U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
NIH Office of the Director <https://www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director>
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 14, 2022
CONTACT: Ryan Bayha, 301-496-9838, <e-mail:bayahr@xxxxxxxxxx>
MEDIA ADVISORY
NIH TO HOST VIRTUAL STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT MEETING ON U.S. GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT POLICIES FOR DUAL USE RESEARCH OF CONCERN
WHAT:
The National Institutes of Health will hold a virtual stakeholder engagement meeting on the United States government's policies for the oversight of life sciences dual use research of concern (DURC) < https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Pages/InstitutionalOversight.aspx>.
DURC is life sciences research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, information, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied to pose a significant threat with broad potential consequences to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, materiel, or national security.
There are two complementary government oversight policies for DURC that aim to preserve the benefits of life sciences research while minimizing the risk that the knowledge, information, products, or technologies generated by such research could be used in a manner that results in harm:
USG Policy for Oversight of Life Sciences DURC (2012) <https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Documents/us-policy-durc-032812.pdf>
USG Policy for Institutional Oversight of Life Sciences DURC (2014) <https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Documents/durc-policy.pdf>
To ensure U.S. government's policies keep pace with evolving science and society, NIH is hosting a virtual stakeholder engagement meeting to gather feedback from stakeholders about their experiences implementing the policies, the effect of these policies in terms of achieving their stated goals, the overarching definition of DURC, and possible alternative approaches for the oversight and responsible conduct of DURC. Feedback will also be used inform the discussions of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity in fulfillment their current charge to evaluate and analyze the DURC policies.
Please note that this meeting was originally intended to be a hybrid meeting held in person in Tempe, Arizona. However, to ensure the health and safety of all invitees and to get maximum stakeholder feedback NIH has decided to make this meeting fully virtual.
WHEN:
Wednesday, June 29, 2022, noon-5 p.m. EDT
WHERE:
Webcast Information: <https://videocast.nih.gov/>
HOW:
Information on how to participate <https://osp.od.nih.gov/event/virtual-stakeholder-engagement-meeting-on-usg-policies/>
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit <https://www.nih.gov>.
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