UPMC Center for Health Security Announces Open Philanthropy Project Grant for the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) Fellowship Program

BALTIMORE, Oct. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The UPMC Center for Health Security today announced receipt of a generous 3-year grant from the Open Philanthropy Project for the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) Fellowship program.

The ELBI Fellowship program, first launched in 2012, is a competitive program, aimed at creating and sustaining an energetic, multidisciplinary, and engaged community of motivated rising professionals who can contribute to policy and practice in the field of biosecurity. The ELBI program focuses on providing a rich array of experiences through which fellows can deepen their expertise in biosecurity, build leadership skills, forge a network of lasting professional relationships, and have opportunities to provide ideas and policy recommendations to the international biosecurity community.

ELBI Fellows and alumni hail from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia and represent expertise in a wide range of disciplines related to biosecurity, including biology, biotechnology, international policy, US biosecurity policy, medicine, veterinary medicine, biopharma industry, journalism, anthropology, public health, emergency management, and more.  Fellows come from national and local governments, private industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations.

Each fellowship class lasts 1 year and includes interactive workshops in Washington, DC, and other locations in the US and abroad, as well as a number of webinars, online discussion forums, and alumni networking opportunities. Fellows meet with biosecurity experts to discuss important and current topics affecting the field, and offer their unique insights and analyses to policymakers and practitioners during the fellowship year.

Support from the Open Philanthropy Project will allow the ELBI program to move forward in the next few years, as well as to expand, giving Fellows the chance to engage in additional biosecurity events and programs in the US and internationally. Funding from Open Philanthropy will also help support a growing ELBI alumni network, by creating a networking structure and support, and encouraging interaction between the fellows, alumni, and the larger biosecurity community.

Tom Inglesby, CEO and Director of the UPMC Center for Health Security, says:

"With the vision and support of the Open Philanthropy Project, the ELBI program will help to build the next generation of biosecurity leaders. We are thrilled to guide this program and watch the fellows step into roles where they will make a difference."

For more information about the ELBI Program or Open Philanthropy Project's support for the program, please contact Matthew Watson, [email protected], 443-573-4501

SOURCE UPMC Center for Health Security

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