City Council Meeting Discusses Proposed Level 4 Research Moratorium
Original article from: South End News posted on August 25, 2016. by Michele D. Maniscalco
With about 25 spectators in the gallery, City Council president Ayanna Pressley, District 7 city councilor Tito Jackson and councilor at large Annissa Essaibi-George held a meeting on August 11 to hear panels from Roxbury Safety Net and its allies, Boston University’s (BU) research and NEIDL (National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory) leadership and the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) as well as members of the public on the proposed moratorium on all level 4 potential pandemic research, pending a national review.
While Councilor Essaibi-George had to leave early due to schedule conflicts, she pledged to listen to the proceedings in their entirety via the City Council’s on-line video library, with special attention to testimony from the public. Pressley and Jackson had pointed questions for proponents of approving level 4 research at the NEIDL, or Biolab as it is also known, about the economic impact of level 4 research for BU and for the city; on community engagement in the Institutional Biosafety Committee, the Community Liaison Committee and the Boston Biosafety Committee and on BU’s self-oversight of labs handling dangerous pathogens.