PROVIDENCE, RI - Rising biosecurity leaders from the Global South join senior biosecurity experts at the Munich Security Conference for a special convening to explore opportunities and challenges to accelerate global progress toward a more secure and equitable pandemic preparedness ecosystem. The Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health in collaboration with The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), in partnership with Foreign Policy, designed this event, recognizing the urgent need to work across geographic, cultural, and economic boundaries to prevent and prepare for infectious disease outbreaks, regardless of whether disease emerges naturally, accidentally, or due to deliberate misuse.
This convening will feature Pandemic Center Biosecurity Game Changers fellows, alongside other rising Global South leaders. The focus will be on identifying innovative ways to responsibly and sustainably unleash emerging technologies in support of the 100 Days Mission, an ambitious initiative developed after the Covid-19 pandemic recognizing the importance of developing new medical countermeasures within 100 days of a pandemic threat being identified. The 100 Days Mission capabilities are vital for the world to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, no matter their origin, and require collaboration between the health and security sectors to drive progress. Bringing together rising and established leaders, this convening will also promote an intergenerational exchange of ideas and solutions on these important issues.
The event aims to: develop concrete recommendations for safeguarding emerging and converging technology, including AI, against misuse while preserving its beneficial applications in the life sciences and to advance pandemic preparedness; create new opportunities for Global South leaders to shape decision-makers’ views about biosecurity as a vital component of the 100 Days Mission; and identify opportunities for pandemic preparedness financing partners to build biosafety and biosecurity into innovations and health security capacity from the ground up.
Dr. Beth Cameron, Senior Advisor and Professor at the Brown University Pandemic Center, said, “Biosecurity and biosafety are integral to achieving the 100 Days Mission, and the 100 Days Mission is integral to our national and global security. Next generation leaders from around the world are vital to achieving these ambitious goals and taking pandemic risks off the table.”
Participating in this discussion will be over 20 senior biosecurity and pandemic preparedness decision-makers and rising next generation leaders from across the Global South. The event will include the inaugural cohort of the Biosecurity Game Changers Fellowship at the Pandemic Center of the Brown University School of Public Health, as well as nominated rising experts from across Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The event will run as a closed session at the Munich Security Conference. Key takeaways and recommendations developed as a result of this meeting will be released following the convening.
The Brown Pandemic Center is a globally recognized leader in cultivating the next-generation of pandemic decision-makers who will develop policies and programs to prevent and prepare for worst-case biological scenarios. CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations working to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. NTI is a nonprofit global security organization focused on reducing nuclear, biological, and emerging technology threats imperilling humanity. Foreign Policy is a leading global media organization whose mission is to inform, challenge, and shape the conversations that define international relations, policy decisions, and the future of global cooperation.