Pandora Report 8.22.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

This week’s Pandora Report includes discussion of the twelfth anniversary of the sarin gas attack in the Ghouta district of Damascus, ODNI 2.0, avian influenza, new immunization guidance from ACOG and AAP, and more.

12th Anniversary of the Ghouta Sarin Attack

This week marks the twelfth anniversary of the Assad regime’s sarin gas attack on civilians in the Ghouta district of Damascus in 2013. The attack killed more than 1,400 people, many of whom were children. The Assad regime refused to cooperate with OPCW investigations into the attack, and it did not fully declare nor eliminate its CW program. While the interim authorities in Syria have been much more cooperative, concerns about inconsistencies and incomplete disclosures by Syria persist.

Further Reading:

NCBC, Other ODNI Centers Set to Be Restructured in “ODNI 2.0”

A recent fact sheet released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) explains that the current Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, is “transforming” ODNI “to eliminate redundant missions, functions and personnel, and bolster areas that need resources to support the President’s national intelligence priorities.” The document explains in its introduction that, “Part of this effort includes refocusing functions within the Foreign Malign Influence Center, the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, and integrating core functions and expertise from those offices into ODNI’s Mission Integration (MI) and the National Intelligence Council (NIC).”

The section discussing the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center (NCBC) states that NCBC is redundant because elements within the NIC monitor intelligence related to WMD proliferation. It also discusses NCBC’s transformation from the National Counterproliferation Center to its current form during the COVID-19 pandemic. It concludes by stating, “Since that time, it has become apparent that taking action to address global health issues falls well outside of ODNI’s core mission.” The fact sheet later states that, “Descoping NCBC will save taxpayers approximately $29 million per year.”

The first issue here is the implication that the NIC can absorb and effectively continue the work NCBC does. While the NIC does consist of National Intelligence Officers who are experts on different regional and functional issues, it is unclear how the NIC would manage coordination of WMD and global health-focused intelligence at the scale NCBC has been. Furthermore, global health threats only continue to grow, and the administration’s rollbacks on programs that help address climate change, improve public health, and provide access to medical care will only worsen these threats.

The tax dollars saved by this move are also debatable. According to a report from the The Heritage Foundation that was created under the leadership of John Ratcliffe (who served as DNI during the first Trump administration and is the current Director of the CIA), the COVID-19 pandemic cost the United States $18 trillion in economic damage. The $29 million ODNI will allegedly save per year by rescoping NCBC is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of being caught off guard by a global health threat like that of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, IC agencies are also reporting on these threats, but $29 million per year to help coordinate and integrate IC activities focused on emerging threats and challenges in counterproliferation and global health security seems like a much better and cheaper option than the risk of going without.

Some other points of interest outlined in the fact sheet include transferring the National Intelligence University’s programs to the National Defense University, the claim that NIC’s Strategic Futures Group was used by “the Intelligence Community’s deep state…to push a partisan political agenda,” the statement that “DNI Gabbard directed the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) to identify and invest in actionable solutions to address near-term gaps and problems in the IC, rather than investing in long-term concepts that may or may not be relevant to IC mission demands,” plans to close several offices, expansion of intelligence sharing between the National Counterterrorism Center and lower-level authorities, security clearance reform, and a portion boasting about firing 500 staffers from ODNI since the new administration began.

Further Reading:

Supreme Court Allows Nearly $800 Million in NIH Grant Cuts to Proceed

This week, a divided Supreme Court agreed 5-4 to pause a ruling made by a Reagan-appointed federal judge requiring the federal government to continue making payments on $783 million in NIH grants for the study of diseases in minority, gay, and transgender communities. The administration argued that the research was unscientific, did not improve health, provided little ROI, and went against President Trump’s efforts to eliminate initiatives related to DEI. Chief Justice Roberts joined Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson in voting against the administration.

The court did also vote 5-4 to maintain the federal judge’s ruling that had thrown out internal NIH guidance documents that described the agency’s policy priorities. Justice Barrett joined the four justices listed above in voting to leave the lower court’s ruling on these documents in place.

Justice Jackson criticized her colleagues sharply, calling the ruling to terminate NIH funding “Calvinball jurisprudence with a twist,” further saying, “Calvinball has only one rule: There are no fixed rules. We seem to have two: that one, and this Administration always wins.”

The lawsuits in question were filed in April by two groups of plaintiffs. One is comprised of 16 states whose universities receive NIH funding, and the other is made up of the American Public Health Association, researchers, a union, and a reproductive health advocacy group. The plaintiffs contend in their suits that the termination of groups violated both the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act.

In their court filings, the plaintiffs explain that NIH cut more than 1,700 grants in just a few months, arguing that the cuts go beyond what is typically understood as relating to DEI. They point to impacted research that includes studies of cardiovascular health in the rural South, ways to reduce disparities in kidney disease, connections between traffic-related pollution and dementia-related diseases, COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy, and the health effects of climate change.

Further Reading:

Stressful Week at CDC as Shooting Aftermath Coincides with More Termination Notices, New Information on Attacker

An email sent to all CDC employees by the CDC security team this week revealed that the shooter who targeted the agency’s main campus in Atlanta on August 8 explained that he had tried to enter the campus two days prior to the shooting. This information was revealed shortly after hundreds of CDC employees received final termination notices. Employees told The Washington Post that the layoffs, new information about the shooter and his apparent motivations, and the shooting itself have all compounded the stress those working at CDC are feeling.

The shooting prompted current and former HHS employees to sign a letter this week accusing Secretary Kennedy of endangering the lives of employees and the public by dismantling public health infrastructure, sowing public mistrust by questioning the integrity and morality of CDC’s workforce (including calling CDC a “cesspool of corruption”), spreading vaccine and health misinformation, and haphazardly firing CDC employees. The letter currently has more than 3,700 signatures.

Further Reading:

Updates on Immunization Guidance

AAP Breaks from ACIP on Vaccine Recommendations

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released this week its own evidence-based immunization schedule, breaking from recent recommendations made by CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). In a statement about its new guidance, AAP said, “Since its founding in 1930, the American Academy of Pediatrics has been a leading voice in vaccine recommendations, creating evidence-based guidance to support pediatricians in caring for children and families. The schedule published Tuesday continues in this tradition. It differs from recent recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC, which was overhauled this year and replaced with individuals who have a history of spreading vaccine misinformation.”

Just hours after AAP published this, Secretary Kennedy attacked the group, accusing it of engaging in a “pay-to-play scheme to promote commercial ambitions of AAP’s Big Pharma benefactors.” Kennedy criticized AAP’s recommendation that children between six and 23 months receive COVID-19 vaccines, suggesting that the recommendation was made because of financial contributions from Pfizer and Moderna.

A spokesperson for HHS accused AAP of “freelancing its own recommendations, while smearing those who demand accountability,” in a statement to the press this week. AAP President Susan J. Kressly defended her organization’s guidance, saying that the recommendations were “based only in the science, the needs of children, and the care that pediatricians have for the children in every community.”

ACOG Releases Updated Maternal Immunization Guidance for COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released today updated clinical guidance for vaccination during pregnancy for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. The three new documents all recommend maternal immunization and “lay out the full body of current scientific evidence that underscores the safety and benefits of choosing to be vaccinated against these respiratory conditions during pregnancy.”

ACOG President Steven J. Fleischman said in a statement about the guidance, “It is well documented that respiratory conditions can cause poor outcomes during pregnancy, with pregnant women facing both severe illness and threats to the health of their pregnancy. Thanks to vaccines, severe outcomes from respiratory infections are largely preventable. ACOG’s updated respiratory guidance documents repeat what we have long known: that vaccines continue to be the best tool available for pregnant patients to protect themselves and their infants from these viruses.”

Secretary Kennedy announced in May that the CDC will no longer recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy pregnant women. This prompted widespread backlash, with many professional organizations, state and local health authorities, and providers continuing to recommend the vaccine for pregnant people. Secretary Kennedy’s ACIP appointees voted to recommend both adults and children no longer receive influenza vaccines that use the preservative thimerosal. The body did vote to add RSV options to recommendations, though some members did cast doubt on the safety of coadministration of RSV vaccines to children alongside other vaccines, despite CDC data indicating the safety of doing so.

Further Reading:

Avian Influenza Updates

By Margeaux Malone, Pandora Report Associate Editor 

Preparing for Fall: H5N1 Research and Surveillance Target Multiple Species

Although we continue to see avian influenza cases lull between spring and fall waterfowl migration seasons, multiple developments this week underscore that preparedness efforts are anything but dormant. The current calm provides valuable time for research investments and policy preparations that may prove critical when viral activity inevitably increases with fall migration patterns.

Major Research Investments Announced in Swine

The Swine Health Information Center, Pork Checkoff, and Foundation for Foods & Agriculture Research announced funding for 10 new H5N1 research projects in pigs, as part of their joint H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program. The projects, totaling $2.1 million in funding, will be conducted across various U.S. universities to address multiple areas of interest related to bird flu in swine including vaccine development and cross-protection, introduction and transmission risks, potential for mammary transmission, diagnostic surveillance, and biosecurity practices. This represents a critical knowledge gap, as pigs can serve as “mixing vessels” for influenza viruses due to their susceptibility to both avian and human strains. All of the projects were started this summer and are expected to run 12 to 18 months. The results will be shared with veterinarians and swine producers “as soon as they become available” to allow for informed decision-making and timely implementation of protective measures in swine herds.

Dairy Industry Calls for Unified Response

A comprehensive review in the Journal of Dairy Science emphasizes that controlling H5N1 will require a coordinated effort across the dairy sector using a One Health approach that considers the intersection of animal, human, and environmental health. Dr. Jason Lombard, lead author and veterinarian from Colorado State University, explains, “The H5N1 outbreak in dairy cattle is unlike anything we have seen before—it has an exceptional ability to spread between farms and among cows within a farm—and is the first time an infectious disease of this magnitude has affected the US dairy sector in nearly 100 years. It has revealed challenges we still haven’t solved in our ability to detect, report, and manage new diseases.” In the review, the authors emphasize three key policy recommendations: declare H5N1 a public health emergency with mandatory (free!) ongoing nationwide testing of representative samples in dairy and beef cattle, expand CDC’s wastewater surveillance program for H5N1, and make vaccines available to any potentially exposed workers with a plan for nationwide distribution.

CDC Looking to Connect with Backyard Flock Owners

Despite CDC’s decision in July to scale back H5N1 updates and halt reporting of animal detections on their website, the agency has not stopped its surveillance and engagement efforts related to bird flu. CDC recently opened an anonymous survey intended for backyard flock owners, seeking to better understand how bird flu impacts this community and to help strengthen prevention strategies. The 10-15 minute survey covers flock characteristics, owners’ knowledge of bird flu symptoms in both birds and humans, perceived risks to their flocks, attitudes toward protective measures like vaccination, and current biosecurity practices. Backyard flocks represent an important component of the bird flu overall surveillance picture, as human cases have occurred among those exposed to non-commercial flocks as well as in dairy and commercial poultry workers. The URL link to the survey can be found here and questions can be directed to h5flustudy@cdc.gov.

Further Reading:

Other Relevant Happenings

New Details on Unit 731

Recall Issued for Frozen Shrimp in 13 States for Potential Radioactive Contamination

32,000 Lbs of Meat Products Recalled for Falsely Using FDA Inspection Labels

21 People Infected with E. Coli After Consuming Raw Milk in Florida

“Ensuring Security Against Biological Weapons in a Changing World”

From WOAH: “In an age where global conflict is nuanced and highly complex, animals can become a target for criminal networks, terrorist groups and other non-state actors. While the connection between conflict and intentionally released biological agents is nothing new, today’s intersecting challenges demand transformative action from across sectors to prepare for an unpredictable future.”

Read more here.

“Exploring the Offense-Defense Balance of Biology”

From the RAND Corporation: “As advancements in synthetic biology and related enabling technologies lower barriers to both pathogen engineering and pharmaceutical development, it is important to understand how these advances shift the balance between attackers and defenders. This high-level qualitative assessment identifies four asymmetries likely to favor attackers (kinetic considerations, financial burden, threat surface, and consequences of failure) and one likely to favor defenders (access to knowledge and materials).”

“This paper does not include the quantitative analysis necessary to fully assess the offense-defense balance in biology but does lay essential groundwork for future research. The identification of four out of five asymmetries favoring attackers suggests that biology currently confers a distinct advantage to attackers. Although the current asymmetry in access to knowledge and materials favors defenders, this advantage may be difficult to maintain as biotechnology becomes cheaper, more accessible, and decentralized.”

“To mitigate rising risks, defenders can pursue strategic interventions that tilt the balance in their favor. These include streamlining regulatory pathways for pharmaceutical countermeasures, investing in pathogen-agnostic defenses, and applying the principle of differential technology development—intentionally accelerating innovations that disproportionately enhance defensive resilience. By understanding and addressing these asymmetries, policymakers can better navigate both safeguarding public health and sustaining scientific progress.”

“Enhancing Transparency for Bioscience Research and Development”

From NIT: “Rapid advances in modern bioscience and biotechnology are providing researchers with powerful new tools to drive breakthroughs in human health, climate resilience, and economic development. However, these advances are also accompanied by risks of deliberate misuse. The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)—now in its 50th year—embodies the global norm against biological weapons development and use and is the main international treaty that guards against these risks. While vital, the BWC is constrained by a lack of robust mechanisms for assessing compliance. Now is the time to address this gap by taking action to enhance transparency in life science research. Transparency can build trust between nations, increase the opportunity cost of developing biological weapons, and strengthen capabilities to detect covert biological weapons programs. To enhance transparency in bioscience research and development and to build confidence in compliance with the BWC norm against developing and using biological weapons, this report puts forward six concrete and actionable recommendations.”

“This moment is marked by both the breakneck speed of life science advances and a political opening within the BWC to reopen decades-long stalled discussions on confidence-building, transparency, compliance, and verification. Governments, industry, nongovernmental organizations, and academia should work together to enhance transparency in life science research, fostering innovation and its societal benefits while also building trust that it is not being exploited to cause harm.”

“The 1925 Geneva Protocol: The League of Nations’ Only Arms Control Agreement”

Jean Pascal Zanders recently published this working paper as part of a series on the history of CBW: “On Wednesday, 17 June 1925, the Conference for the Supervision of the International Traffic in Arms successfully concluded six weeks of negotiations with three agreements. One of them was the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare. Of the forty-four participating delegations, twenty-six possessed plenipotentiary power to sign the Protocol before the closing of the Conference. Another twelve states affixed their signatures and ratified the document before its general entry into force on 8 February 1928. As of June 2025, 147 states are party to the Geneva Protocol, as the legal instrument is commonly known.”

“Despite being a mere single-page long, the agreement has limited the use of chemical weapons (CW) in armed conflicts and all but prevented the deliberate spread of disease as a method of warfare. Being part of the laws of war, it did not forbid the development, production and possession of chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons (CBW). Still, it paved the way for the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). In addition, it provides the legal foundation for the UN Secretary-General’s Mechanism to investigate alleged CBW use. The 1998 Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, uses Protocol language to declare CW use a war crime. (A later amendment added BW use to the list of war crimes but utilised the reference to biological and bacteriological agents in the BTWC.)”

“While today nobody contests the Geneva Protocol’s contribution to the development of the norm against CBW, little is known about the factors that contributed to its emergence and negotiation. Why was the document a protocol and not a treaty? Given the supposed widespread abhorrence against CW after the massive and systematic use of gas during the First World War, why did it take almost seven years for the international community to translate this repugnance into a global ban? Why did the centuries-old customary prohibition of poison use, codified for the first time at the 1899 Hague Convention and restated at the 1907 Hague Convention, no longer suffice? How did the negotiators, seemingly out of nowhere, decide to include disease as a method of warfare in the Protocol? This issue of Historical Studies aims to answer these and many other questions.”

Read more about this paper and series on Zanders’ website, The Trench, here.

NEW: Next Gen Biosecurity Game Changers Seminar: Regional Policies for Mitigating Risks Associated with AI-enabled Biodesign

From Brown Pandemic Center: “On August 27th at 11:00 AM ET, join the fourth event in a seminar series hosted by the Pandemic Center Biosecurity Game Changers Fellows: Regional Policies for Mitigating Risks Associated with AI-enabled Biodesign.”

“Convened and moderated by and intended for early-to-mid-career professionals, the Game Changers Seminar Series shines a spotlight on major challenges that will confront the next generation of biosecurity leaders and impactful next steps that can be taken to lean forward faster to prevent biological crises.”

Learn more and register here.

Mission Critical: How One Hospital Maintained Operations and Protected Patients and Staff After Hurricane Helene

From ASPR TRACIE: “In September 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing historic flooding, tornadoes, and widespread infrastructure damage across the Southeastern U.S. Despite total utility failures, road closures, and supply shortages, Mission Health—comprised of six acute care hospitals in the Western North Carolina region—successfully maintained critical operations, protected patients and staff, and continued providing essential services.”

“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (ASPR TRACIE) invite you to learn more about this webinar featuring HCA Healthcare representatives. They will share lessons learned, including how leadership made key decisions to sustain operations, secure essential resources, ensure patient and staff safety, and expand support to the surrounding community. Learn how strong leadership, planning, and adaptability enabled a comprehensive and resilient response during and after the storm.”

This event will take place on August 27, 12:30-1:45 PM ET. Register here.

Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – A Workshop Series

From NASEM: “The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) will convene an ad hoc planning committee to organize a workshop series with international scientists. The series will engage early-career and established experts to: a) examine dual-use risks in biotechnology research; b) explore potential misuse of knowledge, tools, and materials; c) review existing frameworks for assessing and mitigating dual-use concerns; and d) identify steps to reduce exploitation while promoting responsible innovation. The workshops will focus on balancing scientific progress with security considerations. Key insights and recommendations will be compiled in a publicly available workshop proceedings document.”

These workshops will take place 10 am-1 pm ET on September 10, 17, and 18. Register here.

CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

Mirror Image Biology: Pushing the Envelope in Designing Biological Systems – A Workshop

From NASEM: “Most biological molecules are chiral entities where their mirror images have different structures and functional characteristics. Scientists have begun synthesizing left-handed DNA and RNA and creating proteins that can write left-handed nucleic acids. This, and other related research, is described as “mirror biology” and includes research toward creating mirror-image self-replicating living systems. The National Academies will host a foundational workshop on mirror biology, focusing on the state of the science, trends in research and development, risks and benefits of this research, and considerations relating for future governance of relevant enabling technologies.”

This event will take place virtually, September 29-30. Register here.

Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction

From the World Organisation for Animal Health: “In October 2025, WOAH is hosting its third Global Conference, with the goal of galvanising advocacy efforts to manage the rising risk of biological threats from across the world.”

“The Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction – which will take place in Geneva on 28-30 October 2025 – will bring together top minds in the fields of
health-security, emerging technologies, and biothreat reduction policies, from the public and private sectors – to focus on the latest strategies, challenges and innovations in combating biological threats to our interconnected ecosystems.”

“The Conference will bring together approximately 400 participants from different sectors, including animal health, law enforcement and security, public health, international and regional organisations, investment and development partners, private sector and industry representatives, research, academia and regulatory authorities, youth organisations.”

“Attendees will engage in thought-provoking discussions and innovative technical presentations aimed at strengthening prevention, preparedness and response capabilities across the world.”

“The event will be guided by a narrative that traces WOAH’s commitment to biological threat reduction and the increasingly relevant role it plays at the health-security interface. Against the backdrop of an uncertain future, WOAH believes that synergies between sectors can drive positive change – making the world a safer and healthier place. ”

Learn more and register here.

New Call for Experts to Join the Second Term of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO)

“Opening call for applications from 30 July–30 August 2025”

“WHO welcomes expressions of interest for SAGO’s second term 2025-2027 from individuals with significant expertise in one or more of the technical disciplines listed below in order to ensure a multi-disciplinary One Health approach.”

“The call will open from 30 July–30 August 2025, closing at 24:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST; UTC +2) on 30 August 2025. Applications require a Curriculum Vitae, a cover letter, and signed Declaration of Interests form.”

Read more here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

64th ISODARCO Course

From ISODARCO: “In recent years, the global security landscape has become increasingly volatile, shaped by a convergence of geopolitical tensions, technological advancements, and evolving nuclear doctrines. The post-Cold War order that once provided a measure of predictability in global security has eroded. Conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, and strategic competition between major powers have reshaped alliances and strategic postures.”

“At the same time, disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic missiles, and cyber threats – are adding new layers of complexity to both nuclear and conventional deterrence dynamics. These technologies are not only distorting the information landscape but also compressing decision-making timelines and complicating signaling mechanisms, increasing the risk of miscalculation.”

“Effectively managing nuclear escalation risks in this environment will require a combination of innovative diplomacy, technological safeguards, and renewed dialogue mechanisms to rebuild trust, reduce misperceptions, and stabilize strategic relations.”

“The ISODARCO 2026 Winter Course presents an invaluable opportunity for students and experts to discuss and examine these dynamics in depth and explore approaches to re-establishing strategic stability and reducing nuclear dangers in a volatile world.”

This course will take place January 11-18, 2026, in Andalo. Learn more and apply here.

Pandora Report 8.15.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

This week’s Pandora Report covers updates on bird flu, discussion of the shooting at CDC’s main campus in Atlanta, and more.

Avian Influenza Updates

By Margeaux Malone, Pandora Report Associate Editor 

International Bird Flu Outbreaks Signal Ongoing Global Threat

Although only one outbreak of avian influenza has been detected in U.S. commercial poultry since early July at a game bird farm in Pennsylvania, recent international developments underscore that H5N1 bird flu remains far from contained globally.

The United Kingdom is experiencing an unusual summer surge of avian influenza cases with 10 commercial poultry outbreaks reported in two weeks, including recent detections in south west England. Just prior to the spike, the UK had lowered its threat level for farmers after five weeks without any new reported cases. While the surge may be a transient occurrence, it will continue to be monitored closely given that it represents a notable deviation from the typical summer pattern.

Multiple other countries have also noted recent H5 detections in poultry over the last few weeks including Taiwan, Botswana, and Cambodia, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE). Additionally, Chilean researchers recently described the first detection of H5N1 in Antarctica. After sampling over a hundred birds at two different Antarctic locations, eight Adelie penguins and one Atlantic cormorant tested positive via PCR for H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza. Fortunately, no clinical signs of influenza were observed in the positive birds, who continued to exhibit normal foraging behavior even two months after testing. However, this geographic expansion to the world’s most isolated continent potentially adds two more species to the long list of infected animals and highlights the virus’s remarkable ability to spread via migratory bird routes.

The outbreak’s economic ripple effects continue as well. China announced that it has pre-emptively banned Spanish poultry imports following Spain’s August 4 outbreak detection in the Basque region, though Spain notes minimal immediate impact since planned exports hadn’t yet commenced. In April, the two countries signed a protocol for export of certain poultry products from Spain to China. Spanish authorities are now working with WOAH to resolve the outbreak and allow the restrictions to be lifted.

Further Reading:

Shooter Who Blamed COVID-19 Vaccine for Depression, Suicidal Thoughts Attacks CDC Main Campus, Intensifying Scrutiny of Kennedy’s Anti-Vaccine Rhetoric, Criticism of Public Health Agencies

Last Friday, the public health crisis that is gun violence in the US claimed the nation’s premier public health agency as its latest victim. More than 500 casings have been recovered on CDC’s Roybal Campus in Atlanta, with nearly 200 fired at six buildings on the campus, breaking around 150 “blast-resistant” windows. Five firearms were recovered at the scene. The shooter was stopped by CDC security guards before he drove to a shopping area adjacent to the CDC campus and continued to fire.

Thankfully, no CDC employees were killed or physically injured in the attack, though a Georgia police officer was killed by the attacker. Authorities have praised security measures in place at the CDC campus that, in addition to those employed by CDC, had almost 100 children present at the childcare center at the time of the attack.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), a search warrant executed at the shooter’s home resulted in recovery of written documents that are currently being analyzed by GBI Certified Criminal Profilers. GBI reports that the shooter expressed beliefs that indicated his discontent with COVID-19 vaccines, which he blamed for making him depressed and suicidal. Police were called on the shooter three times in the last year in response to his suicidal thoughts. Two calls were made by the shooter’s father, who told police during one of the call’s that the shooter was in possession of a firearm. The other call was made by a crisis line worker. Officer Mark Morgan of the Emory Police Department opened fire while confronting the gunman, though GBI reporting indicates the shooter was not shot by law enforcement. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A DeKalb County policy officer, Officer David Rose, was killed in the line of duty while responding to the shooting. Rose, a Boston native who served four years in the Marine Corps, graduated from the DeKalb County Police Academy at the top of his class earlier this year before being assigned to the North Central Precinct. He leaves behind a wife, two young children, a third child expected later this year, his parents and siblings, and an extended family. He will be honored at the Atlanta’s Finest 5K this weekend, where all proceeds will go towards supporting his family.

This is part of a much broader trend of harassment and attacks targeting public health that has become substantially worse in recent years. Recent studies have documented the pervasive harassment those in public health have experienced since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, little to nothing has been done to address the trauma many in public health continue to endure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with those in the public health workforce more likely to report posttraumatic stress symptoms than those in the general US adult population. The shooting has sparked yet more concern that young professionals will lose interest in working for agencies like CDC or even studying public health in the first place.

Secretary Kennedy made a statement on X regarding the shooting, saying: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the life of officer David Rose. We stand with his wife and three children and the entire CDC family…We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others…We are actively supporting CDC staff on the ground and across the agency. Public health workers show up every day with purpose — even in moments of grief and uncertainty…We honor their service. We stand with them. And we remain united in our mission to protect and improve the health of every American.”

Kennedy did tour the Roybal Campus this week alongside HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neil and CDC Director Susan Monarez. Kennedy also visited the DeKalb County Police Department before meeting with the widow of Officer Rose. Notably, the White House and President Trump have not commented on the shooting.

Kennedy refused to answer a direct question from Scripps News on Monday asking what message he has for CDC employees who worry about the culture of misinformation and skepticism surrounding vaccines. Kennedy insisted, despite what information has been revealed by GBI about the shooter’s motives, that not enough information is known about those motives. He then immediately went on to criticize CDC’s pandemic response, saying in part, “One of the things that we saw during COVID is that the government was overreaching in its efforts to persuade the public to get vaccinated and they were saying things that are not always true.”

Secretary Kennedy has spent years attacking the CDC. For example, in videos from 2013-2019, Kennedy compared CDC’s vaccine work to “fascism” and “child abuse,” describing the agency as a “cesspool of corruption” that he claimed is full of profiteers. Kennedy has also claimed CDC failed to address “the autism epidemic,” comparing it to the Holocaust. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he repeatedly described CDC and other HHS agencies as corrupt while suggesting SARS-CoV-2 is a bioweapon and describing the COVID-19 vaccine as “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”

In July, Kennedy and his newly-appointed members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices cast doubt on the hepatitis B vaccine. In an interview, Kennedy falsely claimed that the CDC conducted a study that found the hepatitis B vaccine increases the risk of autism, and that researchers at CDC hid these findings from the public. This sparked online discourse about an alleged 1,135% increased risk of developing autism as a result of receiving the hepatitis B vaccine. In reality, the study, which was published in Pediatrics in 2003, was a two-phase retrospective cohort study focused on potential links between five vaccines vaccines (including vaccines for hepatitis B, haemophilus influenzae type b, and diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) that used thimerosal as a preservative and neurodevelopmental disorders. No such link was found.

The study, published by Verstraeten et al., included a 1999 abstract presented at the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service conference that year, in which the authors explained that Phase I raw data analysis using the Vaccine Safety Datalink appeared to show an increased risk for non-degenerative neurological disorders with thimerosal-containing vaccines. At a conference in 2000, researchers explained that, during Phase II analysis of the data (using confirmed diagnoses rather than raw data), this potential connection between these vaccines and autism shown in the raw data was not statistically significant.

The study concluded that “No consistent significant associations were found between TCVs and neurodeveloprnental outcomes.” There are, therefore, numerous issues with Kennedy’s claims. For starters, even if there was a statistically significant link between thimerosal containing vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes, this study alone could not specifically link that outcome to the hepatitis B vaccine because it did not only include the hepatitis B vaccine. Furthermore, the notion that the CDC covered this study up is preposterous, least of all given the fact that it was presented at multiple conferences and then published publicly. Verstraeten himself has repeatedly refuted the claim the study was watered down or hidden by CDC. This is all on top of the gross portrayal of people with autism that Kennedy and others rely on in this rhetoric, which has drawn sharp backlash from researchers and autistic people alike.

This kind of rhetoric comes with severe consequences for the health of the public and, as was made abundantly clear by last week’s tragedy, the health and safety of those working for organizations like CDC. Many CDC employees are understandably frustrated by both Kennedy’s response to the shooting and his role in stoking both anti-vaccine sentiments and distrust of the CDC and other public health organizations. One senior CDC official, speaking anonymously, told MSNBC, “The hatred RFK and his allies have spent their lives stoking puts a target on the backs of anyone in public health.”

In a statement regarding the difficulties faced by CDC employees amid the pandemic, rampant misinformation, federal layoffs, and, now, this shooting, one employee said, “It’s just too much. This year has been too much.” Another described the shooting as “the culmination of ongoing animosity toward CDC and the work that we do – not a one-off incident.”

A combined statement made by several relevant professional organizations reads in part, “People choosing public health as a profession are committed to advancing our nation’s health and recognize that good health in every community benefits everyone. It is our hope that all Americans will stand with us to support the vital role that CDC and the entire public health workforce play in supporting safety and well-being in every community. Their expertise and commitment to advancing health deserves all Americans’ unwavering support.”

Further Reading:

Other Relevant Happenings:

Sixth Session of the BWC Working Group Meets

Executive Order Requires Alignment with Administration’s Policy Priorities in Grant-Review Process

Calls for RFK Jr. Impeachment Grow

Prasad Returns to FDA

Further Discussion of HHS’ Decision to Move Away from mRNA Vaccines

Draft of “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy” Obtained by Media Following Delay of Report’s Release

Jellyfish Force Gravelines Nuclear Power Station to Go Offline

“No One in the White House Knows How to Stop Ebola”

Beth Cameron, Jon Finer, and Stephanie Psaki discuss the dismantling of US pandemic preparedness under the current administration in this piece for The Atlantic. They cover changes to the NSC and the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, ongoing changes at CDC and FDA, the closing of USAID and broader reductions in international aid and engagement, evolving biological threats, and how this “self-inflicted” vulnerability impacts the administration’s ability to respond to threats to global health security like Ebola. They summarize the issue pointedly, writing “Put another way: The second Trump administration inherited a playbook, and then pushed out the people who knew how to run the plays.”

“Assessing the Impacts of Technology Maturity and Diffusion on Malicious Biological Agent Development Capabilities”

Barbara Del Castello and Henry H. Willis authored this RAND Corporation Research Report: “In this report, the authors propose and demonstrate a method to measure changes in threats associated with emerging technologies in the life sciences. The method focuses on how biotechnology maturation and diffusion could lower barriers for nonstate actors to create biological agents. By evaluating the current and near-term maturity of eight disruptive technologies through expert elicitation, the authors demonstrate how to use their method to assess the impact of emerging technologies on the biological agent creation pipeline. The method can be used and extended by those seeking to understand and manage emerging biosecurity risks generated through the advancement of biotechnologies and artificial intelligence.”

“This report should be of interest to biosecurity researchers and policymakers interested in evaluating how advances in life science technologies contribute to increasing adversary bioattack capabilities.”

“Scaling Pathogen Detection with Metagenomics”

Simon Grimm published this essay as part of IFP’s The Launch Sequence series: “America is unprepared to detect new biological threats. Existing pathogen detection methods only identify known pathogens, leaving us blind to novel outbreaks. With frontier AI potentially putting virus design within the reach of more actors, biosecurity is only becoming more urgent.”

“Within 2–3 years, we could transform our pathogen detection capabilities by adopting new technologies: metagenomic sequencing, which detects both known and unknown pathogens, paired with frontier AI models capable of rapidly analyzing billions of sequencing reads a day. The cost of metagenomic sequencing has been dropping rapidly, making it possible to now collect data at the scale needed to enable AI-powered pathogen early warning. Upgrading US biosurveillance in this way would both provide detailed insights into seasonal pathogen spread in the US and ensure far earlier detection of new outbreaks.”

“The US should invest up to $100 million per year into constructing a federal metagenomic surveillance system over the next 2–3 years, as the centerpiece of the CDC’s recently announced Biothreat Radar Detection System. Just as the National Weather Service blanketed the country with radars and made its raw meteorological data public, the federal government can generate and share large amounts of metagenomic sequencing data with a turnaround time of 1–2 days, enabling early outbreak detection that could prevent hundreds of billions of dollars in economic damage.”

Read the full essay here.

What We’re Listening To 🎧

Biosecurity Changing the Game, Ep. 11: Germ-Wars, Treaties, and Global Trust: Demystifying the Biological Weapons Convention

“In this episode, Dr. Dinah Nasike is joined by: Dr. Alex Kyabarongo, a veterinarian, former Political Affairs Intern at the Biological Weapons Convention, and currently a Masters of Biodefense Candidate at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University; and Sandra Matinyi, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and the Executive Director of Nuo Bioscience, Uganda. Together, they discuss the Biological Weapons Convention: what is it, why was it created and for whom, and how is it holding up in today’s world of rapidly developing science and the escalating risk of epidemics?”

Listen here.

NEW: Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction

From the World Organisation for Animal Health: “In October 2025, WOAH is hosting its third Global Conference, with the goal of galvanising advocacy efforts to manage the rising risk of biological threats from across the world.”

“The Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction – which will take place in Geneva on 28-30 October 2025 – will bring together top minds in the fields of health-security, emerging technologies, and biothreat reduction policies, from the public and private sectors – to focus on the latest strategies, challenges and innovations in combating biological threats to our interconnected ecosystems.”

“The Conference will bring together approximately 400 participants from different sectors, including animal health, law enforcement and security, public health, international and regional organisations, investment and development partners, private sector and industry representatives, research, academia and regulatory authorities, youth organisations.”

“Attendees will engage in thought-provoking discussions and innovative technical presentations aimed at strengthening prevention, preparedness and response capabilities across the world.”

“The event will be guided by a narrative that traces WOAH’s commitment to biological threat reduction and the increasingly relevant role it plays at the health-security interface. Against the backdrop of an uncertain future, WOAH believes that synergies between sectors can drive positive change – making the world a safer and healthier place. ”

Learn more and register here.

Mission Critical: How One Hospital Maintained Operations and Protected Patients and Staff After Hurricane Helene

From ASPR TRACIE: “In September 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing historic flooding, tornadoes, and widespread infrastructure damage across the Southeastern U.S. Despite total utility failures, road closures, and supply shortages, Mission Health—comprised of six acute care hospitals in the Western North Carolina region—successfully maintained critical operations, protected patients and staff, and continued providing essential services.”

“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (ASPR TRACIE) invite you to learn more about this webinar featuring HCA Healthcare representatives. They will share lessons learned, including how leadership made key decisions to sustain operations, secure essential resources, ensure patient and staff safety, and expand support to the surrounding community. Learn how strong leadership, planning, and adaptability enabled a comprehensive and resilient response during and after the storm.”

This event will take place on August 27, 12:30-1:45 PM ET. Register here.

Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – A Workshop Series

From NASEM: “The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) will convene an ad hoc planning committee to organize a workshop series with international scientists. The series will engage early-career and established experts to: a) examine dual-use risks in biotechnology research; b) explore potential misuse of knowledge, tools, and materials; c) review existing frameworks for assessing and mitigating dual-use concerns; and d) identify steps to reduce exploitation while promoting responsible innovation. The workshops will focus on balancing scientific progress with security considerations. Key insights and recommendations will be compiled in a publicly available workshop proceedings document.”

These workshops will take place 10 am-1 pm ET on September 10, 17, and 18. Register here.

CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

Mirror Image Biology: Pushing the Envelope in Designing Biological Systems – A Workshop

From NASEM: “Most biological molecules are chiral entities where their mirror images have different structures and functional characteristics. Scientists have begun synthesizing left-handed DNA and RNA and creating proteins that can write left-handed nucleic acids. This, and other related research, is described as “mirror biology” and includes research toward creating mirror-image self-replicating living systems. The National Academies will host a foundational workshop on mirror biology, focusing on the state of the science, trends in research and development, risks and benefits of this research, and considerations relating for future governance of relevant enabling technologies.”

This event will take place virtually, September 29-30. Register here.

Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction

From the World Organisation for Animal Health: “In October 2025, WOAH is hosting its third Global Conference, with the goal of galvanising advocacy efforts to manage the rising risk of biological threats from across the world.”

“The Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction – which will take place in Geneva on 28-30 October 2025 – will bring together top minds in the fields of
health-security, emerging technologies, and biothreat reduction policies, from the public and private sectors – to focus on the latest strategies, challenges and innovations in combating biological threats to our interconnected ecosystems.”

“The Conference will bring together approximately 400 participants from different sectors, including animal health, law enforcement and security, public health, international and regional organisations, investment and development partners, private sector and industry representatives, research, academia and regulatory authorities, youth organisations.”

“Attendees will engage in thought-provoking discussions and innovative technical presentations aimed at strengthening prevention, preparedness and response capabilities across the world.”

“The event will be guided by a narrative that traces WOAH’s commitment to biological threat reduction and the increasingly relevant role it plays at the health-security interface. Against the backdrop of an uncertain future, WOAH believes that synergies between sectors can drive positive change – making the world a safer and healthier place. ”

Learn more and register here.

New Call for Experts to Join the Second Term of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO)

“Opening call for applications from 30 July–30 August 2025”

“WHO welcomes expressions of interest for SAGO’s second term 2025-2027 from individuals with significant expertise in one or more of the technical disciplines listed below in order to ensure a multi-disciplinary One Health approach.”

“The call will open from 30 July–30 August 2025, closing at 24:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST; UTC +2) on 30 August 2025. Applications require a Curriculum Vitae, a cover letter, and signed Declaration of Interests form.”

Read more here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

64th ISODARCO Course

From ISODARCO: “In recent years, the global security landscape has become increasingly volatile, shaped by a convergence of geopolitical tensions, technological advancements, and evolving nuclear doctrines. The post-Cold War order that once provided a measure of predictability in global security has eroded. Conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, and strategic competition between major powers have reshaped alliances and strategic postures.”

“At the same time, disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic missiles, and cyber threats – are adding new layers of complexity to both nuclear and conventional deterrence dynamics. These technologies are not only distorting the information landscape but also compressing decision-making timelines and complicating signaling mechanisms, increasing the risk of miscalculation.”

“Effectively managing nuclear escalation risks in this environment will require a combination of innovative diplomacy, technological safeguards, and renewed dialogue mechanisms to rebuild trust, reduce misperceptions, and stabilize strategic relations.”

“The ISODARCO 2026 Winter Course presents an invaluable opportunity for students and experts to discuss and examine these dynamics in depth and explore approaches to re-establishing strategic stability and reducing nuclear dangers in a volatile world.”

This course will take place January 11-18, 2026, in Andalo. Learn more and apply here.

Pandora Report 8.8.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

This week’s Pandora Report covers program news, updates on avian influenza, discussion of HHS’ termination of contracts funding mRNA vaccine development research, and more.

Biodefense Alum Named CEO of Global Health Security Network

Dr Saskia Popescu, Biodefense PhD ’19 and adjunct professor in the Biodefense Graduate Program at the Schar School of Policy and Government, has been named the new Chief Executive Officer of the Global Health Security Network (GHSN). Dr Popescu is an internationally recognized infectious disease epidemiologist, biodefense expert, and leader in global health security. With a distinguished career spanning hospital outbreak response, pandemic preparedness, and biosecurity policy, she brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to GHSN. GHSN is an Australia-based non-profit that supports and disseminates independent, data-driven, policy-relevant research in global health security that results in inclusive and equitable health outcomes, fosters education and mentorship opportunities, and advocates for the adoption of policies and initiatives that enhance national, regional, and global health security.  As GHSN’s new CEO, Dr Popescu will lead the organization into its next phase of growth—expanding its global reach, deepening partnerships, and advancing bold, evidence-based solutions to today’s most pressing biological threats. GHSN’s signature event, the Global Health Security Conference, will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June 9-12, 2026.

Avian Influenza Updates

By Margeaux Malone, Pandora Report Associate Editor 

Scientists Monitor Dairy H5N1 Outbreak Patterns Ahead of Fall Flu Season

Recent research from two major studies has provided critical insights into the behavior of H5N1 bird flu in U.S. dairy cattle. Dairy herd cases have dropped sharply over the last few months; however, new herd infections continue to be reported every few weeks. The last reported confirmed case is from August 1, 2025, on a dairy farm in California. Since early 2024, 1,078 infected herds have been confirmed in 17 U.S. states, with the majority of detections (771) on farms in California.

Contaminated milking equipment and direct contact with contaminated milk were initially thought to play major roles in viral transmission. However, a comprehensive study from Emory University examined 14 California dairy farms and found evidence of multiple potential transmission pathways. Using three different air-sampling devices, including backpack-mounted filters to model worker exposure, researchers detected H5N1 viral RNA and infectious virus in multiple air samples during milking operations. The study also found viral RNA throughout farm wastewater systems at every point in the waste stream, including manure lagoons frequented by migratory birds. This demonstrates that airborne transmission and contaminated water sources may create additional infection vectors for both cattle and farm workers beyond direct milk contact.

While additional research is needed to ascertain how bird flu spreads within farms to improve biosecurity and mitigation protocols, research from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital offers cautiously optimistic findings about the virus’s pandemic potential. Their analysis of H5N1 strains from dairy cattle shows that the virus is retaining primarily avian characteristics rather than adapting to better infect mammals. The bovine viruses remain more similar to bird flu strains than human influenza viruses, suggesting limited mutation pressure toward human adaptation. The overall threat to humans appears low, but the risk of direct infection for those working closely with these animals still remains high. Fortunately, the virus also does not appear to be developing immunity to commonly used antivirals; thus, these drugs would likely be effective to treat infected individuals when cases arise.

Public health experts will closely monitor dairy farms, commercial poultry, and migratory bird populations throughout the upcoming fall season, when increased avian influenza circulation typically occurs, to track whether H5N1 makes a resurgence. Although population-level pandemic risk appears low based on current evidence, continued surveillance and worker protection remain critical as the virus continues evolving in agricultural environments.

Further Reading:

First Bird Flu, Now Screwworms: The U.S. Livestock Industry Can’t Catch a Break

A major outbreak of New World screwworms, flesh-eating maggots that infest wounds of living animals, has been spreading across Central America since 2023. It reached southern Mexico in November and now a case has been reported less than 400 mile south of the Texas-Mexico border, raising concerns about invasion into the U.S. These parasitic larvae of metallic green-blue flies (Cochliomyia hominivorax) burrow into animal wounds, essentially eating the infested animals from the inside-out, and can kill livestock within 1-2 weeks if untreated. Although agricultural animals would take the biggest hit, New World screwworms can infest any living mammal, meaning pets like cats and dogs as well as humans would also be at risk.

No vaccines or effective repellents exist, so prevention currently relies on avoiding livestock procedures that create wounds during warmer months when the tropical flies are most active. The U.S. previously eradicated screwworms in the 1960s-70s using a “sterile insect technique”, creating millions of sterilized male flies and releasing them from planes to mate with wild females to prevent reproduction and gradually eliminating populations. Currently, only one facility in Panama produces sterile flies, but hundreds of millions more are needed to combat the spreading outbreak. In response, the USDA announced in June its plans to build a new “fly factory” near the border, estimated to cost $8.5 million. The USDA has also announced $25 million plans to renovate an old fly factory in Mexico by the end of 2025. Officials view this as a worthwhile investment compared to the potential $10 billion economic impact on the livestock industry if the screwworms become established in the U.S.

Further Reading:

GAO Finds Administration Violated Impoundment Law in Cancelling NIH Grants and Delaying New Awards

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued this week its findings that the NIH has illegally frozen 1,800 research grants. Specifically, the administration’s freeze on $8 billion of congressionally appropriated funding for the NIH was illegal as it violated the Impoundment Control Act.

In its report, GAO explains, “Congress appropriated amounts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to carry out various research objectives for fiscal year 2025. In accordance with several executive orders, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its agencies, including NIH, began canceling existing grants. HHS also issued a memorandum directing its agencies to cease the publication of grant review meeting notices in the Federal Register, a key step in NIH’s grant review process. As a result, NIH reduced its awarding of new grants. NIH’s actions to carry out these executive directives, coupled with publicly available data showing a decline in NIH’s obligations and expenditures, establishes that NIH intended to withhold budget authority from obligation and expenditure without regard to the process provided for by the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA).”

Between February and June, NIH released $8 billion less that it obligated in the previous two year, which GAO says is a decline of more than 1/3. The gap between 2025 spending and previous years’ spending has continued to grow, according to GAO, with NIH obligating a lower amount of grant funding month-to-month. GAO explains that, if a law is passed by Congress and signed by the president, it must be carried out by the executive branch. There are exceptions, such as under a recissions law, but GAO says there are no such exceptions in this case.

The report further explains that, “In its response to GAO, HHS indicated that it had lifted the pause relating to the publication of Federal Register notice submissions and resumed scheduling meetings. However, HHS’s response did not include information regarding current obligations of NIH funds for FY 2025. Furthermore, HHS showed no sufficient justification for the pause that it instituted…GAO is aware of ongoing litigation involving the termination of NIH grants in which HHS has taken the position that it was authorized to terminate the grants. GAO will continue to monitor this and any other litigation related to the delay in the obligation and disbursement of NIH funds. If a court makes relevant findings of fact relating to NIH funds, we will update this decision as necessary.”

Further Reading:

HHS Halts Millions in Funding for mRNA Vaccine Development

HHS announced this week that it has started a “coordinated wind-down” of its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). This amounts to cancellation of $500 million in government-funded research projects to create new mRNA vaccines. In the announcement of the cancellation, Secretary Kennedy said, “We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted. BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”

The statement further explained that this action includes termination of contracts with Emory University and Tiba Biotech; de-scoping of mRNA-related work in existing contracts with Luminary Labs, ModeX, and Seqirus; rejection or cancellation of multiple pre-award solicitations, including proposals from Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur, CSL Seqirus, Gritstone, and others, as part of BARDA’s Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle and VITAL Hub’ and restructuring of collaborations with DoD-JPEO, affecting nucleic acid-based vaccine projects with AAHI, AstraZeneca, HDT Bio, and Moderna/UTMB.

The statement continued, explaining that, “While some final-stage contracts (e.g., Arcturus and Amplitude) will be allowed to run their course to preserve prior taxpayer investment, no new mRNA-based projects will be initiated. HHS has also instructed its partner, Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC), which manages BARDA Ventures, to cease all mRNA-based equity investments. In total, this affects 22 projects worth nearly $500 million. Other uses of mRNA technology within the department are not impacted by this announcement.”

The rollback has also caught unrelated contracts in its crosshairs. Tiba Biotech was included in the cancellation of grants that funded mRNA vaccine development. However, Tiba Biotech’s project does not use mRNA, and it is not producing a vaccine. Rather, Tiba Biotech was awarded $749,999 by BARDA last July to develop a lung-targeted treatment for influenza infection using RNA interface. The project had just three months remaining at the time of cancellation and was successful in achieving its objectives.

Secretary Kennedy has a history of faulty criticisms of mRNA vaccines. For example, he claimed in 2021 that mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 are “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” Kennedy said later in HHS’ announcement, “Let me be absolutely clear: HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them. That’s why we’re moving beyond the limitations of mRNA and investing in better solutions.”

Using mRNA vaccine technology allows for faster production of vaccines than older vaccine technologies. The “plug-and-play” ability afforded by mRNA vaccines enables rapid development and lower costs, an invaluable capability in preparing for future respiratory illness outbreaks that threaten global health. Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota told PBS News recently that using older technology to create a vaccine targeting a pandemic flu strain would take 18 months just to “make enough vaccine to vaccinate only about one-fourth of the world.” Meanwhile, mRNA vaccines “could change that dramatically, such that by the end of the first year, we could vaccinate the world.”

Further Reading:

Most US Adults Do Not Plan to Get COVID-19 Vaccine Amid Confusion Following Changes in Vaccine Policies

With COVID-19 cases on the rise in 27 states as the Stratus variant gains traction, new polling shows relatively few adults in the US plan to be vaccinated for COVID-19 this fall. KFF polling found that 23% of US adult respondents say they will “probably not” get the vaccine, while 37% say they will “definitely not” get it. KFF also found that those who say they will “probably” or “definitely” not get the vaccine were more likely to say that they think changes to vaccine policy are “major” and will likely make people less safe. This comes after Secretary Kennedy announced earlier this year that the COVID-19 vaccine will no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women.

Further Reading:

Other Relevant Happenings

Picking Up Where He Jiankui Left Off?

Radioactive Wasps

The EU Commission Announces EU Stockpiling Strategy and Medical Countermeasures Strategy

“Antimicrobial Resistance: Addressing the Risks”

This Expert Insights piece from RAND Europe was co-authored by Biodefense PhD Program alumna Saskia Popescu, along with Sarah Parkinson and Hampton Toole: “RAND Europe submitted evidence for the Public Accounts Committee’s investigation of how the UK is implementing the UK National Action Plan (NAP) to respond to risks associated with AMR. Our evidence focused primarily on infrastructure and capabilities that the UK has built that can be helpful in achieving the NAP’s aims, and what will be needed to achieve the plan’s objectives.”

“In this, we find that the UK has a strong base upon which to build when implementing the NAP. It is a world leader in several areas related to AMR, including research and science, genomic surveillance capabilities, and collaborations across One Health sectors. In addition, innovative programmes in the UK—such as PATH-SAFE and the National Biosurveillance Network—have helped build AMR-related capabilities and are generating knowledge on what works and what does not. These capabilities will be crucial in supporting the objectives of the NAP.”

“However, generating long-term benefits from the UK’s existing investments will require further investigation, prioritisation, implementation, and scale-up. Without this, the UK will not realise the full benefits of its AMR investments. Prioritising potential initiatives will require consideration early in the funding process of how programmes will achieve long-term impact, how findings will inform specific AMR responses, and what support will be needed to realise these impacts. Implementing the NAP will also require breaking down silos between sectors, addressing challenges in data sharing, and improving preparedness in emergency scenarios.”

“Defining Access to Countermeasures: Landscape Report 2024”

From WHO: “This report presents a landscape analysis of the key activities related to MCMs for pandemic response. With the adoption of the WHO Pandemic Agreement and amendments to the International Health Regulations, the global community has laid the groundwork for a more integrated and resilient health emergency architecture. These instruments represent a major shift in global health governance, placing equitable access to MCMs, including vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, and other essential tools, at the core of future pandemic prevention, preparedness, response to build resilient health systems.”

“Viral Outbreaks, Biosecurity, and Preparing for Mass Casualty Infectious Diseases Events, Edition 1”

“Written by authorities in infectious disease and disaster preparedness, this one-stop resource covers the relevant theoretical, historical, and pragmatic considerations of viral outbreaks and bioterrorism. It provides an expert overview of this complex area for infectious disease physicians, emergency medicine physicians, hospital administrators, and more.”

Read more about this new textbook here.

Advances in Virus Research, “Volume 121: Biosafety Level 4 (BSL4) – Virus Research at the Highest Level of Biosafety and Biosecurity”

“Biosafety Level 4 (BSL4) – Virus Research at the Highest Level of Biosafety and Biosecurity, Volume 121 highlights new advances, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on highly important topics such as Molecular virulence determinants of human-pathogenic filoviruses, Mucosal Sudan virus infection results in a lethal disease in ferrets with previous Lloviu virus infection not providing cross-protection, Transcriptional signatures of Ebola and Marburg virus infection in a Bat-Immune-System (BIS) mouse model, Divergences in the microbial inactivation pattern between vaporized hydrogen peroxide and aerosolized peracetic acid by dry fogging, and much more.”

“Other chapters cover Molecular expressions in tissues and blood following Reston and Bundibugyo virus infection in swine, De novo rescue of new BSL4 henipaviruses – from sequence to pathogen, Semi-automated diagnostic RT-PCR as a screening assay for antiviral compounds in a 96-well format against highly pathogenic RNA viruses, and Relevance of studying virus – natural reservoir interactions: SNV in deer mice and LASV in Mastomys natalensis.”

Both Part A and Part B are accessible on ScienceDirect.

“Biorisk Governance: Advancing Biosecurity Education for Life Scientists”

Sarah Ruth Opatowski recently authored this report for UNIDIR: “Educating life scientists on biosecurity and dual-use issues has been recognized as one of several approaches that can, in combination with other measures, enhance biorisk governance and biosecurity. However, the topic of biorisk is often overlooked or underemphasized in education and training, and there is a prevailing lack of awareness of how life science research could be exploited for hostile purposes.”

“This report outlines seven approaches to biosecurity related educational initiatives drawing from a wide range of past and present activities in this area. It provides a general overview of the relevance of this form of education in the work of both the Biological Weapons Convention and the World Health Organization. The report then explores a roadmap for the development of a systematic process of integrating biosecurity into life science teaching. Finally, the appendix showcases some of the biosecurity-related education initiatives undertaken by national, regional and international actors.”

“Trimming Tiers – Motivations and Means for De-Risking Select Agents”

Elizabeth Wells, Christopher Grisham, and Michael T. Parker recently published this article in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology: “In the United States, pathogens and toxins that pose a significant threat to public health are regulated via the Select Agents and Toxins list (SATL). Of those on the list, biological select agents and toxins (BSAT) deemed especially dangerous are designated “Tier 1”, and are subject to more stringent regulations. While general criteria for the addition of BSAT to the SATL have been published, along with criteria for Tier 1 designation, there are no clearly defined, publicly available steps for de-tiering or de-listing BSAT, making it difficult to decipher paths to risk reduction. We set out to better understand how the government has historically chosen to list and tier BSAT, to create a generalized profile of Tier 1 and non-Tier 1 BSAT, and to design a methodology that the government can utilize in efforts of de-risking BSAT. To these ends, we conducted a literature review compiling key information on all BSAT, with a specific focus on development and availability of vaccines and therapeutics, as well as evidence and/or reports of prior weaponization efforts. We then performed statistical analyses to compare Tier 1 BSAT to non-Tier 1 BSAT, allowing us to develop a “prototype” that describes the characteristics that are typical of each. Finally, we used these results to design a set of “priority” experiments and threshold goals for perceived risk criteria, the results of which enable clearer avenues to de-risking, and potentially also de-tiering and de-listing, of BSAT. Our results represent a call to action to bolster biosecurity through the utilization of BSAT prototyping, key experiments, and threshold implementation, all in an effort to enable evidence-based risk reduction of select agents.”

“Assessing Dual-Use Issues at the AIxBio Convergence”

From CSR: “Emerging and disruptive technologies, including artificial intelligence and biotechnology, have the potential to influence the threat landscape and battlespace significantly. Such technologies, both individually and as they converge, simultaneously offer both new military and civilian solutions to historic problems and generate potential threats from adversarial states and non-state actors. The convergence of AI and biology has been facilitated by the digitization of biology, which has gradually brought physical experimentation with living organisms into the cyber domain. AI technologies are now enabling the faster design of effective vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, thereby expediting the delivery of medical countermeasures and enhancing the detection of threats in previously intractable datasets.”

“This evolution has created specific dual-use risks and accelerated others. In response, CSR initiated a study to advance the intellectual, stakeholder, and policy foundations necessary to anticipate and address the risks that arise at this nexus. This study equips policymakers to make more informed decisions as they consider how to balance concerns related to innovation, security, and safety. Yet, as this report demonstrates, the field is highly dynamic—a feature that will persist for the foreseeable future.”

“To more effectively understand and anticipate the opportunities and risks arising at this nexus, building on in-depth research and expert interviews, CSR employed methods within the strategic foresight toolkit. This included scenario exercises, horizon scanning, and backcasting to develop a more nuanced understanding of how future uncertainties might unfold, stretch, and stress-test expert assumptions, and conceptualize global complexities that could enable or constrain alternative future pathways. Through scenario mapping with a diverse cohort of experts from academia, governments, industry, and think tanks, a preferred future scenario was articulated for the AIxBio nexus and used to identify the steps that could be taken over the next five years to achieve that preferred scenario.”

Read here.

“Opportunities to Strengthen U.S. Biosecurity from AI-Enabled Bioterrorism: What Policymakers Should Know”

This analysis from CSIS was authored by Georgia Adamson and Gregory C. Allen, and discusses specific dangers AI poses in the face of what they describe as “falling barriers to bioterrorism.” The authors discuss threats posed by LLMs and future AI BDTs, shortcomings of current US biosecurity measures, and recommendations to strengthen US biosecurity to address AI threats.

“Preliminary Taxonomy of AI-Bio Misuse Mitigations”

From Frontier Model Forum: “Frontier AI presents transformative opportunities within the biological sciences, including the potential to rapidly accelerate beneficial research discoveries and development. However, the dual-use nature of these technologies may also introduce novel risks. One potential harm involves the misuse of legitimately accessed frontier AI systems by malicious actors to create biological threats, such as a bioweapon.1 As frontier AI capabilities advance, it is crucial to develop robust risk management practices that enable society to harness the benefits of AI in biology while proactively managing its most severe potential risks.” 

“In light of this challenge, frontier model developers have committed to researching, implementing, validating, and sharing mitigation measures (also known as safeguards) to prevent the misuse of their models. This issue brief presents a preliminary taxonomy of safeguards designed to reduce the risk of biological misuse stemming from access to frontier AI models. Drawing from discussions with experts within the Frontier Model Forum (FMF) and the broader biosafety and biosecurity communities, this brief outlines the current landscape of AI-bio misuse safeguards, identifies potential future approaches to mitigations, and underscores the importance of implementing societal-level measures as a complement to technical safeguards.”

“White Paper: A Proposal for Biodesign Metadata Exchange for Use in Biosecurity”

From NTI: “Accelerating advances in biodesign offer significant potential societal benefits, including advancing public health through the development of new vaccines and treatments. However, these advances also pose growing biosecurity risks, particularly, the accidental or intentional creation of harmful biological agents.”

“Current biosecurity frameworks, such as those used by the International Gene Synthesis Consortium, rely on the ability to compare DNA synthesis orders to known sequences to determine if they may be concerning. However, as biodesign tools—especially those powered by artificial intelligence (AI)—begin exploring novel biological designs that deviate substantially from organisms found in nature, traditional screening methods are likely to struggle to interpret these novel designs.  This makes it difficult for DNA synthesis providers and other service providers, who support bioscience and biotechnology research and development, to detect potential threats, as it involves assessing the risks of entirely new designs that do not resemble known organisms or toxins.”

“To address these challenges, NTI | bio partnered with Lattice Automation to design and pilot a standard for capturing and transmitting metadata—such as design provenance, editing history, and intended use—alongside DNA or protein sequences. The additional context provided by this standard, known as the Biodesign Metadata Exchange (BMDE), can help biosecurity decision-makers assess risks more effectively by increasing their understanding of not only the sequence itself but also the design process behind it.”

Read the white paper here.

“As AI Worsens WMD Threat, Australia Must Lead Response”

Devon Whittle recently published this piece for ASPI, writing in part, “At a minimum, Australia needs to move forward with mandatory guardrails for high-risk and general-purpose AI, completing a process that was underway at the end of 2024. These guardrails need to set clear minimum standards for AI developers and deployers in Australia, ensuring we are not at the mercy of the weakest or least scrupulous link in the AI supply chain. They should also clarify legal responsibility and liability to incentivise developers and deployers to ensure their systems cannot be misused.”

Read more here.

Journal of Science Policy & Governance, “Advancing Science & Technology Policy for the Next-Generation Bioeconomy”

The Journal of Science Policy & Governance and the Engineering Biology Research Consortium have released the journal’s special topics issue for this year, on Advancing Science & Technology Policy for the Next-Generation Bioeconomy: “This issue demonstrates the extraordinary range of policy questions emerging from the modern bioeconomy. Across seven rigorously reviewed manuscripts, authors tackle the transition to climate‑smart protein sources and new opportunities for U.S. farmers, propose community‑centered governance frameworks for releasing genetically modified microbes into fragile ecosystems, and dissect the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper‑Bright decision to show how the end of Chevron deference could reshape federal biosecurity regulation. Complementing these federal‑level analyses, contributors outline a micro‑credential strategy to close critical workforce gaps in biotechnology, detail how regional food‑focused biomanufacturing hubs can strengthen supply‑chain resilience and national security, and chart a path for safely deploying engineered microbes to clean up persistent contaminants. Together, the papers form a timely roadmap for policymakers seeking to harness life‑science innovation while safeguarding communities, ecosystems, and economic competitiveness.”

“From Tunisia to the World: A Scientist’s Bold Vision for Biosecurity”

From Brown School of Public Health: “As part of Brown’s new Biosecurity Game Changers fellowship, pharmacist and policy expert Sana Masmoudi is working to close critical biosecurity gaps—building systems, shaping policy and mentoring future leaders across the Global South.”

Read here.

“Verify, Verify, Verify: How Technological Disruption is Redefining Nuclear Risk”

Cindy Vestergaard recently published this commentary piece with the Stimson Center: “The next wave of technological evolution is disrupting nuclear stability, reshaping verification, and challenging the future of arms control and nonproliferation.”

“Potential Environmental Effects of Nuclear War”

From NASEM: “In response to the buildup of U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals during the Cold War, a series of major scientific studies conducted in the 1980s issued warnings about the potential for a “nuclear winter” scenario – the possibility that a large-scale nuclear exchange could inject massive amounts of soot and particulates into the upper atmosphere that would block incoming solar radiation and cause major ecosystem and societal disruptions. In the decades since that concept emerged, profound military, political, and technological changes have reshaped the nuclear landscape, while scientific advances have deepened the understanding of, and ability to model, Earth system processes. It is in this context that the U.S. Congress asked for this report to re-examine the potential environmental, social, and economic effects that could unfold over the weeks to decades after a nuclear war.”

“The effects of any given nuclear exchange would depend on key processes and interactions along a causal pathway with six stages: weapon employment scenarios and effects; fire dynamics and emissions; plume rise, fate, and transport; physical Earth system impacts; ecosystem impacts; and socioeconomic impacts. Impacts of radioactive fallout were not included in the assessment. Potential Environmental Effects of Nuclear War identifies major uncertainties and data gaps at each stage of the causal pathway that currently limit researchers’ ability to understand and model the effects of a nuclear war. This report recommends that relevant U.S. agencies coordinate the development of and support for a suite of model intercomparison projects to organize and assess models to reduce uncertainties in projections of the climatic and environment effects of nuclear war.”

What We’re Watching

How Many People Were Killed by the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

“The only instances of atomic weapons being used against a civilian population occurred in 1945 at the tail end of World War II. On August 6, 1945, “Little Boy” was detonated above the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, “Fat Man” was detonated above Nagasaki. The aftermath of the bombings was the complete devastation of both cities in which countless numbers of people lost their lives.”

“In 2020, nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein published original research with the Bulletin, describing the challenges of tabulating the casualties of the bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Without accurate records of the population prior to the bombings, Allied forces and the Japanese government relied on proxy figures to come up with their estimates. Decades later, those estimates were revisited to account for information that was excluded at the time. The result is a recognition that we may never be able to fully account for the devastation of one of the world’s deadliest weapons.“

Watch here.

What We’re Listening To

Docology, Ep23: Biosecurity Uncovered
“What if the next war doesn’t come with bombs or bullets — but with a virus?”

“In this eye-opening episode of Docology, we’re joined by Rear Admiral Ken Bernard, one of the world’s foremost experts on pandemic preparedness and biosecurity. We break down the growing overlap between biological science, global politics, and security strategy.”

“This conversation isn’t about panic — it’s about preparedness. Because next time, we might not get a warning shot.”

“Take a look and let us know what you think. You can listen to the podcast here on Substack or anywhere you get your podcasts!”

“If you want to watch the full episode, you can watch it here on YouTube.“

What Has Changed in the Biosecurity Threat Landscape?

A Moment in Health with Dr. Ashish Jha, Ep. 16
“In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha shares a striking data point: 6.8 million veterans receive care each year through the VA Health System. He highlights a systematic review comparing the quality of care in VA versus non-VA settings, finding that VA care is generally as good or better compared to non-VA care. Senior Adviser to the Brown Pandemic Center Beth Cameron joins to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic and rapidly advancing technologies like AI and synthetic biology have elevated the urgency of biosecurity. She warns that despite the increasing risks of large-scale biological events—whether natural, accidental, or deliberate—the U.S. still lacks a cohesive, long-term strategy to address these threats.”

NEW: Mission Critical: How One Hospital Maintained Operations and Protected Patients and Staff After Hurricane Helene

From ASPR TRACIE: “In September 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing historic flooding, tornadoes, and widespread infrastructure damage across the Southeastern U.S. Despite total utility failures, road closures, and supply shortages, Mission Health—comprised of six acute care hospitals in the Western North Carolina region—successfully maintained critical operations, protected patients and staff, and continued providing essential services.”

“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (ASPR TRACIE) invite you to learn more about this webinar featuring HCA Healthcare representatives. They will share lessons learned, including how leadership made key decisions to sustain operations, secure essential resources, ensure patient and staff safety, and expand support to the surrounding community. Learn how strong leadership, planning, and adaptability enabled a comprehensive and resilient response during and after the storm.”

This event will take place on August 27, 12:30-1:45 PM ET. Register here.

NEW: Biological Threats in the Age of Emerging Biotechnology – A Workshop Series

From NASEM: “The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) will convene an ad hoc planning committee to organize a workshop series with international scientists. The series will engage early-career and established experts to: a) examine dual-use risks in biotechnology research; b) explore potential misuse of knowledge, tools, and materials; c) review existing frameworks for assessing and mitigating dual-use concerns; and d) identify steps to reduce exploitation while promoting responsible innovation. The workshops will focus on balancing scientific progress with security considerations. Key insights and recommendations will be compiled in a publicly available workshop proceedings document.”

These workshops will take place 10 am-1 pm ET on September 10, 17, and 18. Register here.

Mirror Image Biology: Pushing the Envelope in Designing Biological Systems – A Workshop

From NASEM: “Most biological molecules are chiral entities where their mirror images have different structures and functional characteristics. Scientists have begun synthesizing left-handed DNA and RNA and creating proteins that can write left-handed nucleic acids. This, and other related research, is described as “mirror biology” and includes research toward creating mirror-image self-replicating living systems. The National Academies will host a foundational workshop on mirror biology, focusing on the state of the science, trends in research and development, risks and benefits of this research, and considerations relating for future governance of relevant enabling technologies.”

This event will take place virtually, September 29-30. Register here.

CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction

From the World Organisation for Animal Health: “In October 2025, WOAH is hosting its third Global Conference, with the goal of galvanising advocacy efforts to manage the rising risk of biological threats from across the world.”

“The Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction – which will take place in Geneva on 28-30 October 2025 – will bring together top minds in the fields of
health-security, emerging technologies, and biothreat reduction policies, from the public and private sectors – to focus on the latest strategies, challenges and innovations in combating biological threats to our interconnected ecosystems.”

“The Conference will bring together approximately 400 participants from different sectors, including animal health, law enforcement and security, public health, international and regional organisations, investment and development partners, private sector and industry representatives, research, academia and regulatory authorities, youth organisations.”

“Attendees will engage in thought-provoking discussions and innovative technical presentations aimed at strengthening prevention, preparedness and response capabilities across the world.”

“The event will be guided by a narrative that traces WOAH’s commitment to biological threat reduction and the increasingly relevant role it plays at the health-security interface. Against the backdrop of an uncertain future, WOAH believes that synergies between sectors can drive positive change – making the world a safer and healthier place. ”

Learn more and register here.

NEW: New Call for Experts to Join the Second Term of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO)

“Opening call for applications from 30 July–30 August 2025”

“WHO welcomes expressions of interest for SAGO’s second term 2025-2027 from individuals with significant expertise in one or more of the technical disciplines listed below in order to ensure a multi-disciplinary One Health approach.”

“The call will open from 30 July–30 August 2025, closing at 24:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST; UTC +2) on 30 August 2025. Applications require a Curriculum Vitae, a cover letter, and signed Declaration of Interests form.”

Read more here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

64th ISODARCO Course

From ISODARCO: “In recent years, the global security landscape has become increasingly volatile, shaped by a convergence of geopolitical tensions, technological advancements, and evolving nuclear doctrines. The post-Cold War order that once provided a measure of predictability in global security has eroded. Conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, and strategic competition between major powers have reshaped alliances and strategic postures.”

“At the same time, disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic missiles, and cyber threats – are adding new layers of complexity to both nuclear and conventional deterrence dynamics. These technologies are not only distorting the information landscape but also compressing decision-making timelines and complicating signaling mechanisms, increasing the risk of miscalculation.”

“Effectively managing nuclear escalation risks in this environment will require a combination of innovative diplomacy, technological safeguards, and renewed dialogue mechanisms to rebuild trust, reduce misperceptions, and stabilize strategic relations.”

“The ISODARCO 2026 Winter Course presents an invaluable opportunity for students and experts to discuss and examine these dynamics in depth and explore approaches to re-establishing strategic stability and reducing nuclear dangers in a volatile world.”

This course will take place January 11-18, 2026, in Andalo. Learn more and apply here.

Pandora Report 8.1.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

Top French Court Annuls Assad Arrest Warrant

Last week, France’s Cour de Cassation ruled invalid a 2023 arrest warrant issued for former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for the use of CW in Ghouta in 2013 and Duma in 2018. The court declared the warrant invalid under international law as it gives heads of state personal immunity from prosecution in foreign courts while in office. The court determined there are no exceptions to this, even in cases of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, but that new arrest warrants may be issued for Assad now that he is no longer in office. Human rights advocates had hoped the court would rule in the opposite direction, which would have set a precedent for holding accused war criminals accountable even while in office.

Administration Updates

Prasad Resigns from FDA Post

Vinay Prasad, who was appointed in May to lead FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and later became the organization’s Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, resigned this week. This move reportedly came following pressure and a campaign against him led by Laura Loomer focused on statements he previously made supporting certain political figures. Secretary Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary defended Prasad, who had already limited the use of COVID-19 vaccines, among other MAHA goals. Prasad also drew criticism for his actions targeting Sarepta Therapeutics, which included demanding the company stop shipping its drug, Elevidys, though FDA soon backed down on this.

While Prasad has not commented on his departure, an HHS spokesperson said on Tuesday, “Dr. Prasad did not want to be a distraction to the great work of the F.D.A. in the Trump administration and has decided to return to California and spend more time with his family.”

Further Reading:

USDA Unveils Plan to Relocate DC-Area Employees

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced last week a plan to transfer most Washington, DC-area staff to five locations across the country and close several USDA offices in the national capitol region. These locations are Salt Lake City, Utah; Fort Collins, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; and Raleigh, North Carolina. Staff will reportedly receive notice about their new assignments in the coming months.

While USDA leadership says this is being done to move USDA staff closer to those it serves and cut costs, the plan immediately prompted bipartisan backlash. Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee grilled Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden this week, focusing much of their questioning on whether or not the administration had appropriately notified Congress of this plan. Others pointed out concerns about the accuracy of reasons provided for this plan, which have been echoed more broadly. For example, more than 90% of USDA employees are already based in county and regional offices across the country, rather than in the DC-area. Furthermore, 15,000 USDA employees will leave the organization at the end of the year, having accepted deferred resignation and early retirement authors. Furthermore, there are concerns this will weaken USDA’s ability to allow its policy-focused staff to interface with counterparts at other federal agencies due to its planned diminished presence in DC.

Further Reading:

Other Relevant Happenings:

EPA Rolling Back Key Provisions

Concerns Growing About Possible Ousting of U.S. Preventive Services Take Force Members

Marty Makary Promotes COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory

Gerald Parker Resigns as head of Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy

CDC Reports Childhood Vaccination Rates Have Declined

Statistics released by the CDC this week show that vaccination coverage for key vaccines in children entering kindergarten in the US fell once more during the 2024-2025 school year. This is continues a concerning trend that worsened with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that experts fear will be further exacerbated by anti-vaccine rhetoric and actions by the administration. In this last school year, just 92.5% of kindergarteners had received both doses of the measles vaccine, down from 93.9% during the 2020-2021 school year, and below the 95% needed to help prevent spread of the disease in a community. 92.5% were vaccinated for polio, down from 95% in 2020. Nonmedical exemptions rose nationally to 3.6%, up from 3.3% nationally. Exemptions increased in 36 states and DC, with 17 states reporting exemptions exceeding 5%.

Further Reading:

Avian Influenza Updates

By Margeaux Malone, Pandora Report Associate Editor

Why Aren’t More Americans Dying from Bird Flu?

A puzzling trend has emerged in the ongoing H5N1 outbreak. While bird flu has historically killed nearly half of infected humans over the past three decades, only one of the 70 U.S. cases in the past 18 months has been fatal. New research published in Science Translational Medicine suggests swine flu may be to thank for the low mortality rate.

The study, published on July 23, hypothesizes that immunity from the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic could be providing cross-protection against H5N1. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State conducted experiments using ferrets, the typical animal model for influenza research, and found that animals previously infected with seasonal flu viruses, particularly H1N1, had significant protection when later exposed to bird flu. The study could not determine the exact mechanism for this protection, but some experts theorize similarities in the neuraminidase protein shared between H1N1 and H5N1 may offer some cross-immunity. Supporting evidence comes from a study out of Hong Kong last year showing that most people infected with 2009 H1N1 developed antibodies that also recognize H5N1, while fewer than half of pre-2009 blood samples showed similar cross-reactivity.

Despite the benefit this cross-immunity may provide, other experts urge caution against giving this revelation too much weight. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a leading influenza scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, points to Cambodia’s recent H5N1 cases, which maintain the virus’s traditionally high fatality rate of almost 50%. Just this week, Cambodia’s health ministry reported another hospitalization due to H5N1, the country’s 14th of the year. The Cambodian strain differs from the one circulating in U.S. dairy cows and poultry, suggesting viral genetics matter significantly.

Other factors that could also explain the milder U.S. cases include the route of infection (often through workers’ eyes) and patient demographics of those exposed. Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds at St. Jude’s notes that seasonal flu transmits effectively despite widespread immunity, arguing, “We know that seasonal influenza viruses transmit just fine in the human population where there is a lot of pre-existing immunity. So pre-existing immunity in its own right is not enough to prevent an influenza virus from transmitting through the population.” For instance, influenza pandemics of H3N2 in 1968 and H1N1 in 2009 occurred despite prevalent circulating immunity.

The bottom line is that while H1N1 immunity might be buying us some time and creating a barrier to bird flu transmission, it may not be enough to prevent a pandemic. The virus has already shown an ability to expand its host range and cause severe disease in many animal species. It may only be a small evolution away from overcoming human immune defenses as well.

Further Reading:

“Experts React: Starvation in Gaza”

This analysis from the Center for Strategic & International Studies includes several expert perspectives, including commentary from Biodefense MS alumna Sophia Hirshfield, who co-authored the portion, “Gaza Needs More Than Food to Fix a Health Catastrophe.”

“The Trump Administration’s Foreign Aid Review: Status of Global Health Security/Pandemic Preparedness”

From KFF Global Health Policy: “Starting on the first day of his second term, President Trump issued several executive actions that have fundamentally changed foreign assistance. These included: an executive order which called for a 90-day review of foreign aid; a subsequent “stop-work order” that froze all payments and services for work already underway; the dissolution of USAID, including the reduction of most staff and contractors; and the cancellation of most foreign assistance awards. Although a waiver to allow life-saving humanitarian assistance was issued, it has been limited to certain services only and difficult for program implementers to obtain. In addition, while there have been several legal challenges to these actions, there has been limited legal remedy to date. As a result, U.S. global health programs have been disrupted and, in some cases, ended. Recent changes to the Department of Health and Human Services, including proposed cuts and reorganization, are also likely to affect these programs. This fact sheet is part of a series on the status of U.S. global health programs.”

“Potential Trade-Offs of Proposed Cuts to the US National Institutes of Health”

Jalai and Hasgul recently published this article in JAMA Health Forum: “Importance  Proposed US National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding cuts under the second Trump administration have raised concerns about their implications. As a key sponsor of foundational research and workforce training, the NIH plays a vital role in biomedical innovation. Understanding the potential impacts of these cuts is critical for policymakers. This study aimed to examine how NIH budget cuts interact with the broader economic and biomedical innovation systems, identifying trade-offs.”

“Observations  In this qualitative systems modeling analysis, a causal loop diagram was developed that centers on fiscal deficit management theories and incorporates evidence from innovation economics, organizational sciences, and science and technology policy through a structured literature synthesis. The causal loop diagram highlights 4 cycles that may amplify the effects of NIH budget cuts and potentially offset the intended fiscal savings. First, a reduction in fundamental research, which contributes to discoveries, could slow future innovations. Second, the erosion of human capital due to fewer NIH-funded training and career opportunities may shrink the future biomedical workforce. Third, health care expenditures could increase as greater reliance on private sector research and development increases the costs of medical innovations. Finally, decreased investment in public health and translational research may lead to missed opportunities for disease prevention, further increasing health care expenditures.”

“Conclusions and Relevance  Results of this qualitative analysis using systems modeling suggest that NIH budget reductions may have far-reaching implications for scientific progress, the biomedical innovation environment, and health care costs. Beyond immediate budgetary impacts, systemic interactions shaping long-term biomedical research and public health must be considered in funding policies.”

“Global Vaccine Confidence Trends Among Adults Above and Below Age 65”

Liu et al. published this article in npj Vaccines: “This study is interested in global vaccine confidence because it directly impacts vaccination rates and public health outcomes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, due to the unique vulnerabilities to vaccine-preventable diseases, misinformation, and access to health information among adults aged 65 and older, understanding vaccine confidence in this population is crucial for developing targeted interventions and improving vaccination rates. The current research is limited by single-country surveys and cross-sectional designs, providing limited insights into these issues. We compared the vaccine confidence between the population over 65 and under 65 in terms of vaccine safety, effectiveness, compatibility with religious beliefs, and importance to children. We employed a hierarchical logistic model, and compared human development index (HDI) values to investigate determinants of vaccine confidence. Vaccine confidence increased between 2015 and 2019, but decreased between 2019 and 2022 across most global regions, exhibiting an inverted U-shaped trend. Population over 65 in high-income countries was more likely to agree on the safety, effectiveness, importance to children, and compatibility of vaccines with religious beliefs than those under 65, with agreement levels exceeding 80% for most aspects. Gender, education, income, and religion influenced vaccine attitudes among adults aged 65 and older. Countries with an HDI exceeding 0.9 consistently demonstrated positive trends in vaccine confidence. This relationship between HDI and vaccine confidence underscores the importance of comprehensive societal development in shaping attitudes toward vaccination. These findings can help develop targeted interventions and policies to improve vaccination rates among older adults.”

BWC Working Group Friends of the Chair Webinar Series: Rolling Text

From UNIDIR: “The Chair of the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), in collaboration with UNIDIR and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, is organizing an informal webinar to stimulate reflection and discussion ahead of the sixth session of the Working Group.”

“The event will focus on the rolling text being prepared by the Chair for the sixth session, taking into account comments received on his non-paper dated 6 May. The webinar will have a particular emphasis on the proposed mechanisms for science and technology and for international cooperation, as well as measures on compliance and verification. It will feature an expert panel followed by a moderated question-and-answer session with the audience.”

This event will take place on August 5, 12:15-14:45 CEST via Zoom. Register here.

CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction

From the World Organisation for Animal Health: “In October 2025, WOAH is hosting its third Global Conference, with the goal of galvanising advocacy efforts to manage the rising risk of biological threats from across the world.”

“The Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction – which will take place in Geneva on 28-30 October 2025 – will bring together top minds in the fields of
health-security, emerging technologies, and biothreat reduction policies, from the public and private sectors – to focus on the latest strategies, challenges and innovations in combating biological threats to our interconnected ecosystems.”

“The Conference will bring together approximately 400 participants from different sectors, including animal health, law enforcement and security, public health, international and regional organisations, investment and development partners, private sector and industry representatives, research, academia and regulatory authorities, youth organisations.”

“Attendees will engage in thought-provoking discussions and innovative technical presentations aimed at strengthening prevention, preparedness and response capabilities across the world.”

“The event will be guided by a narrative that traces WOAH’s commitment to biological threat reduction and the increasingly relevant role it plays at the health-security interface. Against the backdrop of an uncertain future, WOAH believes that synergies between sectors can drive positive change – making the world a safer and healthier place. ”

Learn more and register here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

64th ISODARCO Course

From ISODARCO: “In recent years, the global security landscape has become increasingly volatile, shaped by a convergence of geopolitical tensions, technological advancements, and evolving nuclear doctrines. The post-Cold War order that once provided a measure of predictability in global security has eroded. Conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, and strategic competition between major powers have reshaped alliances and strategic postures.”

“At the same time, disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic missiles, and cyber threats – are adding new layers of complexity to both nuclear and conventional deterrence dynamics. These technologies are not only distorting the information landscape but also compressing decision-making timelines and complicating signaling mechanisms, increasing the risk of miscalculation.”

“Effectively managing nuclear escalation risks in this environment will require a combination of innovative diplomacy, technological safeguards, and renewed dialogue mechanisms to rebuild trust, reduce misperceptions, and stabilize strategic relations.”

“The ISODARCO 2026 Winter Course presents an invaluable opportunity for students and experts to discuss and examine these dynamics in depth and explore approaches to re-establishing strategic stability and reducing nuclear dangers in a volatile world.”

This course will take place January 11-18, 2026, in Andalo. Learn more and apply here.

Pandora Report 7.25.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

Fiscal Year 2026 Intelligence Authorization Act Emphasizes Biotech as National Security Priority

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence recently passed the FY 2026 Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA), which places a significant emphasis on biotechnology as a national security priority. This IAA incorporates recommendations from the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology’s April 2025 report, in addition to underscoring the role of biotechnology in threat preparedness, innovation, economic resilience, and defense of agriculture, health, and industry. Read the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology’s statement on this year’s IAA here.

Updates on the Administration

US Rejects Amendments to IHR

The United States has rejected a series of amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) that will help the international community more effectively prevent and respond to global health threats. In a joint statement from Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the pair listed various reasons for the rejection. Kennedy said in part of the statement, “The proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations open the door to the kind of narrative management, propaganda, and censorship that we saw during the COVID pandemic. The United States can cooperate with other nations without jeopardizing our civil liberties, without undermining our Constitution, and without ceding away America’s treasured sovereignty.”

Rubio added, “Terminology throughout the amendments to the 2024 International Health Regulations is vague and broad, risking WHO-coordinated international responses that focus on political issues like solidarity, rather than rapid and effective actions. Our Agencies have been and will continue to be clear:  we will put Americans first in all our actions and we will not tolerate international policies that infringe on Americans’ speech, privacy, or personal liberties.”

WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the United States’ decision is rooted in “inaccuracies.” He corrected the Secretaries’ inaccuracies in a post on his official X account.

Kennedy Rescinds Flu Vaccine Endorsements

Sec. Kennedy has formally rescinded all federal recommendations for influenza vaccines that contain thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that has been disproven to be connected to autism. Kennedy, who dismissed the entirety of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices back in June before refilling the body with members more closely aligned to himself, acted following a vote by the body to discontinue use of thimerosal in flu vaccines. Presently, a small percentage of flu vaccines in the US contain this reversative, yet public health experts are concerned this decision may weaken vaccine confidence and cause issues with access to vaccines, especially in areas dependent on multi-dose vials.

Further Reading:

Further Reading on the Administration:

Avian Influenza Updates

By Margeaux Malone, Pandora Report Associate Editor

New H5N1 Transmission Routes Identified in Dairy Cattle

Although detection of new bird flu outbreaks in U.S. dairy cattle herds and poultry flocks is currently at low levels, likely due to a seasonal drop in cases, scientists continue to investigate how the virus spreads on farms. Early in the outbreak, movement of infected animals and contaminated equipment were thought to play major roles in virus spread. However, even despite augmented biosecurity measures, outbreaks continued to occur, prompting suspicion for additional or alternative routes of intra-farm transmission. Scientists have now identified two possible routes of viral spread: flies and milk.

H5N1 sequence samples from a housefly in California uploaded to GISAID, the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data, matched the same B3.13 subtype of the 2.3.4.4b clade spreading in cattle, suggesting insects may be part of bird flu’s complex transmission pathway. While not capable of infecting animals directly, flies appear to act as effective mechanical vectors, picking up viral particles from contaminated surfaces and depositing them elsewhere on the property.

Perhaps even more significant is the revelation that normal cattle behavior facilitates mammary gland infections. The phenomenon of “milk snatching”, where lactating cows nurse from themselves and their herd-mates, creates direct mouth-to-teat contact that allows the virus to enter into mammary tissue. In a paper published earlier this month in National Science Review, a team of Chinese scientists demonstrated that this may be the primary pathway for udder infections, as respiratory exposure doesn’t result in mammary gland contamination. Their research also found that cattle possess abundant viral receptors in their oral tissues, making them particularly susceptible to infection through contaminated feed and water sources.

These findings emphasize the need for comprehensive and holistic biosecurity measures to combat H5N1 in dairy operations, including addressing both environmental contamination and natural animal behaviors that may facilitate viral spread.

One Health Gets the Spotlight in New Lancet Commission Report

Last week, the Lancet One Health Commission published a comprehensive framework to address interconnected global health challenges through an integrated approach that recognizes the fundamental links between humans, animals, plants, and environmental systems. The report provides a cutting-edge appraisal of where One Health started, where it is now, and what a viable future should be.

The Commission emphasizes that current global threats, from infectious disease pandemics to the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, exceed the capacity of any single sector to address effectively. Key focus areas include enhanced disease surveillance systems that integrate data across sectors, comprehensive approaches to antimicrobial resistance that address environmental drivers, and expanded focus on non-communicable diseases sharing common risk factors across species. The Commission also advocates for significant governance reforms, including a “One Health in All Policies” approach with collaboration across disciplines and sectors at all levels of government.

The Commission was first convened in 2019 and includes 40 multi-disciplinary experts across medicine, economics, veterinary science, social science, and environmental research. The full report can be found here.

Hospitalization with COVID-19 Linked to Cognitive Impairment

A two-year follow-up study conducted in Portugal recently found that 19.1% of those who survived being hospitalized with COVID-19 showed cognitive impairment two years onward, in contrast with just 6.8% who were hospitalized for other reasons, 10.7% in those infected but not hospitalized, and 3.2% in the control group. After adjusting for factors like age, education, and history of anxiety, COVID-19 hospitalization was associated with a greater than five-fold increased risk of cognitive impairment in comparison to hospitalization for another reason. Longer periods of hospitalization and ICU admission were also associated with even further risk of impairment.

CIDRAP has published a detailed summary of the study here.

Further Reading:

“The 1984 Rajneeshee Bioterrorism Attack: An Example of Biological Warfare by Violent Non-State Actors”

Matthew D. Turner, Kimberly Marinconz, and Griffin Shimp recently published this article in Cureus: “With the advancement of technology and the life sciences, bioterrorism poses a unique and ever-evolving challenge to public security. In this article, we discuss one of the largest incidents of bioterrorism in the history of the United States. This attack highlights the unique threat that even resource-limited, small-scale bioterrorism poses to wider society when in the hands of small and highly motivated organizations. Physicians, scientists, and legislators should be well aware of the potential risk this poses in the coming years.”

“A Roadmap of Primary Pandemic Prevention Through Spillover Investigation”

Gurley and Plowright recently published this article in Emerging Infectious Diseases: “Since the COVID-19 pandemic, attention and investment in pandemic preparedness have increased. Although there are many valiant plans around pandemic preparedness, they typically involve slowing the spread or mitigating the effects of a pathogen after it has already entered the human population. The task of stopping the pathogen from entering the human population in the first place, spillover prevention, remains a neglected area in discussions and planning for pandemic risk mitigation. Every spillover offers an opportunity to learn about an emerging public health threat and the conditions that aligned to enable spillover occurrence. In this article, we outline One Health approaches for use in spillover investigations, drawing from our experience investigating Hendra and Nipah virus spillovers. We present a roadmap for how findings from those investigations can lead to the development of interventions for spillover and ultimately pandemic prevention.”

“Preparedness and Response Considerations for High-Consequence Infectious Disease”

Chan et al. published this article in Emerging Infectious Diseases: “High-consequence infectious diseases (HCIDs) are acute human infectious diseases with high illness and case-fatality rates, few or no available effective treatment or prevention options, and the ability to spread in the community and within healthcare settings. Those characteristics lead to significant risks to patients and their close contacts, healthcare workers, laboratory personnel, and communities exposed to an outbreak. We describe aspects of healthcare system preparedness for and response to HCIDs, including the role of high-level isolation units, ensuring safe clinical laboratory capabilities and waste management, increasing availability of medical countermeasures, coordinating with stakeholders and systems of care, and communicating with the public. Finally, we discuss priority areas for further investment in HCID preparedness, care, and research. Effective and equitably disseminated medical countermeasures for HCIDs are urgently needed.”

“Disseminating In Silico and Computational Biological Research”

From NASEM: “Current policies on dual-use research of concern (DURC) and pathogens with enhanced pandemic potential (PEPP) typically focus on physical laboratory work. In light of the fast-evolving advances in artificial intelligence and computational modeling, these frameworks do not effectively inform risk and benefit evaluation and assessment related to the information and resources generated from computational studies.”

“To address these concerns, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation on April 3-4, 2025, to explore the benefits and biosecurity risks of communicating and publishing biological research using in silico modeling and computational approaches. The workshop brought together multi-sectoral experts to discuss current policies and safeguards related to DURC and PEPP, as well as lessons learned, and considered the challenges and opportunities for promoting the benefits of computational and AI-driven approaches in biology while mitigating potential biosecurity risks. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop, including suggestions from participants on tiered oversight approaches, early-stage risk evaluations and assessment, and incentivizing norms through training and publication standards.”

“Recommendations to OSTP for Gene Synthesis Screening Framework”

From Americans for Responsible Innovation: “America stands at a critical inflection point in biotechnology leadership, where our nation’s dominance in nucleic acid synthesis represents both a significant competitive advantage and one of our most vulnerable frontiers. The Trump Administration’s bold May 5th Executive Order, Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research, takes a forward-looking approach that puts America First by making it more difficult for bad actors both domestically and globally to access genetic material that would allow them to produce deadly pathogens. Without proper screening and oversight, synthetic biological materials could create major national security risks. The following recommendations build upon the Administration’s decisive leadership to ensure that America maintains its biotechnology edge while implementing the commonsense nucleic acid synthesis screening safeguards necessary to protect American citizens and preserve our national security advantage.”

ICYMI: Mirror Biology: Global Risks, National Security Concerns, and Practical Actions

Watch the recording of this event hosted by the Brown Pandemic Center here.

“Last year, a group of scientists including two Nobel Laureates and 16 members of national academies from around the world published a warning against building a technology that some of them had spent years working toward: mirror bacteria. Mirror bacteria are hypothetical synthetic organisms built from mirror-image forms of the proteins, amino acids, DNA, and other biomolecules used by life on earth. In an analysis published in Science, the group argued that such organisms could be built within the next 10 to 30 years and could pose an extraordinary threat if they were.”

“The analysis is that mirror bacteria could be resistant to many mechanisms of immunity in humans, nonhuman animals, and possibly plants. They could also be resistant to the predators that keep populations of wild bacteria in check. It’s plausible, then, that mirror bacteria could act as an invasive species, causing fatal infections as they spread and irreversibly disrupting ecosystems in the process.”

“While the threat is not imminent—scientists cannot yet make mirror-image versions of all the components that would be needed to create a mirror bacterium, and no researchers have successfully booted up a normal bacterium from entirely nonliving parts—the questions raised by mirror biology are pressing. What are the risks and challenges posed by mirror biology to global health, national security, and international collaboration and what practical steps can be taken to stop those risks from developing?”

NEW: BWC Working Group Friends of the Chair Webinar Series: Rolling Text

From UNIDIR: “The Chair of the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), in collaboration with UNIDIR and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, is organizing an informal webinar to stimulate reflection and discussion ahead of the sixth session of the Working Group.”

“The event will focus on the rolling text being prepared by the Chair for the sixth session, taking into account comments received on his non-paper dated 6 May. The webinar will have a particular emphasis on the proposed mechanisms for science and technology and for international cooperation, as well as measures on compliance and verification. It will feature an expert panel followed by a moderated question-and-answer session with the audience.”

This event will take place on August 5, 12:15-14:45 CEST via Zoom. Register here.

Accelerating Biosecurity Networking Event

“Join us for an evening with Ginkgo Biosecurity and SecureBio as we explore how we can accelerate biosecurity efforts in the next 1-3 years. With momentum building around initiatives like HHS’s potential $52 million investment in a new “Biothreat Radar Detection System”, and Ginkgo expanding its global pathogen surveillance network, there’s a clear opportunity to push the field forward. SecureBio’s Nucleic Acid Observatory is also scaling wastewater sequencing across the US, contributing to this growing biosecurity landscape.”

​”This is your chance to connect with fellow innovators and experts, share ideas, and brainstorm solutions to improve biosecurity in a rapidly evolving landscape. The evening will feature two short lightning talks from senior biosecurity leaders, followed by plenty of time to mingle and discuss ideas.”

This event will take place on July 31 at 6 pm in Boston. Learn more and register here.

CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction

From the World Organisation for Animal Health: “In October 2025, WOAH is hosting its third Global Conference, with the goal of galvanising advocacy efforts to manage the rising risk of biological threats from across the world.”

“The Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction – which will take place in Geneva on 28-30 October 2025 – will bring together top minds in the fields of
health-security, emerging technologies, and biothreat reduction policies, from the public and private sectors – to focus on the latest strategies, challenges and innovations in combating biological threats to our interconnected ecosystems.”

“The Conference will bring together approximately 400 participants from different sectors, including animal health, law enforcement and security, public health, international and regional organisations, investment and development partners, private sector and industry representatives, research, academia and regulatory authorities, youth organisations.”

“Attendees will engage in thought-provoking discussions and innovative technical presentations aimed at strengthening prevention, preparedness and response capabilities across the world.”

“The event will be guided by a narrative that traces WOAH’s commitment to biological threat reduction and the increasingly relevant role it plays at the health-security interface. Against the backdrop of an uncertain future, WOAH believes that synergies between sectors can drive positive change – making the world a safer and healthier place. ”

Learn more and register here.

Request for Proposals: Biosafety and Biosecurity Capacity Strengthening in Support of the 100 Days Mission

From CEPI: “This Request for Proposals (RfP) will support the establishment of a group of implementation partners to enable successful implementation of CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy, focused on objectives associated with capacity strengthening, equity, and health-security partnerships, as described in CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy Implementation Plan. The selected applicants will sign a Framework Agreement under which CEPI can make “call-offs”, i.e. requests for services, related to specific tasks. At CEPI’s direction, services rendered under this Framework Agreement may be provided to CEPI internally, or to a partner organization (e.g. partner countries, affiliates within CEPI’s laboratory and manufacturing networks particularly in the Global South, international organisations, etc.); such partners may govern aspects of the content of the work, but the legal agreement remains with CEPI.”

Learn more and submit proposals by July 30 here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

64th ISODARCO Course

From ISODARCO: “In recent years, the global security landscape has become increasingly volatile, shaped by a convergence of geopolitical tensions, technological advancements, and evolving nuclear doctrines. The post-Cold War order that once provided a measure of predictability in global security has eroded. Conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, and strategic competition between major powers have reshaped alliances and strategic postures.”

“At the same time, disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic missiles, and cyber threats – are adding new layers of complexity to both nuclear and conventional deterrence dynamics. These technologies are not only distorting the information landscape but also compressing decision-making timelines and complicating signaling mechanisms, increasing the risk of miscalculation.”

“Effectively managing nuclear escalation risks in this environment will require a combination of innovative diplomacy, technological safeguards, and renewed dialogue mechanisms to rebuild trust, reduce misperceptions, and stabilize strategic relations.”

“The ISODARCO 2026 Winter Course presents an invaluable opportunity for students and experts to discuss and examine these dynamics in depth and explore approaches to re-establishing strategic stability and reducing nuclear dangers in a volatile world.”

This course will take place January 11-18, 2026, in Andalo. Learn more and apply here.

Pandora Report 7.18.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

This week’s Pandora Report includes more updates on avian influenza, discussion of recent cuts and layoffs in the US federal government, discussion of Israeli airstrikes in Damascus and what they mean for efforts to destroy Syria’s CW stockpile, and more.

US Wastes Hundreds of Thousands of Vaccines Pledged to Africa

The United States has failed to deliver hundreds of thousands of mpox vaccine doses pledged to African countries, according to recent reporting from Politico. While the doses are still currently good, they will expire within six months, making them ineligible to be delivered now, according to Africa CDC officials. The US has so far sent about 91,000 of the more than one million mpox vaccines pledged by the Biden administration, and 220,000 doses have enough shelf life left to still be shipped if the Trump administration allows it. However, cuts by this administration have caused the rest to effectively be wasted. Using UNICEF numbers, Politico estimates these vaccines cost about $65 a dose.

This comes alongside broader concerning news about global vaccine coverage. Officials from the United Nations recently reported that 14 million children globally did not receive a single vaccine last year. While there was some good news (For example, about 85% of children who started completed the three-dose series of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine, up from 84% in 2023.), officials say that the collapse of international aid this year will make it much more difficult to reduce the number of unprotected children globally. This is likely to worsen as vaccine skeptics continue to gain key positions within US government organizations, including HHS, and as the US continues to make cuts to foreign aid. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement about this analysis, “Drastic cuts in aid, coupled with misinformation about the safety of vaccines, threaten to unwind decades of progress.”

Other Vaccine News:

PEPFAR Survives Proposed Cuts

PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has emerged unscathed by a package of billions of dollars worth of funding cuts Congress sent to President Trump’s desk today. The original recissions package called for $400 million in cuts to the program that was established by former President George W. Bush in 2003. Senate Democrats and a number of Republicans rejected the proposed cuts. The package aims to claw back $9 billion in congressionally-approved funding for foreign aid and public media funding. It passed the Senate on Thursday, 51-48, after overcoming several hurdles, before passing the House.

Further Reading:

Cuts and Layoffs Continue to Abound in the Federal Government

HHS finalized this week 10,000 layoffs across federal health agencies, including NIH, FDA, and CDC, following a Supreme Court ruling allowing the administration to move forward with the lay offs. Laid off employees included people who helped coordinate travel for overseas drug facility inspectors, communications staff, public records officials, and employees who oversaw contracts related to federal research. Their terminations were previously announced in March, with many only finding out they had been laid off when their work badges stopped working on April 1. The NIH is also now set to dismiss dozens of grant reviewers, reportedly to more closely align the agency with the administration’s priorities.

The State Department also fired more than 1,300 employees late last week in a move the administration says will cut back on “bloat” and inefficiencies. Offices impacted include the Office of Global Women’s issues, as well as others, such as those focused on diversity and inclusion and Syria. Layoff notices were sent to more than 1,100 civil services employees (who largely have a 60 day separation period) and 240 Foreign Service employees, who will be placed on paid administrative leave then lose their jobs 120 days after notice. An FAQ document provided to fired employees said this action was taken to “focus the Department’s resources on policy priorities and eliminate redundant functions in order to better deliver for American taxpayers.”

In a statement defending the firings, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was necessary to overhaul what has been described as the Department’s sluggish decision-making processes and redundancies. Rubio said in May, “There were 40 boxes on this piece of paper,” referring to the policy approval process. “That means 40 people had to check off ‘yes’ before it even got to me. That’s ridiculous. And if any one of those boxes didn’t get checked, the memo didn’t move. That can’t continue.”

Further Reading:

Avian Influenza Updates

By Margeaux Malone, Pandora Report Associate Editor

Invisible Pandemic: How H5N1 is Decimating Global Wildlife

While headlines focused on rising egg prices and concerns for a human pandemic, H5N1 bird flu has been quietly ravaging global wildlife populations. Wildlife scientists have monitored avian influenza for decades, mostly watching out for potential spillovers into commercial poultry or humans. The many variations of circulating bird flu virus typically have minimal effect on wild birds. However, since the emergence of the 2.3.4.4b clade in 2020, scientists have noted an unprecedented impact on bird and mammalian species across six continents, with little attention from the general public. Stephanie Avery-Gomm, a conservation scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, estimates nearly 40% of Canada’s Northern Gannet population died as a result of a months-long H5N1 outbreak in 2022. In 2023, Marcela Uhart, a wildlife veterinarian at the University of California, Davis, observed as a breeding colony of southern elephant seals in Argentina lost 96% of the year’s pups, approximately 17,400 animals. Similar reports are coming in from wildlife experts around the world: 24,463 Cape Cormorants in South Africa, 21 California Condors in the western U.S., 5,500 Peruvian Pelicans. With one in six affected bird species and 25% of affected mammals already considered threatened, H5N1 pushes vulnerable populations toward potential extinction. Recovery timelines stretch decades, and some populations may need a century to rebound.

The tallies of known dead animals and the estimation of missing animals in breeding colonies is heartbreaking, but what’s even more concerning is the number of invisible deaths. Scientists can only account for losses in monitored populations, but a significant amount of wildlife mortality occurs where no one is watching, such as out at sea or in vast swaths of wilderness with no humans around to see. The bottom line is that the true scale of H5N1 in wildlife populations is unknown and hard to determine. However, the impact extends far beyond just the losses in individual species; large animal die-offs could throw entire ecosystems into disarray. Northern Gannets, as apex ocean predators, help regulate fish populations. Their significant decline could trigger cascading effects throughout marine food webs. Similarly, the virus has impacted scavenger species like vultures and skuas, disrupting natural cleanup systems. In India, similar vulture losses increased disease transmission and human death rates by 4% when carcasses accumulated without scavengers for to remove them. This crisis underscores a fundamental One Health reality: wildlife health and human health are inseparably linked through shared ecosystems. Although scientists have detected protective antibodies in some animals, the virus continues to spread to new species and monitoring is still limited. The invisible wildlife crisis represents not just an environmental tragedy, but a critical blind spot in our pandemic defense systems.

Further Reading:

UF Tackles Bird Flu Misinformation

The University of Florida (UF) has established an H5N1 Coordination Group to combat bird flu misinformation through science-based education. Although the number of human cases remains low, the illness is still being detected regularly in migratory birds, wildlife, and livestock, including a new outbreak in a U.S. dairy cattle herd in California confirmed July 9th. UF expects transmission risks to increase during the fall migration season. The group has published educational guides targeting consumers and backyard chicken owners, covering topics like transmission methods, precautions, and infection signs. They emphasize that properly handled eggs, milk, and chicken are safe; however, raw milk and poultry products are not safe for human or animal consumption. Extension personnel are also completing professional training to be able to respond to concerns from local farmers and consumers, and the group is helping develop biosecurity guidelines for county fairs and livestock shows to mitigate potential outbreaks. The ultimate goal of these outreach efforts is to support a well-informed public that is capable of making smart health decisions related to this potentially serious health issue.

COVID-19 Updates

The CDC reported late last week that cases of COVID-19 are likely rising across 25 states as this year’s summer wave gets going. The rise in cases is in many states in the Southeast, Southern, and West Coast regions. However, national COVID-19 activity is still considered “low” based on wastewater sample data, up from “very low” the week prior. The Pacific Northwest has seen a sharp rise in ER visits for COVID-19, and rates are also rising in the Southeast.

Further Reading:

Syria Official: Israeli Strikes on Damascus Hinder Efforts to Destroy CW Stockpile

Ibrahim Olabi, who is the legal adviser to Syria’s Foreign Ministry tasked with the chemical weapons file, said this week that Israel’s airstrikes on Damascus are hindering the country’s efforts to find and destroy chemical weapons stockpiled under the Assad regime. He explained further that a planned visit by OPCW inspectors has already had to be postponed. The Organisation will reportedly hold an urgent meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation in the country. Israel’s airstrikes on Wednesday damaged the defense ministry, which Olabi says provides the institutional infrastructure necessary to organize and secure visits by OPCW inspectors.

Further Reading:

“Predators at the Viral Gate: Multi-Species Foraging at a Marburg Virus Reservoir”

Atukwatse et al. recently published this preprint: “Understanding how zoonotic viruses spill over from wildlife to humans requires direct ecological observation at reservoir-host interfaces — yet such events remain rare in the literature, and no such interface has been documented at scale. As part of a broader long-term study on African leopard (Panthera pardus) population ecology in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, we deployed camera traps on animal trails and at Python Cave, a known roost site of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and a confirmed Marburg and virus reservoir. This serendipitous deployment yielded the first visual documentation of a multi-trophic predator and scavenger guild interacting at a filovirus reservoir site. Over a five month period (February 16th – June 5th 2025) across 304 trap nights, we recorded at least 14 different vertebrate species, including leopards, primates, raptors, and small carnivores, engaging in bat predation, scavenging on bat remains, guano foraging, or cave exploration across 261 temporally and spatially independent events (>1 hour apart). These instances were structured, repeated and the species continuously made contact with the bats or entered their roosting space. Camera traps also recorded an estimated 400 human individuals visiting the cave — including school groups, tourists, and local trainees — the majority with no personal protective equipment. The shallow, accessible structure of Python Cave appears to collapse the typical spatial buffers between reservoir species and both predators and humans. These observations constitute the first ecological confirmation of a dynamic, multispecies exposure network at a known Marburg virus site, and may represent a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the real-time mechanics of zoonotic spillover.”

Read more about this paper in this article from The New York Times.

“Priorities to Uphold European Biosecurity in 2025”

This is a joint briefing by Pandemic Action Network, RAND Europe, IBBIS, Pour Demain, and the Centre for Future Generations that concludes, “For the EU to appropriately balance both the tremendous promises and challenges of biotechnology, it is critical to advance the comprehensive planning, structures, and investments to respond to the risks we know now and stay attuned to risks of the future. A concerted effort to embed priorities to uphold European biosecurity will enable Europe to embrace and shape the future technological landscape.”

“International Experts Urge Collective Action to Address Emerging AIxBio Risks”

This NTI post explains that more than 35 leading experts have called for urgent and coordinated global action to address risks emerging from the convergence of AI and the life sciences. It notes that, while these technologies promise important breakthroughs, they also heighten the risk of accidental or intentional release of harmful biological agents. It provides further discussion of the Statement on Biosecurity Risks at the Convergence of AI and the Life Sciences and NTI’s recommendations for addressing these threats.

NEW: Accelerating Biosecurity Networking Event

“Join us for an evening with Ginkgo Biosecurity and SecureBio as we explore how we can accelerate biosecurity efforts in the next 1-3 years. With momentum building around initiatives like HHS’s potential $52 million investment in a new “Biothreat Radar Detection System”, and Ginkgo expanding its global pathogen surveillance network, there’s a clear opportunity to push the field forward. SecureBio’s Nucleic Acid Observatory is also scaling wastewater sequencing across the US, contributing to this growing biosecurity landscape.”

​”This is your chance to connect with fellow innovators and experts, share ideas, and brainstorm solutions to improve biosecurity in a rapidly evolving landscape. The evening will feature two short lightning talks from senior biosecurity leaders, followed by plenty of time to mingle and discuss ideas.”

This event will take place on July 31 at 6 pm in Boston. Learn more and register here.

NEW: Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction

From the World Organisation for Animal Health: “In October 2025, WOAH is hosting its third Global Conference, with the goal of galvanising advocacy efforts to manage the rising risk of biological threats from across the world.”

“The Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction – which will take place in Geneva on 28-30 October 2025 – will bring together top minds in the fields of
health-security, emerging technologies, and biothreat reduction policies, from the public and private sectors – to focus on the latest strategies, challenges and innovations in combating biological threats to our interconnected ecosystems.”

“The Conference will bring together approximately 400 participants from different sectors, including animal health, law enforcement and security, public health, international and regional organisations, investment and development partners, private sector and industry representatives, research, academia and regulatory authorities, youth organisations.”

“Attendees will engage in thought-provoking discussions and innovative technical presentations aimed at strengthening prevention, preparedness and response capabilities across the world.”

“The event will be guided by a narrative that traces WOAH’s commitment to biological threat reduction and the increasingly relevant role it plays at the health-security interface. Against the backdrop of an uncertain future, WOAH believes that synergies between sectors can drive positive change – making the world a safer and healthier place. ”

Learn more and register here.

Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity

“This Commission meeting, Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity, will be held on July 22, 2025. As a new Administration begins to develop its policy priorities and realigns federal offices and programs, the government must maintain and strengthen federal capabilities to address the biological threat. The focus of this meeting will be to provide the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense with a better understanding of (1) core requirements for effective national biodefense; (2) Administration biodefense priorities; (3) impacts of department and agency realignment; and (4) strategies for addressing future biological threats. More information will be provided as the event date approaches.”

This event will take place on July 22, 10 am-4 pm ET in Washington, DC. Register here.

SBA.4 International Synthetic Biology and Biosecurity Conference in Africa

From SynBio Africa: “The SBA 4.0 conference will serve as a platform for fostering connections among industry, academia, community groups, and policymakers. It will showcase innovative applications of synthetic biology and AI, and highlight ongoing efforts in biomathematics, biomanufacturing, one-health, biosafety and biosecurity. It will also facilitate networking and information exchange. Key focus areas include tackling agriculture, health, environmental management, and industry challenges. In Africa, synthetic biology is poised to drive the national development agenda by promoting a sustainable bioeconomy, supporting health and agricultural systems, and aiding environmental conservation and restoration. This event will provide a vital opportunity for stakeholders to discuss and strategize the integration of synthetic biology innovations, address policy, legal frameworks, and communicate the benefits of the technology.”

This conference will take place July 23-25 in Kigali. Learn more and register here.

CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

NEW: Open Call: Experts for the Collaboratory Technical Advisory Group

“The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Collaboratory Technical Advisory Group. This “Call for experts” provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.”

Read more and express interest by July 24 here.

NEW: 64th ISODARCO Course

From ISODARCO: “In recent years, the global security landscape has become increasingly volatile, shaped by a convergence of geopolitical tensions, technological advancements, and evolving nuclear doctrines. The post-Cold War order that once provided a measure of predictability in global security has eroded. Conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, and strategic competition between major powers have reshaped alliances and strategic postures.”

“At the same time, disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic missiles, and cyber threats – are adding new layers of complexity to both nuclear and conventional deterrence dynamics. These technologies are not only distorting the information landscape but also compressing decision-making timelines and complicating signaling mechanisms, increasing the risk of miscalculation.”

“Effectively managing nuclear escalation risks in this environment will require a combination of innovative diplomacy, technological safeguards, and renewed dialogue mechanisms to rebuild trust, reduce misperceptions, and stabilize strategic relations.”

“The ISODARCO 2026 Winter Course presents an invaluable opportunity for students and experts to discuss and examine these dynamics in depth and explore approaches to re-establishing strategic stability and reducing nuclear dangers in a volatile world.”

This course will take place January 11-18, 2026, in Andalo. Learn more and apply here.

Request for Proposals: Biosafety and Biosecurity Capacity Strengthening in Support of the 100 Days Mission

From CEPI: “This Request for Proposals (RfP) will support the establishment of a group of implementation partners to enable successful implementation of CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy, focused on objectives associated with capacity strengthening, equity, and health-security partnerships, as described in CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy Implementation Plan. The selected applicants will sign a Framework Agreement under which CEPI can make “call-offs”, i.e. requests for services, related to specific tasks. At CEPI’s direction, services rendered under this Framework Agreement may be provided to CEPI internally, or to a partner organization (e.g. partner countries, affiliates within CEPI’s laboratory and manufacturing networks particularly in the Global South, international organisations, etc.); such partners may govern aspects of the content of the work, but the legal agreement remains with CEPI.”

Learn more and submit proposals by July 30 here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

Pandora Report 7.11.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

This week’s Pandora Report incudes discussion of H5N1, a lawsuit filed by professional organizations against HHS and RFK Jr. over COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, measles cases in the US, and more.

Updates on the Administration

Medical, Public Health Societies File Lawsuit Against Kennedy, HHS Over COVID-19 Immunization Recommendations

A group of six major medical and public health organizations have filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., challenging the removal of COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for both pregnant women and healthy children. Plaintiffs include the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Physicians, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance. They are joined by a Jane Doe, who is a pregnant physician and says she fears she will be unable to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

The lawsuit argues Kennedy and HHS acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in making changes recently to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. It also highlights Kennedy’s previous promises to not do anything “that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines,” as well as his statements that people should not take medical advice from him. It further states, “The Directive is but one example of the Secretary’s agenda to dismantle the longstanding, Congressionally-authorized, science- and evidence-based vaccine infrastructure that has prevented the deaths of untold millions of Americans.” Though this lawsuit focuses on COVID-19 vaccines, others may be added later.

Senate Committee Advances Monarez Nomination

The Senate Help, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced Susan Monarez’s nomination to lead the CDC in a party-line vote. Monarez has been serving as interim CDC director, and she was previously Deputy Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. While some on the HELP Committee, including Senator Bill Cassidy, expressed confidence in Monarez and her ability to restore public trust in the CDC, others were troubled by her refusal to answer questions about any disagreements she may have with Sec. Kennedy.

For example, in a statement explaining his vote, Sen. Bernie Sanders said, “n my view, we need a CDC director who will defend science, protect public health, repudiate Secretary Kennedy’s dangerous conspiracy theories about safe and effective vaccines that have saved over the years millions of lives…Unfortunately, after reviewing her record, I do not believe that Dr. Monarez sees that person.”

Further Reading:

US Records Highest Number of Measles Cases in 33 Years

The United States has recorded its highest annual number of measles cases in 33 years, reaching more than 1,280 confirmed cases this week. The cases come from 38 states and the District of Columbia, though Texas continues to account for the bulk of cases. Nationally, 155 people have been hospitalized and three have died, two of whom were children. The CDC reports that 92% of cases are in people who are either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.

Further Reading:

Avian Influenza Updates

By Margeaux Malone, Pandora Report Associate Editor

To Cull or Not to Cull, Is It Even a Question?

A coalition of virologists, veterinarians, and health security experts emphatically assert that, yes, culling should remain a critical component of bird flu (H5N1) control. In a Policy Forum published July 3 in Science, researchers directly challenged suggestions by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to let the virus spread through flocks unchecked to identify naturally resistant birds. Their scientific verdict is that this approach is both “dangerous and unethical” and could hasten the start of a new viral pandemic.

The administration’s alternative approach of allowing widespread infection to hopefully identify survivor birds fundamentally misunderstands both virology and agricultural reality. H5N1 kills nearly 100% of domestic chickens it infects, and any survivors are unlikely to be healthy enough for productive egg laying. Furthermore, commercial chickens don’t breed themselves anyway, making genetic resistance irrelevant. The U.S. poultry industry relies on a pyramid structure. A small number of multinational primary breeding companies (e.g. Aviagen, Cobb-Vantress, Hubbard) develop and maintain the genetic lines through controlled breeding programs in specialized high-biosecurity facilities. These companies then sell breeding stock to production companies and integrators (e.g. Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms) who raise the commercial meat birds and laying hens. The birds at the bottom of the pyramid, the animals most likely to be affected by flu outbreaks, are genetic endpoints that don’t contribute to future generations.

According to lead author Erin Sorrell, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, “poultry infected with H5[N1] shed a tremendous amount of virus. If effective controls designed to mitigate the quantity of viral shedding and known transmission pathways are removed, the exposure risk for other animals and humans on site and on neighboring farms will increase, and the opportunity for H5[N1] to evolve to be a more effective poultry pathogen increases.” Uncontrolled viral circulation not only allows for unnecessary suffering of birds in infected flocks, but it also creates ideal conditions for dangerous viral adaptation. Every new infection provides H5N1 with opportunities to mutate and potentially gain the ability to spread human-to-human. Prolonged farmworker exposure combined with increased viral evolution could create reservoirs of infection that raise pandemic risk substantially.

CDC Ends H5N1 Emergency Response Despite Ongoing Surveillance Concerns

The CDC has officially ended its H5N1 bird flu emergency response, citing a lack of new human cases since February and a decline in animal infections. Surveillance, readiness, and response for influenza, including bird flu, will continue as per usual under the CDC’s influenza division, and the number of people monitored and tested for H5N1 will be updated monthly. CDC will also no longer report on detection of H5N1 in animals, although this data can still be found through USDA APHIS. Former CDC principal deputy director Dr. Nirav Shah, who resigned his position earlier this year, says he agrees with the decision, assuring the public that this was initiated by career scientists at CDC and not imposed by the administration.

However, the timing raises significant concerns about surveillance adequacy and national preparedness for another outbreak. With the recent announcement that HHS cancelled a $766 million federal contract with Moderna to develop mRNA vaccines for bird flu, early detection in both animals and humans will be critical if the virus mutates to allow for person-to-person transmission. The virus continues to circulate amongst birds and mammals in the United States, with a confirmed outbreak of nearly 30,000 birds at a commercial game bird farm in Pennsylvania on July 2 and a herd of dairy cattle in Arizona on June 24. The majority of human infections thus far have occurred in agricultural workers in close proximity to infected animals. However, given ongoing fears for mass immigration raids across the country, voluntary testing for is much less likely in this group. Experts worry that reduced testing may create dangerous blind spots, particularly as seasonal flu patterns typically intensify in fall. Without robust surveillance detecting mild cases among exposed workers, the transition from emergency to routine response may prove premature if H5N1’s pandemic potential materializes.

Human H5N1 Infections Surge in Cambodia

Cambodia has now reported 12 laboratory-confirmed cases of human H5N1 infection in 2025, with six fatalities, primarily linked to direct contact with infected backyard poultry. Seven of these cases occurred since early June, signaling an unusual surge in human infections. The most recent case, announced July 3, is a five-year-old boy who is currently hospitalized in the intensive care unit. H5N1 is known to circulate in Cambodian poultry, but a new reassortment was detected containing genes from an older Cambodian clade and from the global 2.3.4.4b clade also involved in the outbreak in dairy cattle and poultry in the U.S. The WHO currently assesses the risk to the general population as low; however, the uptick of cases in Cambodia serves as a reminder that the threat of zoonotic disease transmission remains ever relevant.

Further Reading:

“When the Mosquitoes Bite, the Biomedical Research Lab Bites Back”

Sarah Holland discusses GMU’s Biomedical Research Lab’s work to combat mosquito-borne diseases in this piece for the university: “It’s summer, and with those longer days come backyard cookouts, outdoor activities and—ouch!—bug bites. Mosquitoes love Northern Virginia’s infamous hot and humid summers. And as the world’s deadliest animal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they’re more than just a nuisance at the family barbeque: They’re a health hazard….But in partnership with Prince William County, George Mason University’s Biomedical Research Laboratory (BRL) is working to prevent outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases.”

Read more here.

“Securing the Biotechnology Frontier: Three Targeted Technical Interventions to Strengthen US Biodefense in the Post-Pandemic Era”

Anemone Franz authored this report for the Belfer Center: “While the COVID-19 pandemic initially brought the extreme human and economic costs of natural infectious diseases to the public’s attention, the ongoing lab leak debate has shifted the focus to an equally concerning threat: the possibility of engineered pandemics. Rapid advancements in biotechnologies have democratized capabilities once limited to high-resourced laboratories, creating an urgent need for governance frameworks that balance competitive innovation with strong national and global biosecurity. As technological advances continue to outpace regulatory oversight, the post-pandemic world faces a critical inflection point where our choices about biosecurity governance will shape our defences against future threats and our ability to harness biotechnology’s life-saving potential.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered attitudes toward biological research governance. While determining the origins of SARS-CoV-2 remains important, the central debate often misses a more crucial point: the mere possibility of a laboratory release, regardless of whether it occurred in this instance, reveals critical vulnerabilities in our biosecurity and biosafety systems.”

“This policy brief proposes three targeted technical interventions to strengthen America’s resilience to biological threats and safely develop and deploy cutting-edge biotechnologies:

1. Enhance DNA Synthesis Screening and Verification: Strengthen and build upon existing frameworks to establish comprehensive federal screening requirements for all DNA synthesis orders to prevent misuse of this critical technology.

2. Advance Pathogen Early Warning Systems: Deploy cutting-edge surveillance technologies and unified data platforms that can detect emerging biological threats earlier and more reliably than current systems.

3. Improve Genetic Engineering Detection and Attribution Capabilities: Develop technical forensic capabilities to determine if pathogens have been engineered and potentially trace them to specific laboratories.”

“These technical interventions would collectively strengthen America’s biodefense capabilities to prevent, detect, and attribute biological threats, creating a defense against natural outbreaks and engineered pathogens. By investing in these critical technologies, the United States can establish global technical standards, create new high-value industries, and ensure that biotechnology’s transformative potential benefits humanity rather than threatening it.”

“Report on the Global Arbovirus Surveillance and Response Capacity Survey 2021-2022”

From WHO: “In 2021-2022 the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a survey to assess current surveillance and response guidelines and practices across WHO Member States to identify critical areas that require strengthening. WHO gathered data from 167 countries and territories on the structure and coverage of their arbovirus surveillance systems, laboratory and entomological capacity, clinical management capacity, epidemic preparedness, access to expertise and staffing. The survey findings confirmed that preparedness and response system attributes and stages of development differ between countries, often reflecting surveillance and response measures developed in response to endemic or epidemic Aedes-borne arbovirus circulation. In many low-resourced settings, in particular, surveillance infrastructure is unlikely to detect transmission even though competent vectors are known to be present. In 2022 WHO launched the Global Arbovirus Initiative (GLAI) for Aedes-borne arboviral diseases to strengthen the coordination, communication, capacity-building, research, preparedness and response needed to mitigate the growing risk of epidemics due to arboviral diseases. The findings of the survey have informed the objectives and priority activities of the GLAI and will serve as a baseline against which progress can be measured.”

Read here.

“Landscape Analysis of the Opportunities and Challenges for Neurotechnology in Global Health”

From WHO: “This report provides a detailed examination of the current landscape of neurotechnology, specifically exploring both its potential benefits and challenges from a global health perspective. The landscape analysis focuses on four emerging subcategories of neurotechnology, namely: neuroimaging, the braincomputer interface (BCI), neuromodulation, and neurological devices.”

Read here.

“UK Biological Security Strategy Implementation Report June 2023 – June 2025”

From the UK Government: “The 2023 BSS provides the overarching strategic framework to make the UK resilient to a spectrum of biological threats and a world leader in responsible innovation by 2030. This report presents some of the key achievements from across the UK government and devolved governments since the launch of the BSS in June 2023, summarising the progress in delivering flagship commitments, and setting out what we hope to deliver in the next 12 months.”

‘“There’s a Real Urgency to Be Ready When That Bioconvergence Happens.”’

From Issues in Science and Technology: “Senator Todd Young shares his vision for how emerging biotechnologies can revolutionize agriculture, industry, and warfighting.”

Read here.

“The Australia Group at 40: Making the AG Fit for an Era of Geopolitical Competition”

Kolja Brockman authored this piece for the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium’s Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Papers: “The Australia Group (AG) is a cornerstone of states’ efforts to curb the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons (CBW). It is an informal group of states that coordinates and harmonizes export controls on CBW and related dual-use items. The AG guidelines and common control lists provide de facto international standards for export controls on CBW and related dual-use items. However, the AG has become the subject of renewed criticism and faces a range of challenges related to implementation of its key functions, rapid scientific and technological advances, and its future role in an era of geopolitical competition. Despite calls for modernization or structural reform of the regime to address structural challenges, the spread of the chemical and biotechnology industry and research and development within the industry, as well as the changing political and geoeconomic context, there has been no major reform of the AG in the past 10 years. To overcome these challenges and maintain the appeal of participating in and engaging with the AG, it needs to be strengthened and undertake meaningful reforms. Building on their like-mindedness, AG participants should develop a vision for membership, adherence and outreach, strengthen transparency and the provision of public goods, including publication of good practices documents, take steps to manage the impact of geopolitics and strengthen perceptions of the legitimacy of the AG.”

NEW: Mirror Biology: Global Risks, National Security Concerns, and Practical Actions

From Brown’s Pandemic Center: “On July 17th at 12:00PM ET the Pandemic Center will host a webinar titled: Mirror Biology: Global risks, national security concerns, and practical actions.”

“Last year, a group of scientists including two Nobel Laureates and 16 members of national academies from around the world published a warning against building a technology that some of them had spent years working toward: mirror bacteria, hypothetical synthetic organisms built from mirror-image forms of the proteins, amino acids, DNA, and other biomolecules used by life on earth.”

“In an analysis published in Science, the group argued that such organisms could be built within the next 10 to 30 years and could pose an extraordinary threat if they were: theoretically resistant to many mechanisms of immunity in humans, nonhuman animals, and possibly plants and potentially resistant to the predators that keep populations of wild bacteria in check.”

“While the threat is not imminent—scientists cannot yet make mirror-image versions of all the components that would be needed to create a mirror bacterium—the questions raised by mirror biology are pressing. What are the risks and challenges posed by mirror biology to global health, national security, and international collaboration and what practical steps can be taken to stop those risks from developing?”

Learn more and register here.

Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity

“This Commission meeting, Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity, will be held on July 22, 2025. As a new Administration begins to develop its policy priorities and realigns federal offices and programs, the government must maintain and strengthen federal capabilities to address the biological threat. The focus of this meeting will be to provide the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense with a better understanding of (1) core requirements for effective national biodefense; (2) Administration biodefense priorities; (3) impacts of department and agency realignment; and (4) strategies for addressing future biological threats. More information will be provided as the event date approaches.”

This event will take place on July 22, 10 am-4 pm ET in Washington, DC. Register here.

SBA.4 International Synthetic Biology and Biosecurity Conference in Africa

From SynBio Africa: “The SBA 4.0 conference will serve as a platform for fostering connections among industry, academia, community groups, and policymakers. It will showcase innovative applications of synthetic biology and AI, and highlight ongoing efforts in biomathematics, biomanufacturing, one-health, biosafety and biosecurity. It will also facilitate networking and information exchange. Key focus areas include tackling agriculture, health, environmental management, and industry challenges. In Africa, synthetic biology is poised to drive the national development agenda by promoting a sustainable bioeconomy, supporting health and agricultural systems, and aiding environmental conservation and restoration. This event will provide a vital opportunity for stakeholders to discuss and strategize the integration of synthetic biology innovations, address policy, legal frameworks, and communicate the benefits of the technology.”

This conference will take place July 23-25 in Kigali. Learn more and register here.

CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

Request for Proposals: Biosafety and Biosecurity Capacity Strengthening in Support of the 100 Days Mission

From CEPI: “This Request for Proposals (RfP) will support the establishment of a group of implementation partners to enable successful implementation of CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy, focused on objectives associated with capacity strengthening, equity, and health-security partnerships, as described in CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy Implementation Plan. The selected applicants will sign a Framework Agreement under which CEPI can make “call-offs”, i.e. requests for services, related to specific tasks. At CEPI’s direction, services rendered under this Framework Agreement may be provided to CEPI internally, or to a partner organization (e.g. partner countries, affiliates within CEPI’s laboratory and manufacturing networks particularly in the Global South, international organisations, etc.); such partners may govern aspects of the content of the work, but the legal agreement remains with CEPI.”

Learn more and submit proposals by July 30 here.

Pandora Report 7.4.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

This week’s Pandora Report includes alumni news, H5N1 updates, discussion of the new BIOTech Caucus, new publications, and more.

Biodefense PhD Alumna Named George Mason Senior VP and COO

Julie Zobel, an alumna of George Mason University’s Biodefense PhD Program, was recently named the university’s senior vice president and chief operating officer (COO) following a nationwide search. Joining George Mason in 2000, Zobel began as a health and safety engineer focused on chemical, biological, and radiation safety for George Mason’s instructional and research laboratories, serving in an escalating progression of leadership roles before becoming George Mason’s first chief risk officer in February 2024. Zobel provided operational stewardship of the university’s response to COVID-19, for which George Mason was recognized as a national leader in pandemic management. She also served as interim SVP beginning in August 2024 and was selected for this new role in April 2025 following a nationwide search.

Read more about her selection and experience here.

Updates on the Mess at HHS

World Leaders Pledge $9 Billion in Support to Gavi Following RFK Jr.’s Announcement of US Funding Withdrawal

Following the announcement that the US will halt its funding to Gavi, the vaccine alliance, world leaders at the Global Summit: Health & Prosperity through Immunisation pledged more than €7.7 billion (about $9 billion in USD) towards Gavi’s target budget of €10.2 billion (≈$12 billion) for 2026-2030. The summit also concluded with €3.8 billion (≈$4.5 billion) in complementary financing from development finance institutions, up to €170.6 million (≈$200 million) in cost savings for Gavi-supported programs announced by vaccine manufacturers, and other innovations and supply commitments that includes a €34.1 million (≈$40 million) anchor commitment towards a new Innovation Scale-Up Fund.

The summit saw a record number of new donors emerge to support Gavi’s next strategic cycle. Furthermore, some existing donors were unable to announce new commitments due to their own domestic budgetary cycles, demonstrating the broad base of support Gavi has in meeting its target budget. Furthermore, Gavi’s implementing countries are expected to invest a record €3.4 billion (≈$4 billion) towards their own immunization programs over the next five years.

President of the European Commission Usrula von der Leyen said in a statement, “Investing in health is investing in our shared future. Our work with Gavi saves lives. For over 20 years, we have stood side by side, with the European Union contributing over EUR 3.2 billion to vaccinate more than 1 billion children against deadly diseases. But millions still need this vital protection. Today, Team Europe is pledging more than EUR 2 billion. The EU remains committed to this mission so that children across the world are safer, healthier and stronger. This is global solidarity in action.”

Further Reading:

ACIP Fallout Continues

Following June’s meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), public health experts continue to sound the alarm about both Secretary Kennedy’s replacement of the 17 sitting ACIP members and the outcomes of the recent meeting. They warn that ACIP’s decision to recommend only single-dose flu vaccines (the thimerosal-free presentations), and the promise to revisit the entire childhood vaccine schedule and certain other routine vaccines, were driven by politics rather than science. They further fear this will only further undermine public confidence in vaccines. Criticism of the platforming of anti-vaccine advocates like Lyn Redwood by ACIP has also continued.

Further Reading:

CDC Grants Moving Behind Schedule

CDC has reportedly not yet received its full FY 2025 funding, operating instead with just 30-days worth of funding at a time. The impact of this has been severe, with potential to cause even greater damage soon. Because CDC does not have its funding, it is running behind on providing notices of awards to state and local health departments, agencies that overwhelmingly depend on federal funding and that use much of that funding to contract with local organizations. Many health departments have received no communication about why this process is delayed, making it risky for them to continue work without knowing they will be reimbursed for it. CDC staffers told NPR that the funding is now months late, and, if it is not dispersed soon, it will be too late to do so.

Prasad Overrode FDA Staff Experts on COVID-19 Vaccines

Vinay Prasad, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at FDA, rejected broad uses of the Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine from Novavax and Moderna’s next generation mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for those 12 and older. Prasad cited unknown risks or injuries in doing so, despite assurances of their safety from dozens of FDA experts. In fact, documents (linked below) reveal that vaccine staff members at FDA had already signed off on approving both vaccines. Prasad overruled both recommendations, instead advising restricting the use of both vaccines. Prasad wrote in the memo about Nuvaxovid, “Even rare vaccination-related harms, both known and unknown, now have a higher chance of outweighing potential benefits in non-high-risk populations.”

Further Reading:

RIP USAID, 1961-2025

The administration has officially dissolved the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), destroying an agency that for nearly 65 years served as a symbol of US generosity, leadership, and strength globally while advancing the national interests of the United States. USAID was established by President Kennedy in 1961 specifically to counter the USSR’s soft power globally. As a Congressional Research Service report explains, “USAID has sought to provide assistance to countries that the U.S. government has deemed to be strategically important and countries in conflict; lead U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, disease, and humanitarian need abroad; and assist U.S. commercial interests by supporting developing countries’ economic growth and building countries’ capacity to participate in world trade.”

USAID’s logo

USAID did just that spectacularly, saving an estimated 91 million lives from 2001 to 2021 alone, 30 million of whom were children. The same analysis estimates that 14 million more will die in the next five years, 4-5 million of whom are expected to be children, and that was just if USAID cuts continued, not if the agency was completely shuttered. Despite this, the administration claims the agency “has little to show since the end of the Cold War.”

USAID’s work did not just save and improve lives in low- and middle-income countries. It directly improved the safety, security, and prosperity of the US itself. The Challenge Accepted report from 2022 detailed how USAID investments in resilience and adaptation were critical to preventing instability and conflict, and how they helped the US maintain a competitive edge against China. That report was signed by 79 national security leaders, including a former DNI, a former CIA director, and eight retired four-star officers. Furthermore, since 2006, the US has embraced the 3 Ds of national security–defense, diplomacy, and development. For many countries around the world, development is the most effective tool the US has in its toolbox, making USAID’s work vital to national security. The agency also helped cultivate goodwill towards the US around the world, something that takes a long time to build, a lot of effort to maintain, and is invaluable when conflicts do arise.

USAID did all of this on a comparatively small budget. While the agency’s budget fluctuated from year-to-year, it spent $21.7 billion in FY 2024. While USAID accounted for the majority of US foreign aid spending, that was still just .3% of federal spending in that fiscal year. Polling suggests that many in the US believe foreign aid accounts for around 25% of the federal budget, and many of those polled also said that number should be closer to 10%. When the government spent $71.9 billion total on foreign aid in FY 2023, that was still just 1.2% of that fiscal year’s budget. Of that, USAID received $40 billion in combined appropriations, less than 1% of the total federal budget. In fact, the average US taxpayer has contributed just 18¢ per day to USAID’s budget. In contrast, the average US taxpayer paid about $4.79 per day toward Pentagon contractors alone in 2023.

With more than 80% of USAID’s former programs terminated, most of its staff fired, and the Department of State now overseeing US foreign assistance, the future of US foreign aid is unclear at best. In a statement about USAID’s dissolution, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies — and which advance American interests — will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency.”

Rubio further claimed the US is abandoning a “charity-based model” of foreign aid, saying “We will favor those nations that have demonstrated both the ability and willingness to help themselves and will target our resources to areas where they can have a multiplier effect and catalyze durable private sector, including American companies, and global investment.”

Further Reading:

Brain Drain, Global Decline, and Death: Further Reading on the Consequences of Cuts to US Science, Global Aid, and More

Bird Flu Updates

By Margeaux Malone, Pandora Report Associate Editor

A Deep Dive into Bird Flu with Scientific American

Scientific American’s Science Quickly podcast released a compelling three-part series examining the H5N1 bird flu outbreak that continues to keep public health officials on their toes. The investigation traces the virus’s complex journey from wild birds to domestic poultry, dairy cattle, and ultimately humans.

The series begins on the beaches of Delaware Bay, where virus hunters from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital collect excrement from migrating shorebirds to monitor avian viruses. Part one explores the evolution of bird flu over the last few decades, tracing how H5N1 transformed from isolated outbreaks, like the 1997 Hong Kong incident that killed six people, into today’s globally circulating pathogen.

Part two shifts the focus to dairy farms, revealing how cattle became unexpected intermediaries of bird flu virus transmission. After Texas farmers noticed lethargic cows producing discolored milk, genetic analysis revealed H5N1 contamination, a shocking development that caught the dairy industry unprepared.

The final installment takes listeners inside a high-security BSL-3 laboratory in San Antonio where scientists are developing vaccine candidates against potential pandemic flu strains. The series offers engaging insights into the history of bird flu and why it poses such a potential risk to humans, concluding with the unsettling question of whether we’re sufficiently prepared if an influenza pandemic comes home to roost.

Further Listening:

Feline Avian Flu Cases Highlight Surveillance Gaps

Since December 2022, USDA has confirmed over 130 feline cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 across the United States affecting barn and feral cats, big cats in zoos and in the wild, and pet cats living exclusively indoors. Although cats are typically dead-end hosts for the virus, there are rising concerns that they may serve as a bridge for zoonotic spillover of H5N1 to humans or allow for the emergence of mutated strains capable of spreading from cat-to-cat. In fact, such a situation occurred in a New York City shelter in 2016 with a strain of low pathogenic avian influenza H7N2, marking the first documented cat-to-human transmission of influenza A virus infection. Experts like Dr. Meghan Davis from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health advocate for more active testing and surveillance of HPAI in domestic species to mitigate pandemic risk, particularly in farm and shelter environments where epidemiological data is in short supply. However, such recommendations raise pressing questions about who would pay for these programs. Currently, the government does not reimburse veterinarians for H5N1 testing in cats, and the volume of tests and man-hours needed for active surveillance would be significant.

Further Reading:

Representatives form Bipartisan BIOTech Caucus

Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Stephanie Bice (R-OK) recently announced the formation of the bipartisan BIOTech Caucus. The mission of this caucus is to “…advance bipartisan policy solutions to keep the United States at the forefront of global biotechnology leadership, to engage and learn from sector leaders, and to build awareness and bioliteracy among Members of Congress.”

Houlahan and Bice will serve as co-chairs and be joined by Representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and Pete Sessions (R-TX). According to the press release about this from Houlahan’s office, “The Caucus recognizes the strategic economic and national security imperatives of federal policy investments in emerging biotechnology. The Caucus’ founding comes after the release of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB)’s comprehensive report to Congress in April of this year. The NSCEB report showed that China is surging ahead in key areas of emerging biotechnology, and Congress must act now to ensure the United States regains and retains its competitive edge. Failure to respond urgently to this and other national vulnerabilities risks the United States falling dangerously, and potentially irrecoverably, behind. Ceding biotechnology leadership will also cripple the robust industry job growth in America. On a national scale, the bioscience industry had a $2.9 trillion impact on the economy in 2021, supporting 2.1 million jobs.”

“The Mpox Response: African Leadership, Global Responsibility”

This editorial from The Lancet emphasizes the critical role African institutions are playing in responding to mpox outbreaks on the continent. It explains that a continent-wide Incident Management Support Team is being led by both Africa CDC and the WHO’s Regional Office for Africa and is coordinating vaccine deployment, surveillance, testing, and infection control efforts, However, these efforts are being made under very challenging conditions, which includes overlapping outbreaks of different mpox variants, the cholera epidemic, widespread poverty, and ongoing conflicts (particularly in the DRC).

The editorial criticizes the global response to mpox in Africa despite these efforts, arguing that they are insufficient and marked by complacency, and that a similar situation in high-income countries would likely instill much more urgency globally. It argues that this situation is a test of lessons learned in responding to COVID-19 and whether or not the world can now meaningfully cooperate in response to this kind of emergency. Thus, while public health institutions in Africa have demonstrated their capacity to lead well, sustained international support is still lacking. The editorial calls for the WHO Pandemic Agreement to be strengthened so it can deliver on its promises and ensure that improved global health cooperation comes to fruition.

“Advancing the Global Agenda for Pandemic Risk Assessment (June 2025)”

From the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response: “On 20 May 2025, The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response hosted a roundtable titled ‘Advancing the Global Agenda for Pandemic Risk Assessment’, co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations Office at Geneva. This report provides the context and summarises the themes, ideas and questions emerging from an open discussion on the concept of a multisectoral scientific synthesis to inform pandemic risk priorities and investments.”

“Data and AI-Enabled Biological Design: Risks Related to Biological Training Data and Opportunities for Governance”

From the RAND Corporation: “Artificial intelligence models trained on large volumes of biological data (AI-bio models) have demonstrated the growing abilities to support of basic scientific research goals. But some AI-bio models may be dual use, providing both beneficial capabilities and potentially dangerous ones. A nefarious actor with access to a frontier AI-bio model might be able to use it to design a pathogen with harmful phenotypic characteristics that enhance transmissibility. But model capabilities are closely linked to the data used to train them, and much less attention has been devoted to the relationship between dangerous capabilities and biological training data. The data that are included (or excluded) in model training heavily influences the models’ capabilities and limitations. Governance of data used to train AI-bio models could be a useful way to allow beneficial scientific research while safeguarding against potentially dangerous capabilities.”

“The authors of this paper assess current knowledge about the link between biological data and AI-bio model capabilities, describe the anticipated impacts of new biological data sources, and outline potentially dangerous capabilities that could come from broad availability of certain types of biological data. They then recommend strategies to limit the potentially dangerous capabilities arising from biological data, including options for governance of experiments and data creation, governance of curation and aggregations of data, controls on access to collections of data, and governance of the use of data for model training.”

“Hospital Attacks in Gaza and Israel: What Counts as a War Crime?”

Leonard S. Rubenstein and Feroze Sidhwa published this article in Think Global Health, in which they open with discussion of an Iranian missile hitting Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel, and the Israeli Air Force bombing Farabi Medical Center in Kermanshah, Iran. They build off of Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz’s statement calling Iran’s strike a war crime, writing in part, “Whether the attacks on Soroka and Farabi were war crimes is ultimately a question for investigators. But Katz’s point is correct: Attacks on hospitals, which are subject to special protections under international humanitarian law, are war crimes of the most serious kind.”

“That is why we—along with American and British health-care workers who’ve worked in Gaza, American senators and representatives [PDF], lawyers and civil servants [PDF] in the Joe Biden administration and the UK, UN experts, and Holocaust and genocide scholars—have been begging the United States to stop providing the weapons Israel has used not just to attack one hospital in Gaza but to demolish the strip’s entire health-care system. Indeed, over the past 20 months Israel, fully backed by the United States, has abandoned any pretense of respecting the protections enjoyed by hospitals under international law.”

Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity

“This Commission meeting, Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity, will be held on July 22, 2025. As a new Administration begins to develop its policy priorities and realigns federal offices and programs, the government must maintain and strengthen federal capabilities to address the biological threat. The focus of this meeting will be to provide the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense with a better understanding of (1) core requirements for effective national biodefense; (2) Administration biodefense priorities; (3) impacts of department and agency realignment; and (4) strategies for addressing future biological threats. More information will be provided as the event date approaches.”

This event will take place on July 22, 10 am-4 pm ET in Washington, DC. Register here.

SBA.4 International Synthetic Biology and Biosecurity Conference in Africa

From SynBio Africa: “The SBA 4.0 conference will serve as a platform for fostering connections among industry, academia, community groups, and policymakers. It will showcase innovative applications of synthetic biology and AI, and highlight ongoing efforts in biomathematics, biomanufacturing, one-health, biosafety and biosecurity. It will also facilitate networking and information exchange. Key focus areas include tackling agriculture, health, environmental management, and industry challenges. In Africa, synthetic biology is poised to drive the national development agenda by promoting a sustainable bioeconomy, supporting health and agricultural systems, and aiding environmental conservation and restoration. This event will provide a vital opportunity for stakeholders to discuss and strategize the integration of synthetic biology innovations, address policy, legal frameworks, and communicate the benefits of the technology.”

This conference will take place July 23-25 in Kigali. Learn more and register here.

CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

Request for Proposals: Biosafety and Biosecurity Capacity Strengthening in Support of the 100 Days Mission

From CEPI: “This Request for Proposals (RfP) will support the establishment of a group of implementation partners to enable successful implementation of CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy, focused on objectives associated with capacity strengthening, equity, and health-security partnerships, as described in CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy Implementation Plan. The selected applicants will sign a Framework Agreement under which CEPI can make “call-offs”, i.e. requests for services, related to specific tasks. At CEPI’s direction, services rendered under this Framework Agreement may be provided to CEPI internally, or to a partner organization (e.g. partner countries, affiliates within CEPI’s laboratory and manufacturing networks particularly in the Global South, international organisations, etc.); such partners may govern aspects of the content of the work, but the legal agreement remains with CEPI.”

Learn more and submit proposals by July 30 here.

Call for Applications: Mid-Career Biodefense Bootcamp Fellowship (2025)
“…the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) is continuing to develop and cultivate creative solutions to help address biological threats, including a particular focus on reducing risks of the deliberate misuse of infectious diseases and other biological materials, processes, and products. As part of this work, CSR is announcing an open call for applications for our new Mid-Career Biodefense Bootcamp Fellowship, which follows an early-2024 beta run of the program.”

“In this “bootcamp” fellowship, successful applicants will learn from leading experts committed to biological threat reduction and biosecurity, including current and former government officials who helped dismantle Cold War-era biological weapons capabilities, advance international biological cooperation, and drive policy progress. They will interact with leading current and former experts as well as public and private sector innovators.”

Learn more and apply by July 7 here.

Pandora Report 6.27.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

This edition of the Pandora Report provides update on this week’s meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Secretary Kennedy’s announcement that the US will withdraw its funding to Gavi, and more.

Newly-Appointed ACIP Member Withdraws, Citing Conflicts of Interest

Michael Ross, one of eight people appointed to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has reportedly already removed himself from the body following a conflict of interest review. Ross notably also claimed to be a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at both George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, though NBC’s affiliate News 4 Washington found he had not worked at either institution in years.

An HHS spokesperson said of Ross’ departure, “Yesterday, Dr Michael Ross decided to withdraw from serving on ACIP during the financial holdings review.” In his announcement of the removal of all 17 members who previously sat on ACIP, Sec. Kennedy specifically cited conflicts of interest as a key motivation behind his decision to overhaul the body. Notably, other conflicts of interests new ACIP members have, such as leadership positions with anti-vaccine organizations or having been paid expert witnesses against pharmaceutical companies, were not disclosed during the conflict of interest review process.

Further Reading:

ACIP Holds First Meeting Since Overhaul

This week, ACIP held its first meeting since Sec. Kennedy dismissed all 17 previous members from the body, stirring up yet more controversy along the way. The controversy began before the meeting was even held on Wednesday when a presentation set to be shared at the meeting was found to cite non-existent studies. The presentation was given to ACIP on the second day of the meeting by Lyn Redwood, president emerita of Children’s Health Defense (the anti-vaccine group RFK Jr. founded), and claimed that the non-existent study found that use of thimerosal in vaccines can have “long-term consequences in the brain.” The presentations reportedly bypassed normal review processes. Interestingly, Redwood is set to be hired to work in CDC’s Immunization Safety Office.

Thimerosal is a preservative that has been used in vaccines since the 1930s, and it is especially useful for its antimicrobial properties, which has allowed it to make multi-dose vaccine vials safer. This is important because thimerosal, by preventing harmful microbe growth inside multi-dose vials, means immunization campaigns can be more effective by delivering more usable, safer product to communities that need it. Use of thimerosal in FDA-licensed vaccines has declined broadly in large part because of reformulation and development of vaccines presented in single-dose containers. 

Notably, thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines in the US in 2001. This was a precautionary measure aimed at growing public trust in vaccines, with there being no evidence of harm caused by the small amount used in some vaccines apart from minor reactions at the injection site. Today, only a handful of vaccines contain thimerosal, including some influenza vaccines (again, specifically multi-dose presentations). Furthermore, the mercury in thimerosal is metabolized or degraded to ethylmercury, which does not accumulate in the body. This is in contrast to methylmercury, which is naturally occurring in different animals (including certain fish like tuna, swordfish, and king mackerel), does accumulate in the body, and is toxic at high levels.

Redwood repeatedly made false or misleading claims during her presentation, including claiming at one point that ethylmercury has a greater potential to be maintained in the brain than methylmercury, which is false. She also emphasized the lack of studies on thimerosal toxicity in humans, demonstrating apparent ignorance of how vaccine safety is evaluated. Thimerosal is just one component of some vaccines. Therefore, relevant studies aim to determine whether vaccines that contain thimerosal are safe, which has been well established in the literature.

However, this was just one part of the ACIP meeting. The meeting was riddled with inaccuracies, apparent mis- or lack of understandings of how vaccines are produced, and arguments or statements that lacked necessary context. Martin Kulldorff, who was appointed ACIP chair, was incorrectly listed as having an MD on the slide deck (Kulldorff holds a PhD) and made multiple misleading comments about MMR/MMRV vaccines, hepatitis B birth doses, and test-negative designs for COVID-19 vaccines. Restef Levi made inaccurate statements about COVID-19 vaccines and spike proteins while also implying that COVID-19 vaccination makes people more likely to need hospitalization if infected. Robert Malone claimed that certain COVID-19 vaccine lots cause more adverse events. Vicky Pebsworth expressed concern about high numbers of VAERS reports for COVID-19 vaccines, seemingly ignoring the higher number of COVID-19 vaccines given in comparison to any other vaccine during the same period of time and other issues. The list goes on and on, with experts with The Evidence Collective documenting 50 falsehoods shared over the course of the meeting.

Ultimately, ACIP did maintain the general flu vaccine recommendation for those over six months old. It did pass three motions recommending single-use vials only for all adults, children 18 years and younger, and pregnant women for flu vaccines. ACIP did also vote to recommend the RSV shot. Specifically, Clesrovimab is a monoclonal antibody created by Merck, and it is recommended for use in infants younger than eight months who are born during or entering their first RSV season. Both Kulldorff and Malone have been paid to serve as expert witnesses in civil litigation against Merck, which they did not disclose during the conflict of interest review. Furthermore, members who voted against recommending this treatment (Levi and Pebsworth) later voted for its inclusion in the Vaccines for Children program.

Amid concerns about what this new version of ACIP might do, professional medical societies, vaccine manufacturers, state health officials, and many others are working to do what they can to protect access to vaccines. Some are discussing the possibility of ordering vaccines directly from manufacturers, ways to give greater weight to vaccine recommendations that come from medical associations, and asking insurance companies to continue providing coverage based on those associations’ recommendations, rather than those of ACIP. Others are looking to create alternative bodies to provide sources of unbiased information it seems ACIP no longer can provide. One such group is the Vaccine Integrity Project, launched by Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota’s CIDRAP.

Meanwhile, representatives of the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) refused to participate in the ACIP meeting, saying it was “illegitimate.” AAP President Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP, said that the creation of federal immunization policy is “no longer a credible process,” and that “We won’t lend our name or our expertise to a system that is being politicized at the expense of children’s health. But we’re not stepping back, we’re stepping up. The AAP will continue to publish our own immunization schedule just as we always have, developed by experts, guided by science, trusted by pediatricians and families across the country.”

While the votes taken by ACIP this week did not end as poorly as they could have, the future of this body is grim, especially as vaccination rates already are lagging and pandemic preparedness continues to erode under the current administration. Predictably, much of the commentary and other content at this meeting did lend credibility to debunked claims about vaccines, their production, and their development.

Further Reading:

US to Withdraw Its Funding for GAVI

In remarks made to a Gavi pledging summit in Brussels, Secretary Kennedy announced that the US will halt all contributions made to the organization, claiming that is has “ignored the science” in its work to vaccinate children globally. Kennedy further accused Gavi’s leadership of being selective in their use of science in choosing vaccines, and that “When vaccine safety issues have come before Gavi, Gavi has treated them not as a patient health problem, but as a public relations problem.” Kennedy neglected to provide evidence or examples for these claims.

Kennedy says that the US will not provide the $1.2 billion it has pledged to Gavi unless the organization changes its practices. Gavi issued a statement rejecting Kennedy’s claims. While the organization will not implode without US funding, there are concerns about Gavi’s ability to maintain its operations at their current scale. Fewer vaccines in low- and middle-income countries will impact everyone, including the United States, especially as the US withdraws so much of its other commitments to global health and international aid.

Further Reading:

“Assessing Readiness of International Investigations into Alleged Biological Weapons Use”

Brackmann et al. published this article in Emerging Infectious Diseases: “Without clarity if an outbreak is natural, accidental, or deliberate, infectious disease outbreaks of unknown or ambiguous origin can lead to speculation of a purposeful biological attack. Outbreaks in conflict settings are particularly prone to suspicions and allegations. In an increasingly confrontative global geopolitical landscape and with active information manipulation, outbreaks of ambiguous origin are likely to increase concerns of the deliberate use of biological agents. The United Nations General Assembly has agreed on and the United Nations Security Council has endorsed a mechanism to investigate allegations of deliberate use titled the United Nations Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical or Biological Weapons. A recent full-scale field exercise evaluated the deployment readiness of the mechanism and found it is well placed to investigate suspicious disease outbreaks, with room for continual improvement.”

“Dismantling CDC’s Global Work is Dismantling Our First Line of Biodefense”

Stephanie Psaki and Nikki Romanik authored this Just Security article, in which they write, “Over the last few months, the Trump administration has weakened or eliminated the layers of the U.S. biodefense system – dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development’s programs around the world, eroding the National Security Council’s real-time coordination capability during threats, eliminating the White House pandemic office, and most recently, cancelling proactive investments in safeguards like pandemic influenza vaccines. Amid those changes, one of our strongest defenses against biological threats abroad has been the enduring partnerships and systems maintained by the CDC. However, with the release of President Trump’s budget request earlier this month, the administration signaled an intent to weaken — if not entirely dismantle — this critical safeguard that allows the U.S. to detect outbreaks at their source, leaving Americans and the world more vulnerable to biological threats.”

“Health Emergency Research Preparedness: An Analysis of National Pre‑COVID Research Activity and COVID Research Output”

Peter H. Kilmarx and Shirley Kyere published this article in Annals of Global Health: “Background: Research capacity is a critical element of health emergency preparedness, but metrics are not readily available for many countries. The COVID‑19 pandemic provided an opportunity to use publicly available data to assess correlations between national pre‑pandemic research activity, pandemic research response, and other national socioeconomic characteristics.”

“Methods: National pre‑pandemic (2018–19) research activity was defined as the average of percentile rankings of (1) the average annual number of health science publications in Scopus and (2) the average annual number of clinical trials in the International Clinical Trials Research Platform (ICTRP). National pandemic research response (2020–21) was defined as the average of percentile rankings of (1) average annual number of COVID‑19‑related publications in Scopus and (2) average annual number of COVID‑19‑related clinical trials in ICTRP.”

“Findings: During 2018–19, the median (interquartile range [IQR]) of national annual average health science publications was 415 (108–3,398) and of clinical trials was 21 (4–273). During 2020–21, the median (IQR) of national annual average COVID‑19‑related publications was 85 (18–798) and that of COVID‑19‑related clinical trials was 1.5 (0–11). National COVID‑19‑related research output was strongly correlated with pre‑pandemic research activity (R‑squared 0.89) and much less correlated with Human Development Index (0.26), COVID‑19 case number (0.16), case rate (0.14), gross domestic product (0.11), or population (0.10). In a multivariable linear regression analysis, national pre‑COVID‑19 research activity was the only factor with substantial or statistically significant contribution to explaining variations in COVID‑19‑related research output.”

“Interpretation: National pandemic research responses were most strongly correlated with pre‑pandemic research activity, much more so than with other country characteristics. These findings strongly support global efforts to strengthen research capacity as a critical element of preparedness for health emergencies.”

“Behind Shuttered Borders: A view into North Korea’s COVID-19 experiences”

Victor Cha, Katrin Fraser Katz, and Seiyeon Ji recently published this CSIS report: “This report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in cooperation with the George W. Bush Institute, is to our knowledge the first published review of human rights abuses inside North Korea associated with the Covid-19 global pandemic. Between January 2020 and August 2023, the regime imposed one of the world’s most extreme lockdowns—sealing its borders and halting all exchanges related to trade, tourism, diplomacy, and humanitarian aid, and enforcing rigid internal travel restrictions—under the guise of “anti-epidemic” measures. With no independent reporting possible during this period, the regime claimed a flawless record, denying any Covid-19 cases for the first two years and reporting only 74 deaths when it finally acknowledged an outbreak in May 2022.”

“This report is based on the voices of 100 ordinary North Korean residents amplified through micro-surveys conducted in the second half of 2023, just as the country’s lockdown restrictions and border controls were lifted. While the report’s findings should not be interpreted as a complete representation of views in North Korea, they still provide rare insights into the lived experiences of ordinary North Koreans and expose key patterns of government culpability and negligence in managing the pandemic. Drawing on these findings, the authors discuss policy implications and offer recommendations for governments and international organizations seeking to improve the welfare of the North Korean people.”

“5 Years Later: America Looks Back at the Impact of COVID-19”

From Pew: “The most significant pandemic of our lifetime arrived as the United States was experiencing three major societal trends: a growing divide between partisans of the left and right, decreasing trust in many institutions, and a massive splintering of the information environment. COVID-19 did not cause any of this, but these forces fueled the country’s divided response. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in October 2024 found that nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (72%) say the pandemic did more to drive the country apart than to bring it together. Fundamental differences arose between Americans over what we expect from our government, how much tolerance we have for health risks, and which groups and sectors to prioritize in a pandemic. Many of these divides continue to play out in the nation’s politics today.”

Read more here.

“Fostering Better Science by Releasing Biomedical Research and Innovation from the Grip of Rich Nations”

Nathalie J. Arhel recently published this opinion piece in PLOS Global Public Health, in which she discusses efforts to decolonize biomedical research and how they can reinforce existing inequities, and paths toward inclusive and equitable governance of biomedical research. She writes in her introduction, “In early 2025, the new US administration took unprecedented actions to axe funding to federal science and agencies and suspend foreign aid programs. Beyond the evident toll on global health – such as the closure of clinics that support vulnerable communities and interruptions in epidemiological surveillance – the erosion of US foreign aid presents a potential opportunity to redress long-standing inequities in biomedical research. The call for change is not new: the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities of global health systems, highlighting the importance of national and regional self-sufficiency in research and innovation. Moreover, there is a growing acknowledgement of the need to dismantle systemic power imbalances and confront historical injustices…By addressing the inequities in biomedical research and considering how these can be redressed, this opinion piece aims to contribute to a broader effort to centre marginalized voices and knowledge systems.”

ICYMI: Paris Conference on Risks from Mirror Life

“This Conference is the first in a series of international meetings that will bring together a wide range of stakeholders to discuss and address the feasibility and risks of efforts to develop mirror life. The Conference will commence on 12th June with a publicly-streamed Symposium sharing the state of scientific understanding on these topics with a broad audience. On 13th June, a series of expert workshops will be held to begin addressing outstanding questions.”

Watch the event recording here, and read about the conference here.

NEW: Synthetic Biology for Biomanufacturing and Predictable Engineering

From NASEM: “Advances in biotechnology and biomanufacturing are essential for the United States to maintain global leadership as well as for supporting economic and national security interests. Biology provides the basis for innovations from medicine, health, and agriculture, to defense, energy, and manufacturing.”

“Join the National Academies on July 1 from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM ET for a workshop session that will explore innovations in biomanufacturing technologies that can make scale-up predictable, rapid, and cost-competitive. Participants will discuss the need for public-private collaborations to drive sustained improvements in biomanufacturing, while also looking at ways to make biotechnology predictably engineerable with emerging technologies such as synthetic cells and AI/machine learning integrations.”

Learn more and register here.

NEW: CTD–SPECTRE Symposium, “Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists” 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

“Hosted by the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB, Center for Tropical Diseases (CTD) and Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program.”

Learn more and register here.

International Pandemic Sciences Conference

“Representatives from academia, industry, civil society and policy are invited to gather in Oxford, UK, and online from 30 June – 1 July 2025 for the International Pandemic Sciences Conference 2025.”

“This year’s conference theme, Getting Ahead of the Curve, will explore how we can work together to predict, identify and control epidemic and pandemic threats globally. ”

“Over two days of plenary, parallel and networking sessions, stakeholders from different sectors and communities will have the opportunity to share ideas, experiences and strategies on prediction, early detection and control of pandemic threats. ”

“The International Pandemic Sciences Conference 2025 is hosted by the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford.”

Learn more here.

Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity

“This Commission meeting, Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity, will be held on July 22, 2025. As a new Administration begins to develop its policy priorities and realigns federal offices and programs, the government must maintain and strengthen federal capabilities to address the biological threat. The focus of this meeting will be to provide the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense with a better understanding of (1) core requirements for effective national biodefense; (2) Administration biodefense priorities; (3) impacts of department and agency realignment; and (4) strategies for addressing future biological threats. More information will be provided as the event date approaches.”

This event will take place on July 22, 10 am-4 pm ET in Washington, DC. Register here.

SBA.4 International Synthetic Biology and Biosecurity Conference in Africa

From SynBio Africa: “The SBA 4.0 conference will serve as a platform for fostering connections among industry, academia, community groups, and policymakers. It will showcase innovative applications of synthetic biology and AI, and highlight ongoing efforts in biomathematics, biomanufacturing, one-health, biosafety and biosecurity. It will also facilitate networking and information exchange. Key focus areas include tackling agriculture, health, environmental management, and industry challenges. In Africa, synthetic biology is poised to drive the national development agenda by promoting a sustainable bioeconomy, supporting health and agricultural systems, and aiding environmental conservation and restoration. This event will provide a vital opportunity for stakeholders to discuss and strategize the integration of synthetic biology innovations, address policy, legal frameworks, and communicate the benefits of the technology.”

This conference will take place July 23-25 in Kigali. Learn more and register here.

CTD-SPECTRE 2nd Annual Symposium 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

Learn more and register here.

Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

Request for Proposals: Biosafety and Biosecurity Capacity Strengthening in Support of the 100 Days Mission

From CEPI: “This Request for Proposals (RfP) will support the establishment of a group of implementation partners to enable successful implementation of CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy, focused on objectives associated with capacity strengthening, equity, and health-security partnerships, as described in CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy Implementation Plan. The selected applicants will sign a Framework Agreement under which CEPI can make “call-offs”, i.e. requests for services, related to specific tasks. At CEPI’s direction, services rendered under this Framework Agreement may be provided to CEPI internally, or to a partner organization (e.g. partner countries, affiliates within CEPI’s laboratory and manufacturing networks particularly in the Global South, international organisations, etc.); such partners may govern aspects of the content of the work, but the legal agreement remains with CEPI.”

Learn more and submit proposals by July 30 here.

Call for Applications: Mid-Career Biodefense Bootcamp Fellowship (2025)
“…the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) is continuing to develop and cultivate creative solutions to help address biological threats, including a particular focus on reducing risks of the deliberate misuse of infectious diseases and other biological materials, processes, and products. As part of this work, CSR is announcing an open call for applications for our new Mid-Career Biodefense Bootcamp Fellowship, which follows an early-2024 beta run of the program.”

“In this “bootcamp” fellowship, successful applicants will learn from leading experts committed to biological threat reduction and biosecurity, including current and former government officials who helped dismantle Cold War-era biological weapons capabilities, advance international biological cooperation, and drive policy progress. They will interact with leading current and former experts as well as public and private sector innovators.”

Learn more and apply by July 7 here.

Pandora Report 6.20.2025

by dkellogg97, posted in Pandora Report

This week’s Pandora Report discusses updates from the Schar School, the Geneva Protocol’s 100th anniversary, federal rulings against HHS to terminate employees and funding, and more.

Schar School Hosts Counterterrorism Summit 2025

George Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government recently hosted this year’s Counterterrorism Summit at its campus in Arlington, VA. This conference was organized by Schar School associate professor Mahmut Cengiz, who is also the PI of the Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center at GMU’s Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center. The event brought together an international array of experts to probe the threats the world faces, to illuminate the weapons needed to combat terrorism, and, perhaps most crucially, to hear the stories that make the effort to thwart terrorism so crucial. It also included panels hosted by different Schar School faculty members, including Cengiz and Gregory Koblentz, director of the Biodefense Graduate Program.

Read more about this conference here.

The Geneva Protocol Turns 100

This week marked the 100th anniversary of the Geneva Protocol, a landmark treaty that banned the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare. Signed in the aftermath of World War I, the Protocol was a pivotal step in the global effort to prevent the horrors of chemical warfare from recurring. Over the past century, it has served as a foundation for further arms control agreements and remains a symbol of the international community’s enduring commitment to preventing the use of these weapons.

Further Reading:

DHS Proposes Dissolving Office for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction

In an overhaul that is laid out in the FY 2026 Congressional Budget Justification, the Department of Homeland Security is proposing disbanding and redistributing its Office for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD). This comes after heavy attrition in the office earlier this year due to concerns about uncertainty of the office’s future. No funds have been requested for FY 2026 for CWMD, and its policy, coordination, and oversight roles are set to be redistributed. Several key functions and organizations under CWMD will be transferred to other parts of DHS. For example, the National Biosurveillance Integration Center will be moved to the Office of Health Security, and several operational programs, including BioWatch, will be moved to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Infrastructure Security Division. As Global Biodefense notes, these efforts are an attempt to embed CBRNE responsibilities into operational missions, but it comes after years of instability that started under the first Trump administration. This move will also end centralized oversight for this area within DHS, potentially harming DHS’ ability to respond to WMD threats while also risking redundant efforts and challenges in prioritization.

HHS Updates

NIH Releases Notice Terminating or Suspending “Dangerous” GoF Research

The National Institutes of Health has released a notice informing the biomedical research community that, in accordance with a previous Executive Order, the organization will “Terminate funding and other support for projects, including unfunded collaborations/projects, meeting the definition of dangerous gain-of-function research conducted by foreign entities in countries of concern or foreign countries where there is not adequate oversight; and Suspend all other funding and other support for projects, including unfunded collaborations/projects, meeting the definition of dangerous gain-of-function research at least until implementation of the new policy described in Section 4(a) of the Executive Order.”

According to the notice, NIH not accept requests for exceptions to this action if it is determined that the requested exception meets the EO’s definition of dangerous gain-of-function research. NIH will also require all awardees to review ongoing research activities to identify any NIH funding and support for projects that meet this definition that has not yet been identified by NIH. Researchers will be required to notify NIH of any such work by June 30, 2025.

NIH Ordered to Restore Funding for Research Focused on Minority and LGBTQ+ People

A Reagan-appointed federal judge ordered the NIH to immediately restore research funds that were terminated by NIH for research focused on racial minorities and LGBTQ+ people. The judge, Thomas Young, accused the administration of “appalling” and “palpably clear” discrimination against these groups, stating “I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.”

Young further explained that, “I am hesitant to draw this conclusion — but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it — that this represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ+ community. That’s what it is. I would be bling not to call it out. My duty is to call it out.”

Young explained that, while he is uncertain that he has the ability to block the related Executive Orders themselves, that the NIH cuts are illegal and void. An appeal is expected.

Further Reading:

CDC Official Who Oversaw COVID-19 Hospitalization Data Resigns

Fiona Havers, MD, MHS, FIDS, who worked within CDC’s Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division and oversaw the Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET), has resigned from the agency, citing a lack of confidence that the data she oversaw will be used appropriately. RESP-NET’s analysis has previously factored into the CDC Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices’ decision making. In an email sent to colleagues, she wrote, “I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions.

Further Reading:

White House, OMB Propose 54% Cut to CDC Budget in FY 2026

The FY2026 budget proposal includes a proposed reduction of CDC’s funding from $9.3 billion (combined with ASTDR, for which the CDC handles most administrative functions) down to $4.3 billion. This would include a $1.4 billion cut to chronic disease prevention, $794 million in cuts to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, STD, & TB prevention, and $371 million in cuts to global health. Of those programs that would be eliminated, relatively few of them are expected to be moved to the Administration for a Healthy America or the HHS Office of the Secretary. Under this proposal, 36% of CDC’s existing programs will be eliminated.

Read the CDC Data Project’s break down of the proposed cuts here.

Further Reading:

Federal Judge Blocks Administration from Withdrawing Public Health Funding to Four Municipalities

US District Court Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, DC issued a preliminary injunction this week preventing the federal government from withdrawing millions in public health funding from four municipalities in Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, and Missouri. The injunction was sought by district attorneys in Harris County, TX (home of Houston), Columbus, OH, Nashville, TN, and Kansas City, MO, all of which are led by Democratic elected officials. The lawsuit, which was filed in late April, alleged that the $11 billion in CDC program funding had already been approved by Congress and was therefore being unconstitutionally withheld from the municipalities. The lawsuit further argues that the administration’s actions violate HHS regulations. This is the second such federal ruling that has reinstated public health funding across several states.

Further Reading on Questions, Concerns About COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendation Changes, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices:

US Measles Cases Continue to Rise

In the most recent update released by the CDC, the number of measles cases in the United States this year has risen to 1,197, the most the US has had in a single year since 2019 (1,274 for the total year). 35 states have reported outbreaks, including Arizona, which reported its first cases for the year during the week before CDC’s update. While 3% of US cases so far are in individuals who have received both doses of the MMR vaccine, the CDC reports that none of those hospitalized with measles this year have documented evidence of receiving both doses of the vaccine. Canada and Mexico also continue to experience significant outbreaks.

Further Reading:

“Assassinations? Defamation? How Genetic Technology Could Destabilize the World”

Tony Ingesson, David Gisselsson Nord, and Filippa Lentzos recently published this article in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in which they explain “…when discussing future risks of genetic technology, the security policy community has largely focused on spectacular scenarios of genetically tailored bioweapons or artificial intelligence (AI) engineered superbugs. A more imminent weaponization concern is more straightforward: the risk that nefarious actors use the genetic techniques and services that exist today to frame, defame, or even assassinate targets. Rather than on the battlefield, adversaries are more likely to use this technology in the gray zone—the murky area of geopolitical conflict where attribution is difficult, and countries aim to destabilize instead of destroy opponents.”

Applied Biosafety Special Issue: Biosafety and Biosecurity for Potential Pandemic Pathogens and Dual-Use Research of Concern

This special issue of Applied Biosafety includes several articles likely of interest to readers of The Pandora Report, including “The Evolution of United States Governance Policies for Research Using Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential,” “Dual-Use Research and Publication Policies: A Comparison of Journals in Life Sciences and Artificial Intelligence,” “Trust, but Verify: A “Just Culture” Model for Oversight of Potentially High-Risk Life Sciences Research,” and more.

“Mpox, Myths and Media Manipulation”

From EUvsDisinfo: “Pro-Kremlin disinformation tactics are again weaponising health fears in Africa, echoing deadly Cold War-era campaigns that once fuelled HIV/AIDS denial…Conspiracy theories and disinformation about mpox mirror decades-old propaganda playbooks. We uncover why exposing disinformation that preys on health scares is necessary to combat the spread of deadly diseases alongside delivering vaccines.”

“The “Virus Hunter” Who Advanced Public Health, One Tool at a Time”

This profile published in The Scientist was written by Shelby Bradford: “Ian Lipkin, an experimental pathologist at Columbia University, is today most famous for discovering more than 2,000 viruses, which earned him the moniker “virus hunter,” over a decades-long career in pathogen discovery. However, Lipkin’s original trajectory was on a path of anthropology and theater. “I never had any anticipation and never any plan to go into medicine, let alone to go into science. It’s just something that crept up on me,” he said. A chance intro to organic chemistry—what he thought would be his first and last basic science course—steered him onto a course in public health and research.”

Read the full profile here.

“Health and Science Diplomacy Protects Everyone”

This piece by Joshua Glasser was published in Think Global Health. In it, Glasser discusses what is at risk in the US withdrawing from science and health diplomacy, writing in part, “The risk here is not only that competitors could seize the mantle of leadership and reshape the world in their image, it is also that partners and allies will lose trust in the United States and withdraw from cooperation altogether. Budget cuts are tough. The loss of staff and institutional knowledge systems has been devastating…But a decline in trust and the cooperative mentality—benefits that arise from a functioning health and science diplomacy system—are the most difficult problem of all.”

“The Future of the Chemical Weapons Convention: Recommendations from Civil Society for Addressing Challenges Over the Next Five Years”

From the Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition: “In July 2023, the world reached a landmark achievement in the history of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs): the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed the verified and irreversible destruction of all known chemical weapons stockpiles. 26 years after the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) entered into force, it had achieved one of its major goals, becoming the first multilateral disarmament treaty to effectively eliminate an entire class of weapons.”

“This was not the first time that the CWC led the way in disarmament. With 193 member states, the CWC is the most universal of multilateral disarmament treaties. In 2013, the OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its “extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.”’

“The CWC was opened for signature in January 1993 and officially entered into force on 29 April 1997, after the 65th state party adhered to the convention. The treaty is thorough in its attempt to rid the world of chemical weapons: it outlaws the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, and retention of chemical weapons. The goal of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to create a word “free from the threat of chemical weapons” is one step closer now that all declared stockpiles have been destroyed. This latest achievement offered a glimmer of hope in the arms control world amidst rising tensions among nuclear armed powers.”

Read the report here.

What We’re Listening To 🎧

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’ Ep. 401, “RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t”

“After explicitly promising senators during his confirmation hearing that he would not interfere in scientific policy over which Americans should receive which vaccines, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week fired every member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the group of experts who help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention make those evidence-based judgments. Kennedy then appointed new members, including vaccine skeptics, prompting alarm from the broader medical community.”

“Meanwhile, over at the National Institutes of Health, some 300 employees — many using their full names — sent a letter of dissent to the agency’s director, Jay Bhattacharya, saying the administration’s policies “undermine the NIH mission, waste our public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”’

“This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine.”

Listen here.

NEW: Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity

“This Commission meeting, Biodefense in Crisis: Danger and Opportunity, will be held on July 22, 2025. As a new Administration begins to develop its policy priorities and realigns federal offices and programs, the government must maintain and strengthen federal capabilities to address the biological threat. The focus of this meeting will be to provide the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense with a better understanding of (1) core requirements for effective national biodefense; (2) Administration biodefense priorities; (3) impacts of department and agency realignment; and (4) strategies for addressing future biological threats. More information will be provided as the event date approaches.”

This event will take place on July 22, 10 am-4 pm ET in Washington, DC. Register here.

SBA.4 International Synthetic Biology and Biosecurity Conference in Africa

From SynBio Africa: “The SBA 4.0 conference will serve as a platform for fostering connections among industry, academia, community groups, and policymakers. It will showcase innovative applications of synthetic biology and AI, and highlight ongoing efforts in biomathematics, biomanufacturing, one-health, biosafety and biosecurity. It will also facilitate networking and information exchange. Key focus areas include tackling agriculture, health, environmental management, and industry challenges. In Africa, synthetic biology is poised to drive the national development agenda by promoting a sustainable bioeconomy, supporting health and agricultural systems, and aiding environmental conservation and restoration. This event will provide a vital opportunity for stakeholders to discuss and strategize the integration of synthetic biology innovations, address policy, legal frameworks, and communicate the benefits of the technology.”

This conference will take place July 23-25 in Kigali. Learn more and register here.

International Pandemic Sciences Conference

“Representatives from academia, industry, civil society and policy are invited to gather in Oxford, UK, and online from 30 June – 1 July 2025 for the International Pandemic Sciences Conference 2025.”

“This year’s conference theme, Getting Ahead of the Curve, will explore how we can work together to predict, identify and control epidemic and pandemic threats globally. ”

“Over two days of plenary, parallel and networking sessions, stakeholders from different sectors and communities will have the opportunity to share ideas, experiences and strategies on prediction, early detection and control of pandemic threats. ”

“The International Pandemic Sciences Conference 2025 is hosted by the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford.”

Learn more, register, and submit abstracts here.

CTD-SPECTRE 2nd Annual Symposium 

“The CTD-SPECTRE Symposium on Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases for Clinicians and Translational Scientists 2025 offers a unique opportunity to connect with global experts, gain cutting-edge insights, and collaborate with peers dedicated to infectious disease research and treatment.”

“Taking place September 16 -19, 2025, at the historic Grand Galvez in Galveston, TX, this immersive symposium will unite clinicians, translational investigators, and trainees to explore the latest breakthroughs in tropical and emerging infectious diseases.”

Learn more and register here.

NEW: Applied Biosafety Call for Papers

“The Editors of Applied Biosafety are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue focused on the myriad of topics associated with global biosafety management. This special issue will showcase examples of innovative approaches, creative solutions, and best practices developed and used around the world for managing risks associated with the handling, use, and storage of infectious biological agents, toxins, and potentially infectious materials in research and clinical settings.”

Learn more and submit by November 1 here.

NEW: Request for Proposals: Biosafety and Biosecurity Capacity Strengthening in Support of the 100 Days Mission

From CEPI: “This Request for Proposals (RfP) will support the establishment of a group of implementation partners to enable successful implementation of CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy, focused on objectives associated with capacity strengthening, equity, and health-security partnerships, as described in CEPI’s Biosecurity Strategy Implementation Plan. The selected applicants will sign a Framework Agreement under which CEPI can make “call-offs”, i.e. requests for services, related to specific tasks. At CEPI’s direction, services rendered under this Framework Agreement may be provided to CEPI internally, or to a partner organization (e.g. partner countries, affiliates within CEPI’s laboratory and manufacturing networks particularly in the Global South, international organisations, etc.); such partners may govern aspects of the content of the work, but the legal agreement remains with CEPI.”

Learn more and submit proposals by July 30 here.

Announcing the Arms Control Knowledge Transfer Initiative Primary Source Archive

The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) has launched the Arms Control Knowledge Transfer Initiative (ACKTI), a program designed to preserve knowledge through senior expert interviews and primary source archival research, to educate the next generation of arms control experts on all aspects of arms control, including negotiation, implementation, inspection, and more.

Call for Applications: Mid-Career Biodefense Bootcamp Fellowship (2025)
“…the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) is continuing to develop and cultivate creative solutions to help address biological threats, including a particular focus on reducing risks of the deliberate misuse of infectious diseases and other biological materials, processes, and products. As part of this work, CSR is announcing an open call for applications for our new Mid-Career Biodefense Bootcamp Fellowship, which follows an early-2024 beta run of the program.”

“In this “bootcamp” fellowship, successful applicants will learn from leading experts committed to biological threat reduction and biosecurity, including current and former government officials who helped dismantle Cold War-era biological weapons capabilities, advance international biological cooperation, and drive policy progress. They will interact with leading current and former experts as well as public and private sector innovators.”

Learn more and apply by July 7 here.