NIH Blue Ribbon Panel on the National Emerging Infectious Disease Lab at BUMC

NIH Blue Ribbon Panel on the National Emerging Infectious Disease Lab at BUMC

The NIH Blue Ribbon Panel (BRP) provides scientific and technical advice to the NIH, through the Advisory Committee to the Director, as the agency responds to the comments and concerns voiced by state and federal courts, the local community, the National Research Council, and the general public regarding the construction and operation of a national biocontainment laboratory at Boston University Medical Center. Read more details about the NIH BRP. . .

Announcements

Project Update

March 2012
The National Institutes of Health will host a public meeting on Thursday, April 19, 2012, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Roxbury Community College, Main Stage, 1234 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 02120. The purpose of the meeting is to solicit public comments regarding the Draft Supplementary Risk Assessment for the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories. Comments provided during the meeting, as well as those received during the public comment period, will be considered in NIH’s preparation of the Final Supplementary Risk. An agenda, slides for the meeting, and the draft supplementary risk assessment will be available at: http://nihblueribbonpanel-bumc-neidl.od.nih.gov/meetings.asp. Requests for reasonable accommodations or translation services should be made to NIH_BRP@od.nih.gov no later than April 12, 2012. For more information on this meeting please click here.
The Notice of Availability for the draft supplementary risk assessment was published in the February 24, 2012 edition of the Federal Register.
Copies of the draft supplementary risk assessment may be obtained at no cost by calling (301) 496-9838 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (301) 496-9838 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, or by emailing requests to NIH_BRP@od.nih.gov. The document can also be downloaded here (PDF, 26 MB). To aide individuals in understanding the purpose, methods, and conclusions of the risk assessment, NIH has also prepared a Reader’s Guide, which provides a synopsis of the draft supplementary risk assessment. Each copy of the draft supplementary risk assessment will include a copy of the Reader’s Guide.
In addition, the draft supplementary risk assessment and the Reader’s Guide will also be available for review at each of the following locations:

• Central Branch of the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston, MA
• South End Library, 685 Tremont Street, Boston, MA
• Grove Hall Library, 41 Geneva Avenue, Boston, MA
• Dudley Library, 65 Warren Street, Boston, MA

NIH will accept comments on the draft supplementary risk assessment beginning February 23, 2012, through May 1, 2012. Comments may be submitted via email to NIH_BRP@od.nih.gov. Comments submitted in this manner must be sent no later than 11:59 p.m. on May 1, 2012. Comments may also be submitted through U.S. mail to the following address:

National Institutes of Health
Attn: NEIDL Risk Assessment
6705 Rockledge drive, Suite 750
Bethesda, MD 20892-7985

Mailed comments must be postmarked no later than May 1, 2012. Please note that NIH is only accepting comments on the draft supplementary risk assessment and not on the Reader’s Guide.