"Safe Research Saves Lives" is the core of our outreach programs. The Foundation acts upon the conviction that public health is a vital component to quality living. We provide collaborative support to initiatives that seek to sustain, improve and / or expand knowledge and research capacity that has public health as the key interest.
Whether dealing with existing health complications, emerging infectious diseases or potential accidental or intentional biological exposures, we support responsible capacity building. We believe that risk assessment and risk mitigation plans are essential in clinical and research environments and that solutions should be enacted based on what is local, practical and sustainable.
The Foundation works with global, regional and national organizations promoting safety, security and occupational awareness. We are linked to a growing corps of experts in fields ranging from engineering and education to medical and emergency response. We have a fervent insistence on needs and initiatives being determined by the people who have the needs rather than by us, so we seek first to listen.
Because human and animal health is inextricably linked, the Foundation is a supporter of the "One Health" initiative. Recognizing that many personal and national economies are dependent on both healthy humans and healthy livestock, we collaborate to support safety and security initiatives in agricultural and wildlife research.
The Foundation & Occupational Medicine
Protecting the workers who protect and care for the people.
Occupational medicine is an integral support to any research environment. We support efforts to provide professional growth opportunities for occupational medicine providers who serve environments where there is potential risk to the workers for biological or zoonotic exposures.
The Foundation partners with the Eagleson Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in presenting an annual professional colloquium for health care providers and other interested parties that serve the biological /agricultural research community.
We strongly encourage that research institutions and organizations include their occupational medicine providers in the design of research protocols in order that safety is heightened in the research process, prevention measures, medical surveillance, and response to exposure (the best support or response) can be planned in advance.
We recognize that in many parts of the world, occupational medicine is relatively new and that medical care in response to exposure/illness medicine is usually done in a clinical or public health facility. In those areas, we encourage the inclusion of these providers in the early stages of research planning and development. With support, the Foundation can make available international medical, biosafety and biosecurity experts for programs almost anywhere in the world.
We encourage research workers to discuss the particulars of their work with their personal health care providers. Unlike traditional workplace accidents, biological or zoonotic exposures may result in delayed onset, often manifesting as symptoms usually associated with more common ailments and individuals may not connect their disease/health condition with their work. As a result, potentially lethal laboratory acquired conditions which are rare in the general population and can often be mitigated or reduced with immediate, life-saving intervention, are sometimes undiagnosed, leading to death or debilitating illness.
The management, development, maintenance, and deployment of appropriate medical countermeasures (preventives, diagnostics, treatments etc) for biological exposures are vital components of any national and / or regional biosecurity preparedness plan. The training of appropriate public and occupational medical providers in these countermeasures reduces the potential consequences of any intentional or accidental use of biohazardous materials.