2025 Conference Program

Monday 27th of October 2025
Room 1	9am - 12.30pm	Workshop 1	“Integrating Risk Assessment and Safety Management into High Containment Operations”
Room 2	9.30am - 12.30pm	Workshop 2	"Building resilient biosafety training programs: strategies for the modern biosafety professional"
Room 2	1.00pm - 4.30pm	Workshop 3	"Risk-based approach to biosafety and biosecurity "
Room 3	1.00pm - 4.30pm	Workshop 4	"Practical IBC inspections"

More information on the workshops can be found on the 2025 Pre-Conference Workshops page


Tuesday 28 October 2025
9.00am	Registrations Open
10.00am	Morning Tea, exhibition,
10.30am	Welcome to Country
	Presidents Welcome – Dr Richard Spence, ABSANZ President
10.45am	Session One: Tony Della-Porta Oration Dr Michael Imperiale \| Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Emeritus
	University of Michigan
	"Thinking About Pathogen Research at the Intersection of Biotechnology and AI"
	Q&A
11.45 am	Platinum Sponsor Address
	Philippe Lardy \| Trespa
12.00pm	Lunch, exhibition,
12.45pm	Session Two: Disruptors/challenges to operations Suzanne Manley \| Wood
	“Single use technology - a crucial challenge”
	Dr Tom Sobey \| UNSW Medicine and Health
	“Disruption: Digitisation of lab processes” Pip Soulsby \| DWG “Dieback - Free Gravel - Innovations to address an ongoing challenge”
	Alfred Alinda Khamala \| National Biosafety Authority-Kenya \| 2025 IFBA – ABSANZ International Scholarship
	“Future-Proofing Biosafety: Adapting to Emerging Disruptors in Biotechnology”
	Q&A
	Session Three
2.00pm	Allison Treloar \| Principal Member of Technical Staff
	Sandia National Laboratories’ Global Chemical and Biological Security Group
	"Hidden Figures: Cybersecurity, Disinformation, and New Risks to the Laboratory"
	Q&A
3.00pm	Afternoon tea, exhibition,
	Session Four: Regulatory adaptation
3.30pm	Professor Stuart Blacksell \| University of Oxford/MORU
	“Global Biosafety Governance in Action: Updates from WHO Technical Advisory Groups on Biosafety, Biosecurity, and Responsible Life Sciences”
	Dr Carl Ramage \| Rautaki Solutions Pty Ltd
	“Balancing innovation, safety, and trust: Regulatory pathways for emerging food technologies in Australasia”
	Sandhya Dhawan \| Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU)\| 2025 Neil Walls Scholarship
	“Modelling the risk of inadvertent laboratory-origin outbreaks”
	Q&A
4.30pm	ABSANZ AGM
5.00pm	Welcome Drinks, exhibition,
7.00pm	Conclusion Day 1

Wednesday 29 October 2025
8.30am	Registrations Open
8.50am	Welcome, morning notices
9.00am	Session Five Professor Cynthia Whitechurch \| Research Director
	Biofilm Biology cluster, SCELSE \| School of Biological Sciences, NTU Q&A
10.00am	Morning tea, exhibition,
	Session Six: Facility Design
10.30am	Dr Bernadette Bradley\| Curtain University
	" Future labs for people with disability, neurodivergence and enhanced ability"
	Bettina Bartos \| BLP & Kiri Collins \| Children’s Cancer Institute Australia
	" Transforming cancer research through the reimagined laboratory" Professor Stuart Blacksell \| University of Oxford/MORU “Sustainable Containment: Renovating Thailand’s FMD BSL-3 Lab with Renewable Energy Solutions” Peter Boase \| Jacobs
	“Embracing modularisation in science and research”
	Joanne Kelly \| Labworks Architecture
	“Designing Containment Facilities in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape”
	Q&A
12.00pm	Lunch, exhibition,
	Session Seven
1.00pm	Associate Professor Paul Gardner\| Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry
	University of Otago
	Q&A
	Session Eight: Operationalising biorisk management
2.00pm	Letitia Clark\| Flinders University
	“New building design and transitions- The challenge of new research builds from a biosafety perspective” Dr Ann Cornish \| VIDRL “More than a 'Facility" The CSIRO National Collection Building” Simone Benvenuti & Amy Papas \| HDR “Data-Driven Design Meets Human-Centered Planning: Blending technology and collaboration to future-proof laboratory environments”
	Q&A
3.00pm	Afternoon tea, exhibition,
	Session Nine
3.30pm	Stephen Coulter\| Coulter Advisory
	“Future Proofing Biosafety”
3.45pm	Discussion Panel \| Consistency and Compliance in a Risk Assessed Framework
	Brad George \| Wood
	Stephen Coulter \| Coulter Advisory Mike Cover \| Comteq


5.00pm	Conclusion
7.00pm	Conference Dinner\| Novotel, Sydney Olympic Park

Thursday 30 October 2025
8.30am	Registrations Open
8.50am	Welcome, Morning Notices
	Session Ten
9.00am	Dr Gail Cross \| Investigator
	Doherty Clinical Trials Q&A
10.00am	Morning tea, exhibition,
10.30am	Session 11: Equipment and decontamination developments Shane Riddell \| CSIRO
	“Heat me baby one more time - at 56C for 30min”
	Jake Balzan\| CSIRO ACDP “Movement and maintenance of large equipment safely within a high biocontainment facility”
	Gregor Riese\| Giantcorp “Can Class II Biological Safety Cabinet designs be improved to reduce laboratory-associated infections?" Avrill Aspland\| University of Sydney “The Critical Aspects of Flow Cytometry Capabilities and Aerosol Containment Testing”
	Dr Leesa Bruggink \| VIDRL
	“Poliovirus GAPIV requirements and the efficacy of commercial disinfectants against poliovirus”
	Q&A
12.00pm	Lunch, exhibition,
	Session Twelve
1.00pm	Associate Professor Luke Houghton \| Griffith University

2.00pm	Afternoon Tea, exhibition
2.30pm	Session Thirteen Discussion Panel \| Opportunities and Risks of AI
3.30pm	Closing Remarks
4.00pm	Conclusion of Conference

We apologise for the delay in confirming the site tours for the upcoming conference. We are currently coordinating with several facilities to finalise the details and ensure a valuable experience for all participants. We appreciate your patience and will provide a full update shortly.

Thank you for your understanding.