Jonas Sandbrink Named to Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative Fellowship

Trinity DPhil student Jonas Sandbrink will join an elite group of 30 researchers in the  2022 Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Now in its eighth year, the competitive part-time ELBI fellowship program identifies researchers as future leaders and innovators in the biosecurity community. The program supports talented career professionals in deepening their expertise, expanding their network, and building their leadership skills through a series of events coordinated by the Center. 

Jonas Sandbrink is currently undertaking a DPhil in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford and is a researcher at the Future of Humanity Institute; his Dphil examines how to mitigate the misuse of synthetic viruses, and his research focuses on how to effectively govern biotechnology risks, build secure research infrastructure, and preferentially advance technologies with low risk profiles. He says: ‘I am very excited to be named an Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Fellow. I believe protecting humanity against future catastrophic pandemics – including ones caused by the deliberate or accidental misuse of biotechnology – is one of the most important challenges of this century.

‘This drive is reflected in my recent research on preventing biotechnology misuse in an age of open science, security risks from viral vector engineering, and mask-wearing in the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the fellowship, I look forward to working with an international cohort of brilliant and committed individuals seeking to strengthen global health security.'