The American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) has announced that Dr. Robert Ellis, a Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology at Colorado State University, is the Association’s new president-elect. Dr. Ellis was installed at the annual ABSA business meeting in Nashville in October. He will serve one year as President-elect, then a year as President, and then a year as Past President. ABSA has over 1700 members representing 32 countries.
“It is truly an honor and a challenge to be ABSA President-elect,” said Dr. Ellis. “I eagerly look forward to working with the ABSA Council, executive staff and members as we continue to enhance our leadership and impact on the biosafety profession in North America and worldwide.”
Dr. Ellis said during his tenure as an ABSA office member he will work to foster a spirit of leadership for the association’s team leaders, encourage more training and educational programs, help new members (membership has increased 49% since 2002) to actively participate in the organization, and strengthen current liaisons and establish new liaisons with national and international organizations to enhance the principles and practices of biosafety worldwide.
Dr. Ellis graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology. He received his master’s degree and PhD at Purdue University. He joined the faculty at CSU in January 1978 and was appointed to the Biosafety Committee. From 1986 through 1989 he served as the University’s Biosafety Officer, and was reappointed to the position in 1997. He currently is the Director of Biosafety at Colorado State University.
He is a Certified Biological Safety Professional and a Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (Honorary). He was elected to the ABSA Council in October, 2004, and is on the Editorial Board for Applied Biosafety. In addition to his CSU and ABSA activities, he has been the Executive Director of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases since 1987, and was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Animal Health Research Reviews where he is currently on the editorial board. Dr. Ellis is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program of the NIH, and serves on the Biosafety Committees for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the National Wildlife Research Center.
