Health Security

Both the ERG Foundation and GU-CGHSS are founding members of the Global Health Security Agenda Consortium in the U.S. ERGP-CGHSS continues to promote awareness of the Global Health Security Agenda’s objectives to accelerate implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR) and to strengthen global capacities to prevent, detect, and respond effectively to infectious disease threats.