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Artificial Intelligence, Genomics, and the Future of Biosecurity (Panel)
Panelists: Jay Atanda (RAND), Elise Racine (Oxford), Julian Gough (OutSee), and Prof Andy Miah (Salford). Chair: Conrad Kunadu (Oxford & Johns Hopkins University)
Overview: Advances in artificial intelligence are accelerating the capacity to decode, manipulate, and weaponize biological information at unprecedented scale. This panel examines the convergence of AI and biotechnology in enabling precision targeting—reshaping deterrence, attribution, and the ethics of warfare itself. As genomic datasets expand and machine learning enhances predictive bio-design, the boundaries between defense, health security, and population control blur. What happens when code meets code—digital and biological—and selective vulnerability becomes a function of data? Bringing together experts in AI governance, bioethics, and national security, this session explores the emerging landscape of algorithmic biology and the profound implications of an era in which intelligence itself becomes a biological instrument.
Panelists:
Jay Atanda (RAND): Adejare (Jay) Atanda is a senior policy researcher at the Meselson Center in RAND’s Global and Emerging Risk division, where his work focuses on AI security, biosecurity, and AI–bio convergence, examining how emerging technologies can be misused and intersect with traditional threats. He has published widely in peer-reviewed journals including Health Security, BMJ Open, and the International Journal of Public Health, and has presented at national and international forums such as WHO technical meetings. Previously, Atanda managed a policy and research portfolio at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office and remains active in public health and security governance through multiple professional committees and editorial boards.
Professor Julian Gough (OutSee) Julian John Thurstan Gough is a bioinformatician and computational biologist renowned for his contributions to molecular biology and genomics. Educated at The Perse School, he earned a joint honours BSc in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Bristol and completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where he developed Hidden Markov model methods for genome analysis. Gough has held research positions at Stanford University, RIKEN, and the Pasteur Institute, was a professor of bioinformatics at the University of Bristol, and served as a programme leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. His work led to the creation of the Superfamily database of protein structure models and has been widely published in top scientific journals. He is currently CEO and founder of AI genomics company OutSee Ltd.
Professor Andy Miah (Salford) Professor Andy Miah is Chair of Science Communication & Future Media, at the University of Salford, where he Directs The Science Communication Space in the School of Science, Engineering and Environment, is the Ethics in Artificial Intelligence Champion for the University, and leads its Metaverse Special Interest Group. Professor Miah’s research investigates the ethical, legal, social and cultural questions concerning technological change and his publications draw on ideas from science, technology, art, and media culture. Author of 10 books and over 150 academic articles, Professor Miah has been at the forefront of debates about how humanity is moving beyond conventional evolutionary processes and towards evolution by technology.
Elise Racine (Oxford) Elise joined the Ethox Centre in October 2021 as a DPhil candidate in Population Health and a Clarendon Scholar. Her research centres around the societal impacts, policy implications, and human rights challenges of emerging technologies within global health. She will be continuing this work at Oxford where she will be studying the ethics of infectious disease surveillance technologies under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Johnson, and Dr. Federica Lucivero. Prior to commencing her DPhil studies, Elise received a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in digitalisation and big data from the Hertie School where she was a research associate on a project evaluating models of the COVID-19 pandemic and a recipient of the DAAD Prize 2020.
Chair: Conrad Kunadu is a DPhil Candidate in International Relations at Balliol College, University of Oxford. His primary research interest lies at the intersection of emerging technologies and (inter)national security, with a particular focus on biotechnologies and bioweapons. He is also interested in the governance of nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies; international cooperation and security studies; as well as biosecurity and pandemic preparedness. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, supported by the Horizon Institute for Public Service.
Date:
26 January 2026, 17:30
Venue:
Manor Road Building, Manor Road OX1 3UQ
Venue Details:
Seminar A
Speakers:
Jay Atanda (RAND),
Prof Julian Gough (OutSee),
Prof Andy Miah (Salford),
Elise Racine (Oxford),
Conrad Kunadu (Oxford)
Part of:
Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group
Booking required?:
Recommended
Booking url:
https://us21.list-manage.com/survey?u=727d55073cf70ac049beb79ba&id=f6a0edf9dd&attribution=false
Audience:
Oxford University Members and Wider Academic/Policy Community
Editor:
Christopher Morris
