Life Sciences Dual-Use Research of Concern

As of May 6, 2025 the United States Government policy for Oversight of Dual Use Research of Concern and Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential will be effective. All research at Virginia Tech will need to be in compliance with the federal policy, as outlined in Virginia Tech's policies.  

Information related to the types of agents and experiments that may be designated as Category 1 or Category 2 research can be found in Attachment A: Category 1 and Catgeory 2 DURC-PEPP Research

The Associate Vice President for the Division of Scholarly Integrity and Research Compliance serves as the Virginia Tech institutional contact for dual use research.

The Institutional Review Entity (IRE) is the institutional oversight committee that will review experiments that researchers or federal funding agencies identify as potential category 1 or category 2 research to confirm if the experiments are applicable to the federal policy. The IRE will work with the researchers and SPonsored Programs to provide the IRE's determination to the appropriate federal funding agency. If verified by the federal funding agency as category 1 or category 2 research, the IRE will work with researchers and Sponsored Programs to perform  a risk-benefit analysis and to generate risk mitigation plans, as necessary, to be provided to the appropriate federal departments.