NIH Blue Ribbon Panel to Advise on the Risk Assessment of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Boston University Medical Center

Project Update

June 2009
Welcome to the redesigned NIH Blue Ribbon Panel Web site. New features include easier navigation; a Project Update section (you’re reading it right now), which will highlight recent progress; and an updated version of the Frequently Asked Questions. As always, we welcome your feedback and comments on the Web site and activities of the Panel. You may send comments to BRP_NIH@od.nih.gov.

The development of the supplementary risk assessment is now under way. Since the earliest planning stages, NIH has been working to ensure that the assessment would be comprehensive and that the concerns of the Boston Community would be fully considered. Toward that end, NIH is seeking advice from the independent Blue Ribbon Panel throughout the design and conduct of the study.

In the near term, a key activity for the Blue Ribbon Panel will be ongoing review of the developing draft supplementary risk assessment. NIH has also engaged the National Research Council (NRC) to review and provide input at key milestones during the development of the draft report. The Panel will discuss the NRC’s input at open meetings, and members of the public will have opportunities to offer their comments during this process.

At the June 4 meeting of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director, the Blue Ribbon Panel presented its final recommendations on community engagement and communications. The presentation and the written recommendations can be accessed on the Meetings page of the Blue Ribbon Panel Web site.

The recommendations are designed to help high- and maximum-containment Regional and National Biocontainment Laboratories, funded by NIH, to enhance their community relations plans. These recommendations build on existing measures with the goal of achieving best practices.

Finally, if you would like to receive e-mail notices about significant changes or additions to the Web site, you may subscribe to our automatic notification system, which will alert you to any new postings to the Web site.