Moving into Biosafety

When I completed my PhD, I was certain that I would spend my career in academia. I loved being at the bench, working with other academics, often getting the opportunity to meet and learn from leaders in the microbiology and genetics field. However, after 8 years as a postdoctoral researcher it started to become clear that getting my own grant was going to be challenging and my own lab was probably an uphill struggle. Add to that starting a family, it was clearly time to pivot on my career goals. After a brief stint as a lecturer at a local community college I found my way into biosafety and the regulatory field. Here I met many people who had also started their careers at the bench and moved into biosafety. If you are looking for a change mid-career, biosafety is actually a great option. The role of a biosafety professional is to help prevent exposure of individuals, the environment and the community to potentially biohazardous materials or infectious agents. Biosafety as a career can come in many forms, the most obvious being a biosafety officer at an institution. However, any location that conducts research with biohazardous materials has a need to address biosafety. Biosafety professionals can be found in numerous settings including universities, hospitals, research facilities, pharmaceutical companies, the biotech industry, military and government agents. As gene therapy becomes more mainstream and regulation of this research evolves, there is an increasing need for biosafety experts. These experts support clinical research by reviewing the research and advising companies/institutions on how to set up labs, add appropriate equipment for specific studies or utilize their existing facilities in a safe manner.

If you have a background in public health this will most likely give you an edge over other candidates, having served as a safety officer within your lab is also a great road into biosafety. Employers are usually looking for people with experience in a laboratory setting, often higher-level degrees in the biological sciences, candidates with an eye for detail and the ability to teach safety guidelines to others. There are associations that specialize in biosafety and provide training courses for those looking to gain additional education in the field, a great example of this is ABSA International (The Association for Biosafety and Biosecurity). They offer credentialling where you can become a registered biosafety professional (RBP) or a certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP). These qualifications are recognized across the biosafety community and certainly give candidates looking for positions as biosafety officer or consultants an additional level of validity. Connecting with biosafety professionals and the biosafety community in your area is also a great way to improve your job prospects, not only can they provide you with advice but they often know about open positions either in their institution or through their own connections at other companies. Get involved on a local level, there are many local biosafety organizations who have an online presence and hold in person meetings, often with speakers who are experts in their field and are willing to share their own journey into biosafety. The NIH requires that clinical trials that involve Human Gene Transfer (HGT) techniques (e.g., recombinant viral based vaccines, CRISPR technology etc.) are reviewed by Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs) to ensure that study agents are handled appropriately and safely. These committees must include biosafety experts and representatives from the local community. Institutions may have their own internal IBCs but many use external IBC providers. These external IBC providers are always looking for committee members, they usually pay a small stipend for attending meetings and this exposes the committee member to a wide variety of studies at the cutting edge of clinical research, broadening your experience. Many also use biosafety consultants to help sites with other regulatory reviews (IRB review) and to prepare for studies safely so that their research can proceed. Biosafety is a broad field and what is considered biosafety experience varies. There are opportunities to be an independent biosafety consultant or subject matter expert however, this comes with its own challenges. The key drawbacks being you are a contractor with no benefits and work load can be inconsistent however, you are essentially your own boss and can command higher rates for your expertise. Biosafety jobs can be very rewarding and can satisfy the drive to make a difference, while providing an opportunity to constantly learn about advances in the scientific field without being at the bench.