Dr. Rocco Casagrande recently published an op-ed in The New York Times, advocating for the adoption of the strengthened regulatory regime as recommended by the NSABB. The current oversight system is fragmented and contains loopholes that allow for privately funded labs to conduct unsupervised research with pathogens of pandemic potential. Dr. Casagrande noted that the adoption of the proposals elaborated by the NSABB would require action by both the administration and congress, and urges both to act. He recommended the establishment and funding of an US independent government agency to serve as the regulatory agency for biosafety and biosecurity research, analogous to the National Transportation Safety Board or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, backed by congressional legislation. He also pointed out that similar regulatory regimes exist in countries with robust pathogen research communities, specifically Canada, Germany and Switzerland, and so adoption of these recommendations should not squelch the research community in the US.

Dr. Casagrande, a Gryphon founder who has served as the Managing Director since 2005, was the Principal Investigator of the “Risk and Benefit Assessment of Gain of Function Research” report, a risk and benefit assessment of Gain of Function research involving pathogens of pandemic potential published in 2015.