Appointed by the Provost

The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) recommends policies and reviews protocols involving recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acid molecules (rDNA); Risk Group 2 and 3 microorganisms; biological toxins; bloodborne pathogens; human and nonhuman primate materials; transgenic plants and animals; and mammalian tumor cell lines. Research protocols are reviewed for compliance with the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (“NIH Guidelines”); the Federal Select Agent Program; Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL); and the institutional biosafety manual. University researchers with projects involving any materials or processes subject to oversight must receive IBC approval before beginning their work.

Membership consists of five faculty members nominated by the Committee on Committees; one graduate student with a knowledge of rDNA research; two persons not affiliated with the University of Arkansas (apart from their membership on the committee) and not an immediate family member of anyone affiliated with the university, representing the interests of the surrounding community with respect to health and protection of the environment; a representative of the Pat Walker Health Center; and, ex officio and non-voting, the manager of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety or his/her designee, the IACUC Program Manager; and the Director of Research Compliance. The committee members shall collectively have expertise in rDNA, human pathogens, and transgenic plant and animal containment methodologies.

The provost designates a chairperson from the faculty members.

Ines Pinto Chair	Faculty at Large	2022
Bob Beitle	Faculty at Large	2023
Christian Tipsmark	Faculty at Large	2024
Martin Egan	Faculty at Large	2024
Young Min Kwon	Faculty at Large	2023
Brihget Sicairos-Meza	Graduate student	2022
Kayla Daniel	Community representative	2022
Malcolm Hayward	Community representative	2022
Carlos Acosta	Pat Walker Health Center	2023
James Hogan	Environmental Health and Safety Representative**
Rebecca Kavanaugh	IACUC Program Manager**
Shatara Porchia-White	Director of Research Integrity and Compliance**

*=ex officio
**=ex officio non-voting

Updated
12/03/2021
07/12/2021
02/10/2021
07/08/2020
05/06/2020
07/18/2019