Blueprint Biosecurity
Blueprint Biosecurity
An EA-funded biosecurity nonprofit founded in 2023 by Jake Swett, dedicated to achieving breakthroughs in pandemic prevention through far-UVC germicidal light, next-generation PPE, and glycol vapor air disinfection. Funded primarily by Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy) (~\$1.85M) and recommended by Founders Pledge.
Quick Assessment
| Dimension | Assessment | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Focus Area | Pandemic prevention technologies | Far-UVC light, next-generation PPE, glycol vapor air disinfection1 |
| Founded | 2023 | 501(c)(3) nonprofit; Washington, DC2 |
| Funding | Moderate, growing | ≈$1.85M from Coefficient Giving; additional grants from Founders Pledge34 |
| Team | ≈16 staff | Growing from 4 employees in 2023; dedicated directors for each program area5 |
| Policy Influence | Growing | Federal lobbying through Blueprint Biosecurity Action ($170K in 2025); Coalition to Stop Flu member6 |
| Key Output | Blueprint for Far-UVC (266 pages) | Comprehensive investigation of far-UVC technology for airborne pathogen elimination7 |
Overview
Blueprint Biosecurity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2023 by Jake Swett, dedicated to achieving breakthroughs in pandemic prevention. The organization creates detailed, actionable roadmaps—called "Blueprints"—for accelerating the most promising defensive technologies against airborne pathogens, then works to remove the key bottlenecks to their deployment.1
Blueprint occupies a distinctive niche in the biosecurity landscape by focusing on physical and engineering-based defenses rather than surveillance, screening, or policy interventions. Their three program areas—far-UVC germicidal light, next-generation PPE, and glycol vapor air disinfection—are all pathogen-agnostic interventions that work regardless of whether a threat is natural, accidental, or deliberately engineered.1
The organization is recommended by Founders Pledge as a top biosecurity charity, with evaluators noting its "significant ability to absorb more funding" and focus on neglected defensive technologies.8 See the Biosecurity Interventions overview for how Blueprint fits within the broader intervention portfolio.
History
Founding (2023)
Jake Swett founded Blueprint Biosecurity after working on the Apollo Program for Biodefense, a report by the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense published in the wake of COVID-19. The President's former Science Advisor credited Swett's work as inspiration for the American Pandemic Preparedness Plan and an $88 billion federal budget request.2
Before founding Blueprint, Swett earned a PhD in Nanotechnology from Oxford (studying molecular diagnostics and biosecurity innovations), worked as a Research Scientist at Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Center, and co-founded altLabs, a research nonprofit focused on biosecurity technologies. He held fellowships at the Foresight Institute, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and the Council on Strategic Risks.2
Growth (2024-2025)
The organization grew rapidly from 4 employees in its first year to approximately 16 staff by 2025, with dedicated directors for each program area. Revenue in 2023 (first year) was $2.58M against expenses of $566K, reflecting the early build-out phase.5
Key Programs
Far-UVC Germicidal Light
Blueprint's flagship program investigates far-UVC light (200-235nm wavelength, typically 222nm) as a pathogen-agnostic defense for occupied indoor spaces. Far-UVC can inactivate airborne pathogens while remaining safe for continuous human exposure—the light is absorbed by dead skin cells before reaching living tissue.7
Blueprint for Far-UVC: A 266-page comprehensive investigation published in June 2025 (preprint March 2025), authored by Richard D. Williamson after nearly two years of research and hundreds of expert interviews. Key finding: cost-benefit analysis suggests 10-to-1 to potentially 30-290x benefit-cost ratios depending on context.7
EXHALE Program (Exposure of Human Aerosols to far-UVC Light for pathogen Elimination): Up to $1M in grants to quantify far-UVC effectiveness against viral pathogens in real human-generated respiratory aerosols. Awards of ≈$100K each distributed through milestone-based contracts.9
AIR Program (Airborne Infection Resilience): An ambitious five-year research initiative announced March 2025, with three workstreams:10
- Efficacy and Effectiveness — Bioaerosol chamber studies, computational modeling, and the first large-scale RCT across ≈50 real-world settings
- Safety — Human and animal studies to verify far-UVC exposure limits; indoor air chemistry measurements
- Communications and Deployment — Implementation protocols and a National Academies consensus study
Next-Generation PPE
The PPE Blueprint (June 2024), produced in partnership with Gryphon Scientific (now Deloitte), found that "the PPE ecosystem cannot produce a sufficient amount of high quality respiratory PPE to stand up to future pandemics." Focuses on reusable respirators, stockpiling strategies, and supply chain resilience. Led by PPE Director Victoria Slaughter.11
A supplementary report, "Towards a Theory of Pandemic-Proof PPE," followed in January 2025.11
Glycol Vapor Air Disinfection
Blueprint evaluates propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, and triethylene glycol as emergency air disinfection tools. Key findings from historical research: 1,000+ fold pathogen reduction in an hour in lab studies; a 1941-1944 healthcare study showed 90% infection reduction in glycol-treated wards. The EPA found "no significant evidence for negative health concerns" at disinfection concentrations. Estimated cost: 10-50 cents per day for a 1,000 sq ft room.12
Team
Leadership
Other key staff include Richard Williamson (Senior Fellow, authored far-UVC Blueprint), Sami Leonardo (Communications Director), Stephen Martin (Senior Researcher, 28+ years at CDC/NIOSH), and Darryl Angel (Researcher, PhD Environmental Engineering, Yale).5
Funded Research
Blueprint awards grants to academic institutions for targeted research:
| Institution | Amount | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado State University | $500,000 | Secondary chemical reactions from far-UVC in indoor environments (2025) |
| Columbia University | $137,120 | Eye safety research (2024) |
| Penn State University | $106,350 | Far-UVC modeling and air chemistry (2024, two grants) |
| Shimane University | $59,840 | Human eye tolerance limits (2024) |
| Imperial College London | £50,000 | Open-source far-UVC building deployment model (2024) |
| Columbia University | $40,000 | Replicating far-UVC efficacy research (2025) |
| MIT Kroll Lab | $25,000 | Air cleaning from far-UVC and indoor compounds (2024) |
Funding
| Funder | Amount | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Coefficient Giving | $900,000 | 2023 |
| Coefficient Giving | $50,000 | 2023 |
| Coefficient Giving | $900,000 | 2024 |
| Vanguard Charitable | $250,000 | 2024 |
| Founders Pledge | $150,000 | — |
| Total identified | ≈$2.25M |
Financial snapshot (2023): Revenue $2.58M, expenses $566K, assets $2.04M. Executive compensation: Jake Swett, $83,333.5
Blueprint also operates Blueprint Biosecurity Action, a separate entity for lobbying, which spent $170,000 on federal lobbying through September 2025.6
Relationship to AI Safety
Blueprint Biosecurity addresses the Defend pillar of the Delay/Detect/Defend framework—building physical defenses that work regardless of the threat source, including AI-enabled bioweapons. Far-UVC, PPE, and air disinfection are "last line" defenses: even if AI helps attackers design novel pathogens that evade synthesis screening and surveillance, physical environmental defenses can still limit transmission.
This makes Blueprint's work complementary to organizations focused on Delay (SecureBio/SecureDNA) and Detect (NAO/wastewater surveillance). 1Day Sooner's indoor air quality program, including their influential air safety report with Rethink Priorities, addresses similar problems from a policy advocacy angle.
Limitations
- Far-UVC regulatory gap: No binding regulatory standards exist worldwide for safe far-UVC dosage as of 2025—a significant barrier to deployment13
- Young organization: Founded 2023, still building track record and institutional capacity
- AIR Program unfunded: The five-year research initiative currently has "no funding source for this scale of far-UVC research"10
- Narrow focus: Concentrates on airborne pathogen transmission; does not address foodborne, waterborne, or contact transmission routes
Key Questions
- ?Can far-UVC achieve regulatory approval and global health agency endorsements within the next 5 years?
- ?Will the AIR Program's large-scale RCT provide sufficient evidence for widespread deployment?
- ?Is glycol vapor air disinfection a viable emergency tool, or are safety concerns underestimated?
- ?How quickly could far-UVC scale if a major pandemic threatened?
Sources
Footnotes
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Blueprint Biosecurity Programs — Blueprint Biosecurity Programs ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Blueprint Biosecurity Team — Blueprint Biosecurity Team ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Coefficient Giving — Blueprint Biosecurity General Support (2023) — Coefficient Giving — Blueprint Biosecurity General Support (2023) ↩
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Coefficient Giving — Blueprint Biosecurity General Support (2024) — Coefficient Giving — Blueprint Biosecurity General Support (2024) ↩
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Cause IQ — Blueprint Biosecurity 990 — Cause IQ — Blueprint Biosecurity 990 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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OpenSecrets — Blueprint Biosecurity Action Lobbying — OpenSecrets — Blueprint Biosecurity Action Lobbying ↩ ↩2
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References
“Dr. Jacob Swett serves as Executive Director and founder of Blueprint Biosecurity, a nonprofit dedicated to achieving breakthroughs in humanity’s ability to suppress pathogens.”
The source does not explicitly state that Blueprint Biosecurity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The source does not explicitly state that Blueprint Biosecurity is located in Washington, DC. The copyright date is 2026, suggesting the organization was founded before 2023.
“Blueprint Bio is a young organization that we believe has significant ability to absorb more funding to expand its operations across all its priority areas and advance Blueprint Bio’s vision of “a world resilient against biological threats that pose pandemic threats to humanity.””
“The Airborne Infection Resilience (AIR) program is a five-year research initiative focused on speeding up the widespread adoption of far-UVC —a breakthrough technology for combatting airborne disease.”
“Num. employees 10”
The source states the number of employees is 10, not approximately 16. The source does not mention dedicated directors for each program area.
“Our Programs Far-UVC is a new form of germicidal UV light (GUV). Because it is strongly absorbed by proteins in the outer layer of human skin and eyes, it can inactivate a wide range of pathogens with minimal penetration into and effects on human tissues. In order to ensure that the workers who operate critical societal infrastructure have ample amounts of effective personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent a pandemic, our PPE blueprint outlines what types of PPE are needed, how much, and how we can improve supply before and during future crises. Glycol vapors—specifically propylene glycol (PG), dipropylene glycol (DPG), and triethylene glycol (TEG)—are abundant, widely used compounds found in everyday products from cosmetics to food to theatrical fog. Manufactured at industrial scales and used for decades in consumer applications, these compounds also possess powerful antimicrobial properties when vaporized into indoor air.”
“Our Blueprint for Far-UVC report contains a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge for far-UVC, as well as a series of recommendations for advancing the technology’s development.”
The source does not state the number of pages in the Blueprint for Far-UVC report. The source states that the report contains a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge for far-UVC, as well as a series of recommendations for advancing the technology’s development, not a comprehensive investigation of far-UVC technology for airborne pathogen elimination.
“Types of funding that may be awarded: Milestone-based contracts”
WRONG NUMBERS: The source does not specify that the awards are approximately $100K each. It only mentions that up to $1,000,000 is available.
“We expect it to cost ~10-50¢ per day to protect a 1000 ft 2 room, including TEG liquid and energy costs.”