The agenda included presentations on the Orion project, visits to CNPEM laboratories, and lectures on contamination control and technologies applied to high biological containment laboratories
Caption: SBCC representatives visited CNPEM facilities (Credits: Disclosure/CNPEM)
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) welcomed on June 23 representatives from the Brazilian Society for Contamination Control (SBCC) for a technical visit focused on exchanging knowledge about biosafety, controlled environments, and technologies applied to high biological containment laboratories. The program included visits to Sirius, the Center’s national laboratories, and the high biological containment training laboratory, as well as lectures open to internal staff on topics related to contamination control and environmental decontamination.
The agenda is part of the initiatives to bring the Orion project closer to strategic institutions that operate in areas essential for the future operation of the laboratory complex. The facility will house maximum biological containment installations and will be the first of its kind in Latin America, and the first in the world connected to a synchrotron light source. In this context, the initiative expands the dialogue with experts who contribute to the development of standards, best practices, and technical solutions aimed at research in high biological containment laboratories.
During the visit, the president of SBCC, Rose Nascimento, gave a lecture and highlighted the importance of collaboration between scientific institutions and technical entities to strengthen biosafety and the continuous improvement of standards and best practices applied to the sector.
“Today, we at SBCC have this very close synergy with national and international bodies, technically strengthening this market and contributing to safe and responsible regulatory documentation”, she said.
The program also included a lecture given by Roberto Marques, an engineer at Byotek, a Brazilian technology-based company specializing in solutions for contamination control and disinfection. During the visit to CNPEM, he highlighted the quality of the infrastructure being developed for the Orion project and its potential to expand Brazilian scientific capacity for studying pathogens.
“It’s world-class. I lived in the United States and Europe and didn’t see anything like it. It makes me proud to be Brazilian, and I’m certain that Orion will be a global benchmark,” he celebrated.
The collaboration between CNPEM and technical entities such as SBCC is part of the Orion project’s strategy to strengthen connections with a wide range of different actors. Building this collaborative network is fundamental to consolidating skills, promoting the exchange of knowledge, and supporting the development of a scientific infrastructure prepared to operate according to the highest standards of biosafety, quality, and excellence in research.
Project Orion
Project Orion will be a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research, and will include Latin America's first maximum biological containment level facilities (BSL-4), the only labs of this kind in the world connected to a synchrotron light source, Sirius. Currently under construction in the city of Campinas, São Paulo on the CNPEM campus, this project will combine analytic techniques and advanced competencies in bioimaging which will be open to the scientific community and public agencies. By permitting advances in knowledge on pathogens and related diseases, Orion will support health surveillance activities and policies, as well as the development of diagnostic methods, vaccines, treatments, and epidemiological strategies. Orion will support national sovereignty in facing health crises, and has the potential to benefit various areas such as health, science and technology, defense, and the environment. The implementation of Project Orion is overseen by the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), a social organization linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). The project is part of the federal government's New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) and funded with resources from the National Scientific and Technological Development Fund (FNDCT) and MCTI, with support from the Ministry of Health (MS). This initiative is part of the federal government's New Industry Brazil (NIB) stimulus policy and will serve as an instrument of national sovereignty, competence, and security in the fields of science and technology for research, defense, and human, animal, and environmental health. Orion was also planned to strengthen the Health Economic-Industrial Complex (CEIS), an initiative coordinated by the Ministry of Health and intended to meet priority demands from the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).
About CNPEM
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), with the involvement of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently constructing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. CNPEM's research and development activities are carried out through its four National Laboratories: Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as its Technology Unit (DAT) and the Ilum School of Science — an undergraduate program in Science and Technology.
