Institutional Biosafety Committee Minutes

Oklahoma State University - Center for Health Sciences Institutional Biosafety Committee Hybrid Meeting minutes from Thursday August 20, 2026 at 10:00 AM

IBC Members Present

• Dr. Crystal (Niki) Johnson: Committee Chair - Present
• Dr. I-Hsiu (George) Huang:  Scientific Member - Absent
• Dr. Sue Katz Amburn:  Scientific Member - Present
• Dr. Gerwald Koehler: Scientific Member - Present
• William (BJ) Reddig: Lab representative - Present
• Dr. David Wallace: Animal Expert - Present
• Dr. Fang (Fiona) Liu: Non-affiliated member - Absent
• Jennifer Nangle: Non-affiliated Member - Present
• Dr. Vikram Gujar: Alternate Member - Affiliated Scientist - Present

Quorum: Quorum is met. The IBC has six (6) voting members present, and four (4) voting members are required to conduct business.

Others in Attendance

• Amber Hood: Oklahoma State University - Center for Health Sciences - Director Regulatory Compliance & Research Facilities
• Rebecca Crandell: Oklahoma State University - Center for Health Sciences - Assistant Director Research Compliance

Minutes

1. Call to Order
   • The IBC Chair called this meeting to order at 10:01am.
     1. Conflicts of Interest
        • The IBC Chair asked all members present to identify any conflicts of interest with the materials that are to be reviewed.
        • None were identified
     2. Discussion of previous minutes
        • No discussion was held regarding the July 2026 IBC meeting minutes. Dr. Wallace motioned to approve them as written, and Dr. Katz seconded. All members present were in favor of the motion.
     3. Review and Approval of previous meeting minutes
        • Date of previous meeting: Thursday, July 16 2026
        • Motion: Approve as Written
        • Votes:
          • For - 6
          • Against - 0
          • Abstain - 0
2. Review of Prior Business
   • Business: Report of pending/outstanding protocol(s)
   • Review and Discussion: None
3. New IBC Registrations and Amendments for Review
   1. Review of IBC-00001262
      • PI Name(s): Dr. Swarup Mitra
      • Registration Title/Number
        • Understanding the role of Ralgapb and Naa15 in driving oligodendroglial plasticity.
        • IBC-00001262
      • Project Overview:
        • Early-life stress (ELS) increases the risk of mental health disorders during adolescence, but the brain mechanisms that link these experiences to later behavioral changes remain poorly understood. Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), a type of brain support cell that helps shape neural development, are highly sensitive to stress, yet their role in behavioral adaptations following ELS is largely unknown. This project will investigate how the stress-responsive gene Ralgapb and Naa15 regulate primary OPC signaling and plasticity. To accomplish these aims, OliNeu cells and primary OPCs isolated from naïve and ELS-exposed rat pups will be transduced with replication-defective lentiviral vectors carrying wild-type or mutant Ralgapb or Naa15 constructs. Cells will subsequently be processed for molecular and immunocytochemical analyses.
      • NIH Guidelines Section
        • The work was determined to be subject to the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules and was classified under Section III-F-2, with applicable Appendix C-I and Appendix C-II exemptions for tissue culture experiments and E. coli K-12 host-vector systems.
      • Risk Assessement
        • Generation of Splashes possible; possible sprays/aerosols from centrifugation
      • Discussion
        • The committee agreed that the PI addressed all of their requests and voted to approve it as submitted. As a reminder, the changes previously requested were as follows: Revise the protocol to include a detailed biological risk assessment for the plasmid and constructs, define all acronyms in Overview & Scientific Aims section, clarify the use of lab space, include lentiviral constructs in lab-specific biosafety plan, and identify funding source.
      • Training
        • All personnel listed on this application have completed the minimum required lab safety training courses, including Lab Chemical safety, Bloodborne Pathogens training, and Laboratory Biosafety training. Additionally, all personnel have documented in-lab training for specific procedures that are carried out in each individual lab.
      • Additional Training
        • No additional training was outlined for this application.
      • Occupational Health Respresentative Review (if applicable)
        • No additional occupational health concerns were outlined for this protocol.
      • Biosafety Level Assignment
        • Biosafety Level: 2
        • Additional Discussion or notes:  No additional discussion was held regarding the biosafety level.
      • IBC Vote
        • Motion: Approve
          • 1st: Mr. Reddig
          • 2nd: Dr. Wallace
        • Votes:
          • For - 6
          • Against - 0
          • Abstain - 0
          • Recused - 0
        • Notes:
          • No additional discussion was held regarding the motion.
4. New Business
   • Research Office job opening
     • There is a job opening in the Office of Research for a Research
5. Additional/Other Business
   1. Notice of protocol approval since last meeting
      • Since the previous meeting, one protocol was approved after the pending revisions were completed and reviewed by DMR: Dr. Johnson's protocol #1261.
6. Review of Incidents
   • No incidents were discussed at this meeting.
7. Inspections/Ongoing Oversight
   • No inspections or ongoing oversight were discussed at this meeting.
8. IBC Training
   • At this meeting, Dr. Johnson provided some education about the Draft Biosafety Policy for Research Involving Biohazards which is open for public comments. Dr. Amber Hood shared information about News from the NIH Office of Science Policy: "United States Government Policy for Stopping High-Risk Life Sciencs Research" from July 20, 2026. A discussion occurred about both policy updates, with no actionable items at this time.
9. Public Comments
   • No public comments were recorded at this meeting.
10. Adjournment
    • The IBC Chair moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:29am.
    • The next IBC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 17 2026.