GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — Operation Outbreak joined the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs’ 2026 Youth for Biosecurity Fellowship in Geneva this week, using simulation-based training to help emerging biosecurity professionals put concepts in outbreak preparedness, risk assessment, and cross-sector coordination into practice.
The activities took place alongside the Ninth Session of the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention, held August 17–21 in Geneva. Operation Outbreak Co-Founder COO Kian Sani, Biosecurity Education Lead Curtis Hoffmann, Biosecurity Program Advisor Dr. Susan Cropp, and new Strategy and Business Development Manager Sol Bloomfield traveled to Geneva for the program.
The first activity “Festival Exposure” was a new two-hour tabletop exercise developed by Cropp and Hoffmann. Fellows were divided into technical and policy cells and placed inside an evolving fictional outbreak that incorporated the Operation Outbreak simulation, requiring them to assess incomplete information, coordinate across disciplines, and make decisions as new challenges emerged.
During the debrief, Fellows emphasized the importance of communication, understanding the roles of different stakeholders, and applying past experience to unfamiliar threats. Several Fellows also expressed interest in bringing Operation Outbreak to their own countries and institutions.
The second activity was an NGO briefing focused on practical approaches to biosecurity education and capacity building. Cropp and Sani were joined by Dr. Mariana Ulinici of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and Dr. Ray Kayaga of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations, with Marykate Monaghan of UNODA moderating the session.
The discussion explored how biosecurity extends beyond the laboratory into field response, risk assessment, communication, and institutional preparedness, as well as how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and synthetic biology are changing the threat landscape.
The Geneva program also builds on Operation Outbreak’s growing portfolio of engagement with ICGEB and the BWC Implementation Support Unit, through which Operation Outbreak has contributed simulation-based exercises to pathogen detection and biosecurity training programs. That collaboration has helped establish simulation-based tabletop exercises as a practical way for participants to test plans, work across roles, and translate technical instruction into real-world decision-making.
For Operation Outbreak, the week in Geneva reflects a broader effort to make simulation a core tool for biosecurity training: creating interactive environments where scientists, policymakers, and practitioners can identify gaps, practice coordination, and experience the consequences of decisions before a real crisis occurs.
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About Operation Outbreak, Inc.
Operation Outbreak is a nonprofit organization that uses experiential learning and outbreak simulations to build practical outbreak preparedness skills among students, professionals, and policymakers worldwide.