CSET Events

Assessing the AIxBio Policy Landscape

What comes next 180 days after the Biden Executive Order

On June 6, CSET hosted experts to discuss where AIxBio policymakers go next after the 180-day mark following the Biden AI Executive Order.

The Biden Administration’s Executive Order on AI included several provisions relevant to AI, biology, and the intersection of the two. For example, the EO calls for a study on the biosecurity risks presented by novel AI tools and directs the creation of a DNA synthesis screening mechanism. 

Now that we’ve passed the 180 day milestone since the EO’s signing, where do things stand? On June 6th, CSET Research Analyst Vikram Venkatram moderated a discussion with CSET Research Fellow Dr. Steph Batalis, National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology Fellow Matthew E. Walsh, and Science Policy Consulting Principal Dr. Sarah Carter.

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Recording

Participants

Dr. Steph Batalis is a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Her research examines a number of issues at the intersection of AI and the life sciences, including how emerging technologies will impact both biomedical innovation and U.S. biosecurity. Before joining CSET, Steph was the STEM Policy Fellow at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center where she focused on economic and workforce development initiatives in North Carolina’s life sciences ecosystem. Steph earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a focus in Structural and Computational Biophysics from Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine and a B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Vanderbilt University.

Matthew E. Walsh is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering (Health Security track) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Fellow at the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology. His dissertation work focuses on the impacts of artificial intelligence on the deliberate biological threat landscape. Previously, he was Associate Staff in the Biological and Chemical Technologies group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL), a Department of Defense research and development laboratory. He established a technical program at MIT LL to develop and apply machine learning methods to engineering biology with a focus on rapid medical countermeasures and antibody-based therapeutics. Mr. Walsh also has supported work in biosensor development, threat attribution, warfighter health, and biological data assurance. Prior to MIT LL, he worked at MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, developing assays for the characterization of therapeutic monoclonal antibody production. He is a member of the 2018 cohort of the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative and received a BA in Chemistry from Skidmore College. 

Dr. Sarah R. Carter is the Principal at Science Policy Consulting LLC. For ~15 years, she has focused on advances in the tools and capabilities for engineering biology, biosecurity screening frameworks, and international norms for biosecurity. In recent years, she has supported the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) on projects related to DNA synthesis screening and the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for biosecurity. She also works on policy issues related to the broader bioeconomy as a Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. Previously, she worked in the Policy Center of the J. Craig Venter Institute and at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). She is a former AAAS S&T Policy Fellow and a former Mirzayan Fellow of the National Academies. She earned her Ph.D. from UCSF, and her bachelor’s degree from Duke University.

Vikram Venkatram is a Research Analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where he focuses on emerging issues in biotechnology. His prior work has addressed biosecurity and biohazard response, dual-use neuroscience and technology, and global surveillance and policy, and has been featured by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Atlantic Council, and the Mad Scientist Network of US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). Previously, he interned at the Atlantic Council and the U.S. Department of State. Vikram has an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and a B.S.F.S. in Science, Technology, and International Affairs with a minor in Biology, also from Georgetown University.