Institutional Biosafety Committee

The purpose of the Georgetown University Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is to provide regulatory guidance to research personnel to ensure the safe conduct of biomedical research projects, while maintaining compliance with local, state, and federal requirements. Protocol approvals are required for research involving the use of infectious microorganisms, recombinant DNA, and biological toxins. The IBC carries out these functions pursuant to requirements set forth by the National Institutes of Health, and NIH Guidelines For Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules. EH&S performs risk assessments in order to develop biosafety policies and procedures and to set containment levels that ensure the safety of Georgetown University employees and the surrounding community. The IBC serves to provide protocol review and approval, as well as, for amended protocols. A formal letter is issued to the Principal Investigator, and other regulatory stakeholders, to document that the research project has been approved by the committee.

IBC Meetings

IBC meetings will be held on the third Friday of every month. Meetings will be canceled if there are no new protocols, renewals or amendments submitted by the due date of each month.

Note: Meeting dates are subject to committee member availability. Please see IBC meeting schedule for official and tentative dates.

IBC Meeting Schedule 2023

MonthProtocols DueMeeting Date
January1/6/20231/20/2023
February2/3/20232/17/2023
March3/3/20233/17/2023
April4/7/20234/21/2023
May5/5/20235/19/2023
June6/2/20236/16/2023
July7/7/20237/21/2023
August8/4/20238/18/2023
September9/1/20239/15/2023
October10/6/202310/20/2023
November11/3/202311/17/2023
December12/1/202312/15/2023

Protocols that are not submitted on the due date, will be reviewed at the next scheduled meeting. The IBC will not review any submission that is not complete and has not addressed edits or clarifications requested by EH&S. These protocols will also be postponed for review to the next month.

Membership Roster 2022-2023

Vicente Notario, Ph.D. (Chair)
Professor, Radiation Medicine
E 208, Research BLDG
(202) 687-2102
notariov@georgetown.edu
John Casey, Ph.D (Vice-Chair)
Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
NE 323, Med-Dent
(202) 687-1052
caseyj@georgetown.edu
Seema Agarwal, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Pathology, GCD 7A, Preclinical Science
(202) 687-2644
sa1137@georgetown.edu
Marta Catalfamo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
EG 12, Research BLDG
(202) 687-8675
mc2151@georgetown.edu
Danelle Chavez, MPH
Interim EH&S Leader, EH&S,
LM 12 Preclinical Science, 202-687-4712
dc1237@georgetown.edu
Julie Fischer, Ph.D.
Adjunct Faculty, Microbiology & Immunology
202-471-0591
jef100@georgetown.edu
Crystal Johnson, DVM
Professor, School of Medicine
G 05 RRF Preclinical Science
(202) 687-0242
cj588@georgetown.edu
Kathleen Pirollo, Ph.D.
Professor, Experimental Therapeutics
E 416, Research BLDG
(202) 687-8418
pirollok@georgetown.edu
Ms. Susan Commins Gallagher (Community Member)
4018 Mansion Drive, Washington, DC 20007
(202) 365-2398 (H)
Susangallagher4298@gmail.com
Ms. Zelda R. McDonald (Community Member)
19636 Olney Mill Rd.
Brookeville, MD 20833
(301) 570-4865 (H)
zeldamcd@verizon.net
Rodney Freeman, (Administrative Officer / IBC Contact Person)
LM 12, Preclinical Science
(202) 687-2566
freemanr@georgetown.edu