Call summary :

Total Funding Ceiling: $15,000,000
Anticipated Number of Awards: 5 (five)
Period of Performance: 15 months

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ISN/CTR’s Biosecurity Engagement Program (BEP) seeks to mitigate global biological threats by securing and/or protecting against the misuse of high consequence pathogens, synthetic biological materials, biotechnologies, genomic data, life sciences research, laboratory infrastructure, and related equipment for biological weapons (BW) purposes, and helping foreign partners develop biosecurity policy, guidance and technical capabilities at the national and regional levels to promote the adoption or compliance with international best practices and frameworks that advance U.S. biological nonproliferation objectives.
BEP will support projects that engage foreign government organizations, biological research and biotechnology laboratories, central and regional health and agriculture laboratories, bio- and data repositories, universities, science and technology organizations or academies, biosafety associations or similar professional associations, and private industry. Within these organizations, BEP projects will engage government leadership, laboratory managers, technicians and similar staff, data and IT managers, research scientists, epidemiologists, policy makers, first responders, forensic scientists, academic researchers and administration, professors, and students....

A.3. Project Goal
Mitigate global biological threats by securing and/or protecting against the misuse of high consequence pathogens, synthetic biological materials, biotechnologies, genomic data, life sciences research, laboratory infrastructure, and related equipment for BW purposes.

A.4. Objectives
BEP will support projects that build partner capacity and advance BEP’s mission by accomplishing at least one of the below objectives within the award’s period of performance. Recipients shall leverage relevant subject matter experts within the submitting organization or in partnership with other applicants to create, develop, and implement projects.
- Enhance partners’ risk assessment capacity to identify and mitigate biosecurity gaps in laboratories and bio- and data repositories. BEP programs will build risk assessment capacity by training foreign partners in risk assessment methodologies, developing and deploying risk assessment tools, and implementing small grants to immediately mitigate biosecurity gaps found during risk assessments. Mitigation options will include establishing biosecurity standard operating procedures; procuring and installing security enhancements; and biosecurity or insider threat training. Partners trained in risk assessment will be responsible for training others on
risk assessment and for advocating for better risk management across their
institutions and/or across their governments.
- Engage the synthetic biology, toxicology, and genomic research communities to build institutional mechanisms to ensure safe, secure, and responsible conduct of these life sciences. BEP programs will strengthen security of synthetic biology, toxicology, and genomic research and related data by raising awareness of proliferation threats associated with this research, training partners on due diligence practices to review prospective research partnerships (e.g., know-your-collaborator, KYC), and establishing comprehensive systems for research oversight at the institutional and national levels.
- Establish national control measures for bio- and genomic data security, including policies with oversight, enforcement, and/or reporting mechanisms. BEP programs will help partners to establish national level bio- and genomic data security policy and guidance, pathogen control measures such as select agent lists, and oversight and enforcement capacity for these frameworks.
- Promote BRM certification internationally. BEP programs will support foreign partners from across all regions to be trained on BRM and to take internationally recognized certification exams or similar forms of professional development.
- Prevent cybersecurity threats in biological laboratories, including facilities handling genomic data or relying on laboratory automation, by decreasing vulnerabilities and promoting adoption of effective risk mitigation options. BEP programs will train laboratory staff, IT managers, procurement managers, and laboratory decision makers on cybersecurity threats and risks within biological laboratories to protect sensitive biological research, data, databases, and laboratory facilities and equipment against illicit or unauthorized access, theft, tampering, or other forms of misuse. BEP programs will also support cyber hygiene training to promote security best practices.
- Increase partnership with professional associations to sustainably develop and