Imperial has launched a new Biosecurity Network of Excellence to tackle growing threats to human, animal and plant health at a landmark conference – as the UK’s Security Minister warned of ‘complex and more frequent’ biosecurity risks.
The announcement came as global health and security leaders gathered for Biosecurity at the frontier – a major conference organised by Imperial looking at the widening gap between biological threats and humanity’s ability to detect and respond to them.
Hosted at the White City Deep Tech Campus, some of the world’s leading biosecurity experts, policymakers and industry innovators discussed how advances in AI-driven protein design, synthetic biology, and engineering biology have transformed the threat landscape and looked at how to address rising public health threats - such as pandemics, biological weapons, and attacks on food systems.
The Biosecurity Network of Excellence, announced at the conference, will build on decades of expertise at the university across health, engineering and technology.
Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, said: "At Imperial, we have a proud history of delivering real-world solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems – through cutting-edge science and research, partnerships and harnessing our unique convening power.
"That’s why we have brought together some of the world’s leading researchers, policymakers, industry experts and research funders to our Biosecurity at the frontier conference, to share expertise and accelerate partnership working for the public good.
"By establishing a new Biosecurity Network of Excellence at Imperial, we are supporting our researchers to move faster to close the gap between the threats we face and our ability to meet them."
Imperial’s multi-faculty Networks of Excellence aim to develop connections around critical multidisciplinary areas and support cross-faculty research tackling big societal challenges.
The Biosecurity Network of Excellence will be structured around three key themes:
- Threats – Understanding the full spectrum of biological risks, from naturally occurring hazards to intentional synthetic threats, AI-enabled threat creation and food security challenges.
- Surveillance - Developing rapid, pathogen-agnostic diagnostics and detection capabilities, bridging biology, chemistry and engineering, while also considering the ethical concerns that come with collecting and analysing biosecurity data.
- Response – Investigating rapid deployment technologies, sovereign manufacturing capability, broad-application therapeutics and supply chain resilience, so health officials can respond to threats at scale and pace.
The network will be initially shaped by an academic steering group led by researchers who have been involved with the Biosecurity at the frontier conference.
The launch of the network came as the UK’s Security Minister warned the world is facing ‘more complex, more frequent and more interconnected’ biosecurity threats.
In a message to the conference, Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis urged policymakers, researchers and industry experts to better work together to keep the public safe from emerging threats.
Minister Jarvis said: "In 2026 alone, we've seen biological threats claim lives. The meningitis B outbreak in Kent, the spread of hantavirus on a cruise ship, the current Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, and, of course, the discovery that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a novel dart frog toxin.
"The threats are becoming more complex, more frequent and more interconnected. To protect our people means rigorous preparedness, planning and partnership from those in government, industry, academia and our international partners."
Biosecurity has become a growing concern for policymakers globally - with scientific breakthroughs, AI-enabled discovery and industrial innovations combining to present new threats, while also creating new opportunities for human health.
The conference provided an opportunity for leading researchers, policymakers, industry leaders and research funders to consider the actions needed to strengthen global biosecurity. Panels and talks at the event focused on building the frameworks, partnership, and capabilities required to reduce the risks from biological hazards.
Professor Susan Hopkins, CEO of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: "We are facing a more complex biosecurity landscape - driven both by evolving natural pathogens and by advanced technologies that are inherently dual-use: capable of driving health security gains, but also, if misapplied, enabling harm.
"Staying ahead of these threats demands closer collaboration between government, academia and industry. Imperial has created a valuable platform to turn that intent into action."
Discussing both the opportunities and risks presented by AI when tackling epidemic and pandemic threats, Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), highlighted what is being done in response to the ongoing Ebola epidemic. He said: "Artificial intelligence is already shaping the response to the current Bundibugyo Ebolavirus outbreak - helping us navigate complexity, analyse epidemiological data, and place the outbreak in the context of prior events. We are learning how to integrate these tools into real-world response, and the potential is considerable."
He also highlighted how the same AI advances could lower barriers to the creation or modification of future biological threats, adding: "The convergence of biology and AI is reshaping the landscape of risk as well as the landscape of opportunity. That dual reality is why this conference matters."
Imperial’s unique convening power
Imperial is uniquely placed to convene on biosecurity issues through its strengths in disease surveillance, synthetic biology, AI risk, and countermeasures development.
In recent years, the university’s response to COVID-19 covered the full health emergency, building on decades of expertise and capability, including:
- epidemiological models estimating transmissibility and confirming human-to-human transmission
- 15 major clinical trials
- a self-amplifying RNA vaccine candidate
- the world's first COVID-19 human challenge study
- the REACT population surveillance programme which gave the UK Government real-time insights for the epidemic
Imperial is also a trusted collaborator for global biosecurity projects and an active partner to CEPI and the World Health Organisation.
The university's researchers advise governments, multilateral bodies, and health agencies across multiple continents, while its four Imperial Global hubs in the USA, Singapore, India, and Ghana provide a potential presence for on-the-ground work in regions critical to pandemic preparedness.
The Biosecurity at the frontier conference saw panels and remarks with expert speakers from CEPI, the UK Health Security Agency, NATO, the European Commission and the UK Government, alongside researchers from Imperial’s biosecurity community.
Speaking at the event, Amanda Wolthuizen, Vice-President (Strategy) at Imperial, said: "This conference was more than just sharing expertise, it was about challenging our thinking and creating new partnerships. The Biosecurity Network of Excellence will provide leadership, structure and support for collaboration across a range of disciplines in response to the critical research and innovation challenges that we’ve been discussing."
Identifying emerging threats
Imperial’s combination of state-of-the-art facilities and world-leading researchers means the university is already playing an important role in examining and addressing emerging biological threats.
In South Kensington, Imperial runs one of the largest academic high containment lab spaces in Europe, allowing for the important study of pathogens which may emerge as threats to human health.
Pandemic preparedness hinges on scientists being able to predict which pathogens are most likely to infect humans, as many of the viruses that make humans ill start as viruses which only infect animals. Climate change and human activities, such as deforestation and high-intensity animal agriculture, are increasing the risk of such diseases jumping into humans.
Professor Wendy Barclay, Regius Professor of Infectious Disease at Imperial, said: "To stay ahead of threats, we need to be able to predict which pathogens are most likely to become a problem and learn as much about them as we can. However, studying viruses with pandemic potential in the laboratory comes with risks.
"We need funders, regulators and researchers from around the world to agree on global guardrails for this research. Good practice should be international and universal, and the UK, with its cautious yet open approach, can offer a blueprint for how to manage these risks.
"UK science must seize the opportunity to lead the world in this area – in both enhancing scientific research safely, and protecting human and animal health from future disease outbreaks."
At the White City Deep Tech Campus, the London Biofoundry provides a hub for academic collaborators and industrial clients specialising in the design, engineering and functional characterisation of synthetic DNA and organisms, while Imperial’s Environment Research Group is a leading provider of air and water quality information and research in the UK.
This article was first published on 11 June by Imperial College London.
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