This March, Boston will play host to a dedicated international conference and exhibition of contamination control professionals and biosafety specialists. The timing of the event is fortuitous given recently increased public concern in Massachusetts over public health and safety issues related to biotechnology research and development.
The CleanRooms Contamination Control Technology (CCT) Conference & Exhibition, being held March 22-23 at Boston’s World Trade Center, will feature prominent national speakers from the bio/pharmaceutical and contamination control industries, university research laboratories, as well as the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), and the National Institute of Science & Technology (NIST).
Contamination control and biosafety concerns captured headlines in Boston this month, when it was reported that three Boston University biotechnology researchers had become infected with tularemia, or “rabbit fever,” a bacterial disease spread by insects and animals, including rabbits, and which appears as a pneumonia-like illness when inhaled. University officials have acknowledged that researchers in the lab had violated policies and procedures mandating the use of proper contamination control systems and safety equipment. The incident also focused renewed attention on BU’s plans to build a new high-security (Biosafety Level 4)facility in the city, which will conduct research on some of the world’s most lethal toxins.
“As Massachusetts continues to emerge as one of the world’s leading centers for biotechnology research, development and manufacturing, public safety issues will no doubt increasingly be raised, as they should,” says John Haystead, Editorial Director for the CleanRooms Contamination Control Technology Group of Nashua, NH-based PennWell Publishing, which is sponsoring the upcoming conference, “but these concerns must be addressed through a thorough the science, technology, equipment and practices that have been specifically to ensure safety.”
As pointed out by Haystead, biosafety has always been a major component and advanced contamination control science and technology. “In fact, one of the chosen to host the 2005 Contamination Control Technology conference was position in life-science research and development, and the directly associated knowledge and expertise in contamination control technology to ensure product, worker, and public safety.”
In addition to the CleanRooms Contamination Control Technology (CCT) Conference CleanRooms Group also manages and produces four other tradeshows: CleanRooms CleanRooms China, CleanRooms Asia, and CleanRooms Puerto Rico. CleanRooms publishes CleanRooms magazine, CleanRooms’ Master Source Guide, a bi-monthly e-newsletter and various related online products and printed supplements.