Bio Safety Committee / Biotechnology

Description

The Watertown Biotechnology and the use of Recombinant DNA Molecule Technology regulation requires that all applicable companies within the City of Watertown adhere to the most recent version of the NIH Guidelines for research involving recombinant or synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules. Companies must also comply with the biosafety levels (BSL) and containment measures outlined in the most recent version of Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL).

Additionally, the regulation forms a Watertown Biosafety Committee (WBSC) that reviews registration and permit applications and makes recommendations to the Watertown Board of Health (BOH). The WBSC meets the first Thursday of every month. The deadline for submission of applications to be considered at the meeting is at noon, two weeks (two Thursdays) prior to the meeting.

Contact

Email the Bio Safety Committee / Biotechnology, if you have questions.

Meetings

1st Thursday of every month

Members

The Watertown Bio Safety Committee (WBSC) is composed of five members:

The Board of Health Chair Designee
The Director of Public Health or their designee
An individual with knowledge of hazardous materials appointed by the Board of Health in consultation with the Watertown Fire Chief
Two residents of Watertown with experience in biotechnology and appointed by the Board of Health

Member Biographies

Mia Tova Lieberman, DVM, PhD, DACLAM	Director of Public Health Designee and Health Department Biosafety Consultant.
Captain Ralph Mele	Lab Safety Officer, Watertown Fire Department
Deborah L. McEwan, PhD	Deb McEwan received her PhD in biology from Harvard University and completed her postdoctoral research at Massachusetts General Hospital. She next co-founded a small start-up screening for novel therapeutics to treat rare genetic diseases and is currently a scientist at a biotech specializing in precision oncology. Deb has published multiple peer-reviewed scientific articles and been awarded a variety of research grants and patents. She moved to Watertown in 2015 and can often be found walking around the neighborhood with her husband, two daughters, and very energetic puppy.
Bradford M. Parsons	Brad Parsons has lived in Watertown since 2005. He became involved in town policy by joining the Watertown Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee a decade ago but stepped back from serving due to time constraints. He is very excited to be back in the mix and brings nearly 20 years of environmental, health, and safety experience to the committee with a primary focus on EPA, MA DEP, OSHA, and DOT regulatory compliance in the laboratory.
Dr. Timothy J. Maguire	Tim Maguire received his Phd in biomedical engineering from Rutgers University, and has over fifteen years of biopharma industry experience in protein, cell, and gene therapy (BsMab, CAR-T, mRNA, AAV). He has significant corporate development, EHS, R&D, operations, and alliance management experience. Tim has been a proud member of the Watertown community since 2017 and can be found with his family around any of the local parks, or along the Charles River, known as "Coach Timmy" to the soccer community.