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CRISPRcon Workshop: Genomic Innovation, Resilience & the Next Pandemic
November 30, 2021

ABOUT THE EVENT

Purpose: The ‘Genomic Innovation, Resilience & the Next Pandemic’ CRISPRcon workshop inspired cross-sector dialogue to identify the most pressing innovation needs to identify, prevent and respond to interrelated challenges for public health, food, and environmental systems created by intersecting pandemic and climate crises.

Premise: The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the challenges to resilience for human-food-environment systems and simultaneously highlighted the interrelationship of public health with environmental health. This pandemic will not be the last – whether for humans or for agricultural and natural systems. This invitational expert workshop assumes that, in 5-10 years, another pandemic – aggravated and/or compounded by climate change – will cause widespread public health and/or food systems disruptions. What is the role of genomic innovation in addressing this next public health and food systems crisis, and what should we be doing NOW to prepare?

Participants: Taking a ‘one health’ perspective, the workshop convened a group of globally diverse thought leaders in public health, food systems, environment; across private, NGO, academic, and public sectors; and across science, social science, policy, and ethics. The workshop enabled dialogue among all participants and across a diversity of perspectives and disciplines.

Takeaways: Discussion at this event was off the record, but Keystone summarized key takeaways in this blog post. Flash talks, posted below, were recorded for wider dissemination

FLASH TALKS

  • Understanding Symbiotic Interactions in CRISPR for Climate Resilience

    Éliane Ubalijoro
    Deputy Executive Director for Programs at Global Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition

    Éliane Ubalijoro

    Deputy Executive Director for Programs at Global Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition

    Éliane Ubalijoro, PhD is the Deputy Executive Director for Programs at Global Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN). She is a professor of practice for public and private sector partnerships at McGill University’s Institute for the Study of International Development where she co-led Bill and Melinda Gates Grand Challenges Exploration grants in agriculture and health.  She is a member of Rwanda’s National Science and Technology Council and the Presidential Advisory Council. Éliane is a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. She is a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) Special Policy Study on Post 2020: Global Biodiversity Conservation. Éliane is a member of the Advisory Panel of Scientific African, the open access journal published by the Next Einstein Forum (NEF). Éliane is a member of the Crop Trust Executive Board. She is a member of the Export Consultation Group on the Post COVID-19 Implications on Collaborative Governance of Genomics Research, Innovation, and Genetic Diversity. Éliane is a member of the African Development Bank’s Expert Global Community of Practice on COVID-19 Response Strategies in Africa. She is a member of the Advisory Panel of Scientific African, the open access journal published by the Next Einstein Forum (NEF). Éliane has contributed to the Digital Monetary Council. Prior to going back to Academia, she was a scientific director in a Montreal-based biotechnology company in charge of molecular diagnostic and bioinformatics discovery programs. Éliane is a member of the Advisory Board of ShEquity.

  • Can Digital Tech Save the Environment?

    Ritwick Ghosh
    Social Science Research Fellow, New Carbon Economy Consortium, Arizona State University

    Ritwick Ghosh

    Social Science Research Fellow, New Carbon Economy Consortium, Arizona State University

  • Ethical Obstacles on the Genomic-Innovation Path to Pandemic Resilience

    Kyle Ferguson
    Postdoctoral Fellow, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

    Kyle Ferguson

    Postdoctoral Fellow, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

  • Towards More Effective Pandemic Prevention

    Joukje Siebenga
    Programme Manager, Erraze, Wageningen University and Research

    Joukje Siebenga

    Programme Manager, Erraze, Wageningen University and Research

  • Conflict, Climate Change, and Covid-19: The Global Hunger Pandemic

    Rebecca Middleton
    Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer, World Food Program USA

    Rebecca Middleton

    Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer, World Food Program USA

  • Gene Editing in Plant Breeding: Technical, Regulatory, and Social Considerations

    Tom Greene
    Senior Research Director, Corteva Agriscience

    Tom Greene

    Senior Research Director, Corteva Agriscience

  • New Breeding Techniques Legal Framework and Next Steps in Europe

    Ana Granados Chapatte
    Director, European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders

    Ana Granados Chapatte

    Director, European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders

  • CRISPR and Sustainable Innovation to Adapt and Mitigate Climate Change by Portuguese Farms

    Gabriela Cruz
    Farmer, Elvas, Portugal

    Gabriela Cruz

    Farmer, Elvas, Portugal

  • Using CRISPR to Prepare for Future Mosquito-borne Pandemics

    Omar Akbari
    Professor, University of California San Diego

    Omar Akbari

    Professor, University of California San Diego

  • Use of CRISPR to Reduce Opportunistic Infections

    Matt Anderson
    Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Microbial Infection & Immunity, The Ohio State University

    Matt Anderson

    Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Microbial Infection & Immunity, The Ohio State University

  • A Serendipitous Link Between CRISPR & Preemptive Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Design

    Geoffrey Siwo
    Research Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame

    Geoffrey Siwo

    Research Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame

CRISPRcon is a program of the Keystone Policy Center. Keystone is a nationally recognized nonprofit working to bring diverse perspectives to bear in helping leaders, stakeholders, and communities reach common higher ground on society’s most challenging issues. Keystone manages overall development of CRISPRcon programming, planning, and fundraising. Keystone operates under a statement of independence to serve all of its project participants and does not take a position of advocacy on any specific or general use of CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies.

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