The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) has trained its first group of external researchers to work in biosafety level 3 laboratories, spaces for handling highly transmissible pathogens. The course is part of the Project Orion Training Program and was attended by seven researchers from the São Paulo School of Medicine at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). This initiative is intended to enhance human resources with staff who already research pathogens and in the future may use the open facilities at Orion, the laboratory complex for pathogen research which is being constructed at the CNPEM campus.
The training was held from February 26 to March 1 and covered theoretical activities as well as hands-on sessions in the CNPEM Biosafety Training Lab, a mockup space that simulates a BSL-3 laboratory. In this simulated environment, the researchers in the course were able to practice safety protocols without handling infectious materials or risking contagion. They were supervised by specialized professionals who conducted individual assessments on the biosafety protocols.
“This is just the first step to begin professionalization and training of researchers who work in the country’s high-containment biosafety facilities. The Orion complex will be home to biosafety level 1,2, and 3 laboratories, as well as the country’s first BSL-4 lab. Until this new laboratory complex for pathogen research is completed, the training program will have the opportunity to train Brazilian teams in the best biosafety practices in the world,” notes Tatiana Ometto, a specialist in high-level biological containment at CNPEM.
Researchers and diversity
The first group of researchers to complete the BSL-3 Training Program at CNPEM are currently involved in masters, doctoral, and post-doctoral projects that mostly address etiologic agents including SARS-CoV-2. This virus, which is classified as a group 3 risk, must be handled in biosafety level 3 laboratories.
The scientists trained in the program come from all five regions of Brazil: Ana Paula Cunha Chaves from the state of Pará, Brenno Fernandes from Paraíba, Cristina Peter from Rio Grande do Sul, Simone Ravena from Brasília, and Danilo Mendonça, Beatriz Moreira, and Márcia Duarte from São Paulo.
“Although the researchers are from the same research group at UNIFESP, they come from five different states and have different educational backgrounds. Here we have representatives from Brazil’s five regions, demonstrating the reach, the potential for diversity and representativeness that the training program can provide the Brazilian academic community,” says Tatiana Ometto.
Orion: Laboratory Complex for Pathogen Research
The Orion complex is the first of its kind worldwide, hosting high and maximum biosafety containment (BSL-3 and BSL-4) laboratories; the maximum containment lab will be connected to Sirius, a synchrotron light source and fourth-generation particle accelerator which is the largest and most complex scientific infrastructure ever constructed in Brazil. There will be three beamlines (the name for the experimental research stations at Sirius) interconnected with Orion that can conduct research on biological materials at different scales.
Like the other facilities at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, the Orion complex will be dedicated to serving and fostering scientific collaboration between different domestic and international actors and research institutions, which will be able to use its infrastructure and specialized staff to help advance knowledge on pathogens and related diseases.
Orion will offer pioneering opportunities to conduct research on severe and highly contagious diseases that currently cannot be studied around the world due to the lack of adequate infrastructure. This project will also help train personnel to handle these infectious agents.
The Orion project receives funding from the Brazilian National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT), within the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), and is part of the federal government’s new Growth Acceleration Program (PAC); construction will begin during this first half of this year.
Training participant profiles
Ana Paula Chaves is a biomedical scientist. In her opinion, this background is essential to be able to correctly conduct scientific investigations. She mentions the importance of standardizing processes to ensure greater safety in lab spaces. “We will be able to begin activities in the new BSL-3 lab at UNIFESP in a much more coordinated manner than before,” she observes.
Brenno Fernandes has a degree in biotechnology, and stresses that the Training Program allowed him to review habits that were not in line with good laboratory practice. “The training considerably upgraded my biosafety skills. I learned much more about the importance of the equipment in ensuring the necessary protection. Without a doubt, I will be more confident working in a BSL-3 lab,” he says.
Cristina Peter is a veterinarian, and shares one of her motives for participating in the program: “Throughout my studies I worked in BSL-2 labs. When I returned to Brazil after a postdoctorate in the United States, I faced the challenge of working in a BSL-3 facility. We work with etiologic agents like the coronavirus and HIV, which are handled in our lab. I personally do not have technical training in this area,” she notes, emphasizing the importance of participating in the program.
Simone Ravena is also a biomedical scientist. “This training adds knowledge that I will bring back to my research group. Developing a critical sense for decision making was one of the main things we took away, especially when considering potential spills or accidents.”
Danilo Mendonça is also trained in biomedicine and calls attention to the infrastructure at CNPEM, which is available to Brazil’s scientific community. “It is innovative to see the environment we have here and the country’s capacity to offer this training, without the need to be in a real lab to understand processes like accidents. Having a space for simulation and understanding what to do is very significant, since it allows us to contain these risks, protecting ourselves and the community as a whole,” he states, adding, “All the measures I’m learning here will definitely and significantly upgrade my biosafety practices, even in lower-level laboratories.”
Beatriz Moreira is a biomedical scientist with previous experience at UNIFESP’s BSL-3 facilities, which allowed her to simulate situations she was already familiar with from her everyday work. She initially plans to apply what she learned in her doctorate, not only to carry out her project but also to establish partnerships to develop technologies in health and other areas of biology.
Márcia Duarte, a biologist, shares her experience: “We received a wide-ranging training that simulated various situations we face every day. It was a dynamic class, with activities that combined theory and practice, from start to finish.”
More information about the Orion training program for potential participants can be found at: https://pages.cnpem.br/treinamentonb3/.
Internacional certification
Researchers from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) recently visited CNPEM to train the Center’s teams for work in BSL-3 labs. Researchers, engineers, and technicians were certified to work in biosafety level 3 laboratories, and also had the chance to get certified to train other professionals interested in best practices, documentation, and maintenance of level 3 biosafety facilities.
The University of California, Irvine School of Medicine is an institution of excellence in the United States and has already trained over two thousand professionals there and abroad.
Check out the video about UCI’s training at CNPEM here.
About CNPEM
A sophisticated and effervescent environment for research and development, unique in Brazil and present in few scientific centers in the world, the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is a private non-profit organization, under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). The Center operates four National Laboratories and is the birthplace of the most complex project in Brazilian science – Sirius – one of the most advanced synchrotron light sources in the world. CNPEM brings together highly specialized multi-thematic teams, globally competitive laboratory infrastructures open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects in partnership with the productive sector and training of researchers and students. The Center is an environment driven by the search for solutions with impact in the areas of Health, Energy and Renewable Materials, Agro-environment, and Quantum Technologies. As of 2022, with the support of the Ministry of Education (MEC), CNPEM expanded its activities with the opening of the Ilum School of Science. The interdisciplinary higher course in Science, Technology and Innovation adopts innovative proposals with the aim of offering excellent, free, full-time training with immersion in the CNPEM research environment. Through the CNPEM 360 Platform, it is possible to explore, in a virtual and immersive way, the main environments and activities of the Center, visit: https://pages.cnpem.br/cnpem360/.
