AAF Flanders' Mark Huza Presented Keynote Speech at A-PBA Biosafety Conference in China

Mark Huza, AAF Flanders' Strategic Product Development Manager for High Purity Research & Development, recently gave a keynote presentation at the Asia Pacific Biosafety Association's (A-PBA) 13th Annual Biosafety Conference in Beijing, China. The theme of the conference was "Strategizing Biosafety and Biosecurity in Today's Advancing Technological Era and Changing Security Landscape." Co-organisers included the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, and China's Ministry of Health. 

The theme of Mark's presentation was "HEPA Filtration Systems for Risk Mitigation – Are We Using Them Efficiently?" He spoke on new challenges influencing the design of HEPA filtration systems used as containment barriers when working with high-consequence airborne contaminants. These include:

• emerging infectious diseases
• cGMP/containment overlap
• nanoscale contaminant impacts
• decontaminant resistant organisms
• cross-contamination prevention
• sensitive population exposure
• facility future use potential
• 24/7 uptime requirements
• high-value continuous research initiatives

Mark addressed the use of HEPA filtration systems, including their key operating requirements and the limits of effective operability, utilizing a Vulnerability Review (VR) process, and how these systems' misuse or misapplication may result in failing risk mitigation controls. The optimum goal to aim for is to identify problem areas with a VR process at a point in time when they can be cost-effectively addressed. 

AAF Flanders also had a booth at the conference, where we demonstrated our leadership in HEPA and HEGA containment systems for critical applications. For over 40 years, AAF Flanders has set the standard for the control of nuclear, biological, pharmaceutical, and chemical airborne hazards, and we were proud to share our expertise at this Biosafety Conference.