European network for high and maximum biological containment laboratories visits CNPEM and signs agreement to collaborate with Project Orion

Objectives of the collaboration include strengthening high and maximum biosecurity infrastructures and driving scientific progress in the study of highly infectious agents

 

The European Research Infrastructure on Highly Pathogenic Agents (ERINHA) signed an agreement with the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) on June 5 to collaborate with Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced research into pathogens, which will include the only maximum biological containment (BSL-4) facilities in Latin America and the world’s first connected to a synchrotron light source, Sirius.

ERINHA brings together European institutions that are recognized for conducting research in biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories in the field of public health focused on infectious diseases. The agreement signed between ERINHA and CNPEM was formalized in a memorandum of understanding that defines collaboration between the two institutions to ensure the strengthening of high and maximum biological containment facilities and drive scientific progress in the study of highly infectious agents. “For Brazil, which is constructing Orion, it is extremely important to make these international connections. You need to establish these partnerships, to train people, visit and get to know these structures. We are already doing this with several laboratories individually, so it is useful to expand this relationship through this network, since you immediately have access to a much larger number of laboratories and can establish a dialog with all of them,” said Antonio José Roque da Silva, Director General of CNPEM.

The advantages offered by this collaboration include researcher exchanges through access to the BSL-3 and 4 facilities of the institutions that are part of the European association. For example, this relationship will permit joint activities to strengthen expertise in managing biological risks and conducting research to advance knowledge on pathogens that pose a significant threat to public health.  “This is how ERINHA works in Europe: mediating access for researchers who need to carry out research in its laboratories, founded on security, protection, consistency and common practices. This is the way forward, and I am happy we have been able to make this collaboration a reality,” said ERINHA General Director Dr. Jonathan Ewbank.

Emerging infectious diseases (new or expanding illnesses) and re-emerging diseases (which previously were controlled but are now reoccurring in large numbers) represent a serious public health problem on a global scale. Within this context, facilities like Orion are essential for allowing progress in health research. Ewbank sees extraordinary potential in the laboratory that combines maximum biological containment and a synchrotron light source, which is the case at Orion and unequaled worldwide. “It quite possibly will exceed the expectations we have today,” he commented.

During his visit to CNPEM, Ewbank also visited the training laboratory for the BSL-3 Laboratory Training and Qualification Program. The space is an accurate replica of BSL-3 and BSL-4 facilities, equipped with all the necessary infrastructure to realistically simulate the environments in these containment levels. The goal of the program is to train professionals who will be able to work at Orion in the future, as well as to expand human resources qualified to conduct research involving high-risk pathogens.

ERINHA

ERINHA is a pan-European research infrastructure organized as an international non-profit organization (AISBL). It brings together the leading high and maximum biological containment facilities in Europe to enable and strengthen research into high-risk pathogens, with its administrative offices in Brussels, Belgium.

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 laboratory of its 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). The New PAC also involves carrying out the second phase of Project Sirius with an investment of approximately R$ 800 million, which will include constructing ten new research stations and optimization of the facilities.

The Orion 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), 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 supported by the Ministry of Education (MEC).