Local and international speakers participated in a two-day virtual workshop organised by the Biomedical Research Center (BRC) at Qatar University (QU) on “Biosafety and Biosecurity Capacity Building: To Boost Laboratory & Occupation Safety Practices Across Qatar”.

The aim was providing diversified training content on biosafety and biosecurity principles, promoting biosafety ethics among students and professionals in Qatar, as well as enhancing the communication and collaboration between Qatari stakeholders.

The content of the workshop covered biosafety and biosecurity in different laboratories and clinical settings, including COVID-19 risk management in health care workers, and transforming occupational risk into occupational protection and identifying the risk of shared accommodation. In addition, it covered administrative implementation of biosafety and biosecurity consideration on handling animals, biosafety and the environment, and the latest advances in biosafety and biosecurity technologies and facilities designs.

Sixteen experts from various disciplines and backgrounds, including virology, microbiology, nuclear physics, medicine, dentistry, public health, biomedical engineering, health and safety, and more, participated in the workshop. The workshop hosted both local and international speakers, representing different universities, governmental institutions and private sectors, including University of Cyberjaya (Malaysia), Hamad bin Khalifa University, ministry of public health, ministry of municipality and environment, hamad medical corporation, Al-Balagh trading and contracting, and others.

This workshop is an example of the special attention that Qatar University pays into national research capacity-building, encouraging talents, building local and international partnerships, keeping pace with technological development and modern research trends, in addition to increasing training opportunities, improving policies and procedures, and providing various forms of aid and services for research projects. Furthermore, this workshop presented the efforts and talents that enrich the academic units and research centers at Qatar University, equipped with the best requirements and staffed with distinguished specialists.

In a world of prodigious uncertainty, threats to biosecurity and biosafety is a challenge to the integrity of populations. Advances in technology and science, the progress of globalization, the emergence of new diseases, aw wells as the changing nature of conflict have augmented the risks posed by human-made and naturally occurring biological threats.

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