Tessa Alexanian - IBBIS

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International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative·ibbis.bio/people/tessa-alexanian/

Credibility Rating

4/5

High(4)

High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.

Rating inherited from publication venue: International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative

Relevant to AI safety audiences interested in biosecurity governance and dual-use technology risk management, as synthetic biology screening parallels challenges in AI deployment safety and misuse prevention.

Metadata

Importance: 28/100homepage

Summary

Profile page for Tessa Alexanian, Technical Lead for the Common Mechanism at IBBIS, an international baseline for nucleic acid synthesis screening. Her work spans biosecurity, dual-use risk assessment in synthetic biology, bioweapons convention compliance, and building cultures of responsibility in the life sciences.

Key Points

•Tessa Alexanian leads technical development of the Common Mechanism, an international standard for nucleic acid synthesis screening to prevent bioweapon misuse.
•Prior experience includes lab automation at Zymergen and two years as iGEM Competition's Safety and Security officer.
•Holds a 2023 Council on Strategic Risks Fellowship for Ending Bioweapons; collaborated with Open Philanthropy, RAND, and the Council on Strategic Risks.
•Work focuses on dual-use risk assessment in synthetic biology, bioweapons convention compliance, and promoting responsible research cultures.
•IBBIS is a Geneva-based Swiss non-profit working on international biosecurity and biosafety standards for the scientific community.

Cited by 1 page

Page	Type	Quality
IBBIS (International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science)	Organization	60.0

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- [About](https://ibbis.bio/about/)
  - [People](https://ibbis.bio/about/people/)
  - [Careers](https://ibbis.bio/about/careers/)
- [News](https://ibbis.bio/news/)
- [Our Work](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/)
  - [Commec Sequence Screening](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/common-mechanism/)
  - [Customer Screening](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/customer-screening/)
  - [Global Synthesis Map](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/global-dna-synthesis-map/)
  - [International Standards](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/international-screening-standards/)
  - [Sequence Biosecurity Standards](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/sequence-biosecurity-standards/)
  - [Vulnerability Disclosure](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/vulnerability-disclosure/)
- [Contact](https://ibbis.bio/contact/)

[![](https://ibbis.bio/wp-content/themes/ibbis/assets/images/header_logo.png)](https://ibbis.bio/)

- [About](https://ibbis.bio/about/)
  - [People](https://ibbis.bio/about/people/)
  - [Careers](https://ibbis.bio/about/careers/)
- [News](https://ibbis.bio/news/)
- [Our Work](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/)
  - [Commec Sequence Screening](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/common-mechanism/)
  - [Customer Screening](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/customer-screening/)
  - [Global Synthesis Map](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/global-dna-synthesis-map/)
  - [International Standards](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/international-screening-standards/)
  - [Sequence Biosecurity Standards](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/sequence-biosecurity-standards/)
  - [Vulnerability Disclosure](https://ibbis.bio/our-work/vulnerability-disclosure/)
- [Contact](https://ibbis.bio/contact/)

Staff

Tessa Alexanian

Technical Lead, Common Mechanism

Canada / USA

[![](https://ibbis.bio/wp-content/themes/ibbis/assets/images/logo_linkedin_blue.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessaalexanian/)[![](https://ibbis.bio/wp-content/themes/ibbis/assets/images/logo_X_blue.svg)](https://twitter.com/tessafyi)

Staff

Tessa Alexanian

Technical Lead, Common Mechanism

Canada / USA

[![](https://ibbis.bio/wp-content/themes/ibbis/assets/images/logo_linkedin_blue.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessaalexanian/)[![](https://ibbis.bio/wp-content/themes/ibbis/assets/images/logo_X_blue.svg)](https://twitter.com/tessafyi)

Tessa Alexanian is the Technical Lead for the Common Mechanism, an international baseline for nucleic acid synthesis screening. Her previous work has focused on modular lab automation, assessing dual-use risks in synthetic biology projects, bioweapons convention compliance, and creating cultures of responsibility. Tessa wrangled robots to do bioengineering for four years at Zymergen, served for two years at the iGEM Competition’s Safety and Security officer, and has collaborated with organizations including Open Philanthropy, RAND, and the Council on Strategic Risks. She holds a 2023 Council on Strategic Risks Fellowship for Ending Bioweapons, and was a 2022 ELBI fellow, 2020 Foresight Fellow, and 2017 iGEM BWC delegate.

[![](https://ibbis.bio/wp-content/th

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Resource ID: 64b88623f7875acc | Stable ID: YThmYWRhZj