The primary goal of the Biosafety Program is to facilitate the implementation of appropriate administrative policies, work practices, safety equipment, facility design and training programs for work involving biological hazards. The purpose of these functions is to minimize the risk of laboratory-acquired exposures and to promote full compliance with applicable biological safety regulations and guidelines.
Adherence with biological safety policies and procedures is essential in the conduct of research and laboratory management at Boston College. The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and Environmental Health and Safety provide resources, guidance and training to safeguard personnel and the environment from biologically hazardous materials and to comply with federal, state, and local regulatory requirements. The Biological Safety Officer is the liaison between researchers and the IBC, which reviews protocols dealing with infectious agents and/or recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acids.
The Boston College Biosafety Manual provides a practical overview of proper work practices and the requirements for regulatory compliance with laws and guidelines governing proper use, containment and disposal of biological hazards.
For a full list of resources and to access the Boston College Biosafety Manual, please log in to the Boston College Environmental Health and Safety Google site.
The Boston College Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) provides oversight for research involving biological hazards such as recombinant DNA materials or technology, infectious agents, human-derived materials and biological toxins. The IBC is committed to promoting the advancement of research and teaching activities, by ensuring that all experiments involving biological materials are conducted in full compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and guidelines.
Effective June 1, 2025, the Boston College IBC will make approved meeting minutes publicly available, by posting records on this site. This procedure is pursuant to the provisions outlined in the NIH OSP Memorandum “Implementation Update: Promoting Maximal Transparency Under the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules” (NIH Notice: NOT-OD-25-082). In compliance with the NIH Guidelines, the IBC meeting minutes document the committee’s review of experiments that fall within the scope of Section III. Research activities not subject to the NIH Guidelines are not reflected in these records.
IBC Minutes