The Nordic Biosecurity Group (NBG) is a network of students and professionals interested in the Nordic Biosecurity field. We believe emerging infectious diseases pose a significant threat to human lives and societal well-being and that there are tractable ways to minimize these global catastrophic biological risks (GCBRs). The Nordic countries are a small part of the global population but have a long history of progressive policy as well as a thriving life science research and industry.

The group was officially launched in November 2023 by Swedish MDs Johan and Johannes in collaboration with partners from the other Nordic countries. Only Iceland currently lacks a representative. Our main platform is our WhatsApp Community that anyone interested is welcome to join!

We recommend members to also join the Nordic Biosafety Network, which is a 100+ member network of biosecurity(-related) professionals (from university, government, corporate, veterinary, vaccine developers etc.) in the Nordics. They next meeting will be December 11-12 in Stockholm. In between the meetings there is a forum that all members can join.

What you can do as an individual

1. You can research and start testing if biosecurity is a good career fit for you and/or help in building and promoting the field. We especially recommend the post On-Ramps Into Biosecurity - A Model.
2. You can donate to effective charities that tackle GCBRs. The Founders Pledge site on GCBRs is a great starting point.
3. You can sign up to be a volunteer in vaccine challenge trials:
   1. 1Day Sooner
   2. Vaccelerate
4. Individual lifestyle changes will not be the most important things you can do but it might inspire you and others to contribute more in other ways. Some examples of changes include:
   1. Eating less animal products as the animal industry is poses a major risk of zoonotic spillover and drives antibiotic resistance.
   2. Taking relevant vaccines (Covid, flu, etc.)
   3. When having an infection: practicing good safety measures (hygiene, distancing, etc.)

Start here

• 80,000 Hours Profile on Preventing catastrophic pandemics, read this first if you haven’t already.
• Then read The biggest misconceptions about biosecurity/pandemics
• If you have a medical background, also check out High Impact Medicine’s Introduction to Health Security
• If you’re an enigneer, please continue here, High Impact Engineers will help you think clear

Learn more

• Start by testing your knowledge with Clearer Thinking’s Biosafety Quiz
• 80,000 hours podcast episodes about catastrophic pandemics (20+ episodes)