What progress have you made since your last update?

Since the last update, I have completed the BLAM Liberia seed pilot and produced the main project report. The project helped turn a broad problem - Liberia’s weak biosafety and biosecurity capacity identified in the 2023 JEE into a more practical assessment framework. I developed and piloted the Biosafety and Biosecurity Landscape Assessment Matrix (BLAM) to look at concrete laboratory-system gaps, including incident reporting, pathogen accountability, waste management, equipment maintenance, specimen referral, training, and governance.

The pilot confirmed that the problem is real, but also more nuanced than “lack of resources.” Liberia has strong public health leadership, committed laboratory staff, and useful institutional networks. The bigger challenge is converting those strengths into routine systems: clear standards, regular supervision, maintenance, reporting, and follow up.

The main output is now a BLAM scoping report and a clearer pathway for future work. The pilot also helped me refine the project direction. I now see BLAM not only as a biosafety assessment tool, but as a platform that can later be extended to test whether fragile laboratory systems are ready to use AI safely in biological work. 

What are your next steps?

My next step is to use the pilot report to seek follow-on support for a focused scale-up phase. The immediate plan is to refine BLAM into a cleaner, easier-to-use tool with a scoring guide, indicators, and practical reporting templates. I also want to develop a small AI-biosecurity add-on module that asks a simple question: can public health laboratories safely use AI tools for tasks such as drafting SOPs, summarizing guidance, or preparing reports without exposing sensitive information or trusting incorrect advice?

The next phase would likely focus on the National Public Health Reference Laboratory in Monrovia and a small number of linked county laboratories. It would test BLAM more systematically, run a simple AI-biosecurity tabletop exercise, and produce practical outputs such as a safe-use guide, verification checklist, and escalation pathway for AI-related laboratory mistakes. Longer term, I want BLAM to become a Liberia-owned tool that can support better biosafety investment, partner coordination, and preparedness planning.

Is there anything others could help you with?

First, technical feedback from people with experience in biosafety, biosecurity, laboratory systems, or AI-biosecurity would be very useful. I especially need reviewers who can help make BLAM simpler, safer, and more credible before wider use.

Second, introductions to potential funders or collaborators interested in global health security, AI safety, pandemic preparedness, or laboratory strengthening would help move the work from seed pilot to scale up.

Third, I would appreciate practical support in turning the BLAM report into stronger public-facing materials: a short concept note, a clean tool/manual, and a funder-ready scale-up proposal. My PhD is currently unfunded, so support for protected time is also important if I am to keep pushing this work forward properly.

What progress have you made since your last update?

Since my last update, I completed the seed-funded scoping work to assess Liberia’s biosafety and biosecurity landscape and to define an evidence-based pathway for strengthening this capacity in alignment with IHR (2005) and the WHO-led JEE 2023 findings.

I conducted a BLAM-based scoping assessment using a mixed-method approach, including a targeted desk review, key informant consultations, and structured facility assessments. I applied and refined BLAM for the Liberia context, then synthesized the evidence into domain scoring and risk-based prioritization to identify the most consequential gaps and immediate actions.

I consolidated and documented key findings highlighting priority weaknesses in governance and oversight, operational biosafety practices, biosecurity accountability mechanisms (including access control and inventory systems), equipment maintenance and certification systems, waste management and decontamination, and safe specimen handling and referral pathways. I also held stakeholder validation and coordination discussions with national counterparts and technical stakeholders to ensure the findings reflect operational realities and to support a shared understanding of priorities.

Finally, I developed a clear pathway for scale-up, including a scoping brief outlining practical options for strengthening the biosafety and biosecurity legal/regulatory and oversight environment, and an investable outline for a follow-on implementation phase (12–24 months) with priority workstreams, indicative sequencing, and resource needs. 

What are your next steps?

My next step is to translate the scoping findings into an expanded implementation phase that addresses the priority gaps identified through BLAM. Building on the evidence generated during this seed project, I will work with NPHIL and the Ministry of Health to agree on a phased set of recommendations that can be taken forward as a larger, more detailed programme of biosafety and biosecurity strengthening for epidemic preparedness and IHR implementation.

A key outcome of this seed phase is that it has attracted strong attention from NPHIL and generated institutional buy-in to move beyond assessment toward action. I will therefore support NPHIL’s leadership to use the BLAM findings as a practical decision tool, including aligning partners, defining roles, and sequencing priority interventions in a way that is feasible within Liberia’s system constraints.

In practical terms, I plan to expand the scope by: (i) broadening BLAM application to additional laboratory tiers and relevant sectors, (ii) advancing the agreed governance and oversight pathway, including options for strengthening legislation and regulatory mechanisms, and (iii) developing a more detailed, costed implementation plan that can be used to secure follow-on funding and guide coordinated execution of the highest-priority actions.

Is there anything others could help you with?

Yes. To move from this completed scoping phase to a full implementation program with measurable improvements in Liberia’s biosafety and biosecurity capacity, targeted support from funders and technical collaborators would be highly valuable in three areas:

1) Follow-on financing for an implementation phase (12–24 months).
Support is needed to operationalize the BLAM recommendations through a phased program that can strengthen governance and oversight, establish routine certification and maintenance systems, improve waste and decontamination practices, and expand workforce capacity. Flexible funding that can combine coordination, technical assistance, and selected high-impact investments would enable rapid transition from planning to action.

2) Technical collaboration and specialized expertise.
Partners could contribute expertise in laboratory biosafety and biosecurity systems (including risk assessment, incident management, and biosecurity accountability), equipment certification/maintenance systems (e.g., biosafety cabinets and decontamination validation), safe waste management solutions, and monitoring frameworks aligned with IHR and JEE. Collaboration to refine BLAM as a repeatable national monitoring tool and to embed it in routine supervision would also strengthen sustainability.

3) Implementation partnerships and capacity building platforms.
Support from institutions that can co-deliver training, mentorship, and supportive supervision—particularly through NPHIL/MoH structures and platforms such as the national laboratory network and FETP would help scale competency and institutionalize practices. In addition, partners that can help convene and coordinate through NEPC will accelerate alignment and reduce duplication of efforts.

Overall, additional support would help Liberia convert strong national buy-in and a completed evidence base into a coordinated, scalable program with direct relevance to epidemic preparedness and global health security.