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Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)

The UC Merced IBC has been established to comply with the membership, procedure, and function requirements of Section IV-B-2 of the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules.  

Responsibilities

Use of biological materials is subject to oversight by the IBC to ensure regulations, guidelines, and safe practices are followed to eliminate or reduce risk of exposure to acceptable levels and comply with NIH Guidelines.  This essential oversight occurs through review and approval of Biological Use Authorizations (BUAs) submitted by Principal Investigators prior to initiation of research.  Other IBC responsibilities are to create and enforce policies and procedures regarding the use of biohazardous materials and monitor construction and use of biohazard containment facilities.

UC Merced IBC Handbook (currently under revision)

BUA Submission Deadline and IBC Meeting Dates

BUA Submission Deadline IBC Meeting Date
August 9, 2024 August 29, 2024
September 6, 2024 Sepetmber 25, 2024
October 4, 2024 October 30, 2024
November 12, 2024 N/A (due to holiday)
December 6, 2024 December 11, 2024

* Dates marked with a "*" are subject to change due to holidays. All IBC meetings are hybrid - held in person in the EH&S Trailer and via Zoom. The IBC meets from 1:3 PM to 3:00 PM for each meeting. If there is a month where there is no IBC meeting, all BUAs that were submitted will be reviewed at the next IBC meeting. 

When possible and consistent with protection of privacy and proprietary interests, the Institutional Biosafety Committee meetings are open to the public. If you are interested in attending, please contact biosafety@ucmerced.edu for more information.

Committee Composition

Voting members:

Committee Chairs:

Chair: Ruben Ceballos - Associate Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Merced

UC Merced Members:

Renaldo "Rey" Riggins - Interim Campus Biosafety Officer and High Containment Lab Director, University of California, Merced
Thomas Lee - Interim Director of Environmental Health & Safety, University of California, Merced
Ayo Adebiyi - Occupational Health Nurse Practitioner
Syeda Tajin Ahmed - Postdoctoral Scholar, Mechanobiology, University of California, Merced 
David Gravano - Technical Director of Cytometry, Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry (SCIF) Core Facility, University of California, Merced
Andy LiWang - Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Chemistry, University of California, Merced (on sabbatical Fall 2024) 
Patrick Sharp - Attending Staff Veterinarian, University of California, Merced
 

Community Members:

Mike Cuchna - Merced College Vice President of Technology and Institutional Research, Retired
 

Ex officio, non-voting members:

Kaylee Chang - Associate Biosafety Officer & IBC Administrator, University of California, Merced
Danielle Benziger - Assistant Director, Research Compliance & Integrity, University of California, Merced 
Chou Her - Executive Director & Chief of Police, University of California, Merced
Laura Rodriguez-Mascorro - Emergency Manager, University of California, Merced
Leslie Texieira Porto - Assistant Vice Chancelor, Interim Chief of Staff and Export Control Officer, University of California, Merced
Chou Xiong - Office of Research & Economic Development, University of California, Merced
 
 
Agendas and Meeting Minutes

The monthly IBC meeting agenda is distributed to the committee approximately seven days before the meeting date. The draft minutes from the previous month are distributed on the same date. The IBC minutes with proprietary or sensitive information redacted are available on request to members of the public. Please reach out to biosafety@ucmerced.edu with any questions.