Hayley Severance is the deputy vice president for NTI’s Global Biological Policy and Programs team (NTI | bio). In that role, she supports and leads the team’s efforts to reduce biological risks that imperil humanity. Severance previously served as a senior policy advisor in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, where she developed strategic policy guidance for the Cooperative Threat Reduction’s Cooperative Biological Engagement Program and led the Department’s efforts to advance the U.S. commitment under the Global Health Security Agenda. Severance holds an M.P.H. in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University and a B.S. in Public Health from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Severance is an alumna of the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative Fellowship.

Chris Isaac is a program officer for NTI’s Global Biological Policy and Programs team (NTI | bio). In this role, he supports efforts to improve biosecurity and biotechnology governance through the Biosecurity Innovation and Risk Reduction Initiative, increase transparency and accountability for national health security capacities through the Global Health Security Index, and reduce global catastrophic biological risks arising from the misuse of biotechnology. Isaac has been involved with synthetic biology through the Internationally Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Competition since the start of his scientific career and brings with him a mixture of skills in policy, biochemistry, and programming. Isaac holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences with a minor in Philosophy and a M.Sc in Biochemistry (Bioinformatics) from the University of Lethbridge. Additionally, Isaac is an alumnus of the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and is a member of the iGEM Safety and Security Committee.

Dr. Connell is a Senior Scientist in the Board on Life Sciences at the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). Trained in microbial genetics at Harvard, Dr. Connell’s work has focused on advances in life sciences and technology and their application to a number of developments in the areas of biosecurity, biosafety, and biodefense. She has had a long-standing interest in the development of regulatory policies associated with biocontainment work and dual-use research of concern. Dr. Connell is a past member of the Board on Life Sciences and currently serves on the Committee on International Security and Arms Control. She is a National Associate of NASEM, where she has served on more than 15 NASEM committees. Among other national and international committees, she served on the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity. Dr. Connell has considerable experience and interest in pedagogy, with an international focus on ethics education and the responsible conduct of research. Dr Connell was Senior Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health from 2018-2021. From 1992-2018, Dr. Connell was an investigator in microbial genetics and drug discovery at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), finishing her long career there as Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease and Director of Research in the Department of Medicine.