October was National Biosafety Month and CSU “Clean out Your Freezer” Month!

November 11, 2017
For the fourth consecutive year, the NIH Office of Science Policy (OSP) designated October as National Biosafety Month. National Biosafety Month (NBM) is a time for institutions to promote a greater awareness of the importance of biosafety, and to examine and strengthen their own biosafety programs. Each year the NIH has promoted a different theme for NBM. This year’s theme was “promoting biosafety through good governance.” Biosafety governance protects researchers, students, staff and the community. CSU has a robust biosafety governance structure providing oversight of campus research activities. This is facilitated at three levels:

1. CSU, as an institution, has made a commitment to biosafety by developing and adopting institutional biosafety policies and procedures (CSU Biosafety Policy).
2. The CSU Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) reviews and approves research involving biohazardous materials; the CSU Biosafety Office (BSO) advises on safety practices (including those research endeavors involving microbiologic agents at the Risk Group -1, -2 and -3 levels, and recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acid research) and conducts facilities inspections/audits.
3. CSU researchers (of all levels, from the senior faculty to the undergraduates) share in fostering a culture of responsibility by knowing the requirements and guidelines, obtaining proper training, and reporting laboratory incidents.

The framework of biosafety oversight at CSU is reliant on these 3 tiers. While this framework is founded on federal regulations, guidelines, and policies, this tiered process demonstrates that a collaborative effort of everyone within the research community is required to make our University biosafety program successful.

Chaoping Chen, IBC Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, views our biosafety program as “a collective team effort from the principle investigators and research personnel at CSU, who are the front-runners of day to day research activities, along with the CSU oversight infrastructure, i.e., the IBC and BSO under the Vice President for Research (VPR), which has made CSU a safe place to make innovative and inspiring discoveries.”

As part of the CSU Biosafety Stewardship Initiative which began in 2014, October was also “Clean out Your Freezer” month at CSU. What started as a call to action from NIH and USDA in response to a few incidents at the Federal level has turned into a yearly campaign at CSU to encourage researchers to keep laboratory freezers clean and inventories up to date.

“I am proud that CSU embraced the biosafety stewardship initiative as an opportunity to continue to foster a culture of thoughtful, responsive, local governance that would engage all 3 tiers, from the institution to the individual researcher, in an annual review of its processes and policies,” said Karen Dobos, Director of Research Integrity and Compliance Review Office (RICRO) and Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Pathology.

A poster contest has been held annually to engage the research community and help advertise “Clean out Your Freezer” Month at CSU. The contest is sponsored by RICRO, BSO and VPR, and calls upon participants to create a design that will bring attention to the importance of keeping laboratory freezers clean and inventoried, and to inspire people to take action. This year’s winning poster was submitted by Mary Nehring (photo attached), a Research Associate from Dr. VandeWoude’s Lab in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology. Mary’s poster, along with tips for cleaning and maintaining laboratory freezers can be found at the CSU Biosafety Stewardship Initiative webpage.

Bob Ellis, CSU Biosafety Director and Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Pathology, assures us all that “The Biosafety Office is ready and willing at any time to assist the CSU research community with their inquiries regarding ongoing laboratory biosafety. Biosafety stewardship is emphasized during October, but is a continuous effort to ensure we conduct our research safely, for the sake of our laboratory personnel, our CSU community and the community around us. You can contact the Biosafety Office at any time by calling 491-0270.”

Although another successful National Biosafety Month has come to an end, our efforts to improve our biosafety program continue throughout the year. Have an interest in biosafety? Want to help promote biosafety awareness? To find out ways to get involved contact: RICRO_IBC@mail.colostate.edu.