About Us
The Canadian Consortium of Academic Biosafety Level 3 (CCABL3) Laboratories, a CoVaRR-Net initiative, facilitates and expedites research on risk group 3 (RG3) pathogens.
CCABL3 has played a vital role in strengthening Canada’s ability to respond to biological threats by improving biosafety and preparedness across the country. It has built a resourceful, reliable, and credible network that provides scientists and highly qualified personnel (HQP) with access to crucial information, including standardized operating procedures (SOPs), techniques, protocols, and reagents related to containment level 3 (CL3) facilities. In addition, CCABL3 has served as a key communication bridge between Canadian academic scientists, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and PHAC’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML), facilitating direct and effective collaboration with the government.
Our Mission
CCABL3’s mission includes:
- Facilitating data and information sharing
- Standardizing the training of HQP
- Conducting resource mapping of existing academic CL3 laboratories
- Identifying knowledge, expertise and infrastructure gaps
- Providing SOPs for key assays (e.g., neutralization assays, growth of pathogens, etc.)
- Producing and storing high-priority pathogens
- Facilitating the sharing of key reagents and specimens, and
- Enhancing the coordination between Canadian academic CL3 laboratories with federal and provincial public health laboratories and industry.
Key Successes
Collaboration
Since its inception, CCABL3 has achieved significant success in fostering collaboration across the CL3 community. It has ensured that all U15 universities with CL3 laboratories are represented and has actively engaged with CL3 directors at 17 facilities to gather valuable information on training. The organization also supported Biological Safety Officers (BSOs) by addressing infrastructure issues and facilitating links between facilities. In addition, it worked with the Swedish Pandemic Preparedness Laboratory (PLP) and the Swedish BSL3 network, regularly exchanging information and discussing the challenges faced in CL3 environments.
Central repository
A major challenge during the pandemic was the lack of a central repository for CL3 pathogens. In response, CCABL3 established Canada’s first central repository for SARS-CoV-2 isolates, providing a valuable resource for the scientific community. In addition, the organization established a unified Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), streamlining the authorization process for isolate requests and ensuring efficient access to critical materials.
Resources
Ensuring the safe and efficient operation of CL3 facilities in Canada is a top priority for CCABL3. Recognizing that easy access to guidelines is critical for biosafety, CCABL3 developed posters on key operational procedures that were distributed to all Canadian academic CL3 facilities. In addition, CCABL3 developed SOPs to standardize practices and promote biosafety across existing and future CL3 facilities. CCABL3 further refined CL3 operational models by developing and distributing surveys, and organizing workshops to improve cybersecurity practices in RG3 pathogen research.
Infrastructure mapping
During the pandemic, CCABL3 mapped resources across Canada’s CL3 labs, enabling facilities to quickly identify key expertise and reagents. This infrastructure mapping played a crucial role in accelerating research by facilitating efficient collaboration and resource sharing at a critical time.
2025 and
beyond
Prior to the pandemic, coordination among the CL3 facilities in Canada was limited. However, CCABL3 has since strengthened the CL3 network by fostering strong relationships with CL3 directors, BSOs, and facility managers. Moving forward, CCABL3 will continue to play a key leadership role for CL3 laboratories across Canada. This includes facilitating research on CL3 pathogens, providing reliable information, protocols, and reagents to the scientific community, and maintaining centralized information on available pathogens and reagents for researchers across the country.
Members of the CCABL3 Executive Committee
Mariana Baz
EC member, CCABL3
Senior Research Scientist and Head of the Antiviral Drug Sensitivity Division at the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza;
Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the BSL3 laboratory, Université Laval
Sarah Viehbeck
Ex officio member, CCABL3
Chief Science Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
Rajesh Jacob
Coordinator
Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
The Chair of the Executive Committee will meet twice a year with the members of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to provide updates on progress made and initiatives taken. In return, the SAB will provide guidance and recommendations to the Executive Committee to ensure that actions taken benefit researchers from all institutions.
Eric Arts
Western University
Marc Aucoin
University of Waterloo
Jennifer Corcoran
University of Calgary
Éric Cohen
Université de Montréal
Jocelyn Côté
University of Ottawa
Louis Flamand
Université Laval
Katrina Gee
Queen’s University
Volker Gerdts
University of Saskatchewan
Scott Gray-Owen
University of Toronto
Philippe Gros
McGill University
Jason Kindrachuk
University of Manitoba
Tom Hobman
University of Alberta
Matthew Miller
McMaster University
Eileen Denovan-Wright
Dalhousie University