Astrobiodefense: Biological Threats and the Next Frontier

This Commission meeting, Astrobiodefense: Biological Threats and the Next Frontier, will be held on May 8, 2025. The focus of this meeting will be to provide the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense with a better understanding of how to strengthen international astrobiodefense and planetary protection efforts through: (1) current government astrobiodefense efforts; (2) new scientific and technological advances for astrobiodefense; and (3) collaborative efforts and public-private partnerships to improve astrobiodefense. More information will be provided as the event date approaches. 

The meeting will begin with Commission Executive Director Dr. Asha M. George delivering the first annual State of National Biodefense address. The increasing biological threat and uncertainty surrounding federal biodefense programs and capabilities necessitates a clear-eyed examination of the threat and US efforts to address critical capability gaps. This address will lay out the current realities of national biodefense and the Commission’s vision for a future where the Nation can more effectively prevent, deter, prepare for, detect, respond to, attribute, recover from, and mitigate biological incidents.

• Asha M. George, DrPH – Executive Director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense
• James D. Polk, DO – Chief Health and Medical Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• J. Nick Benardini, PhD – Planetary Protection Officer, 2021-present, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Lindsay Hays, PhD – Senior Scientist for Mars Exploration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Robert E. Lindberg, Jr., ScD – Independent Consultant; Member, Committee on Planetary Protection, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
• Trista J. Vick-Majors, PhD – Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University
• Christopher E. Carr, ScD – Assistant Professor, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, & School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology; Research Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital Molecular Biology
• Cassie Conley, PhD – Former NASA Planetary Protection Officer, 2006-2017