Prof Keymanthri Moodley, Stellenbosch University (SU) was nominated to represent ASSAf in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Dual use life sciences research of concern (DUR/C) Dialogue with Academies and Councils.

A series of DUR/C Dialogues will be hosted by WHO to address these objectives: to present WHO Health Foresight function and DUR/C activities; to gather and exchange different stakeholder perspectives on approaches to DUR/C and to raise awareness on DUR/C issues among different stakeholder groups; to identify critical issues in DUR/C from the perspective of academies and councils; to highlight lessons learned from past experiences on addressing issues and concerns in DUR/C; and to identify key priority areas for action and appropriate areas for collaboration with different stakeholder groups.

Prof Moodley participated in the first of the Dialogue series which took place on 6 July 2020.  Based on the Academy’s experience in highlighting issues of dual use life science research, this WHO initiative will be of value to the Academy.