the potential to identify any pathogen within a sample, providing a
more comprehensive assessment of the infectious agents and any
commensal organisms.
MRIGlobal has developed PanGIA (Pan-Genomics for Infectious
Agents), a sample to sequence workflow capable of detecting
pathogens from clinical samples. This fully integrated workflow
includes all steps required for sample through library preparation
and next-generation sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq and followed
by bioinformatics analysis for unbiased pathogen identification.
Here we present the results from our analytical validation of
the PanGIA system with nasopharyngeal swabs, demonstrating
the limit of detection and repeatability of the system with a
wide range of pathogen types. We observed an approximate
LOD of 10,000-1,000,000 PFU/ CFU per mL for our pathogen
surrogates V. cholerae (Gram negative bacteria), S. aureus (Gram
positive bacteria), Modified Vaccinia Ankara virus (DNA virus) and
Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis virus (RNA virus). The results
presented here demonstrate the ability to use the PanGIA pipeline
for the detection of clinically relevant pathogens from a clinically
relevant matrix.
Presenter: Hillary Wood, MRIGlobal, Kansas City, MO,
[email protected]
Statewide Sample Tracking: Learning from Newborn
Screening and Sexual Assault Kit Deployments
H. MacIntosh, STACS DNA
States have legislation or regulations mandating sample tracking
for public health and safety. How can a state program keep track of
thousands of samples coming from hundreds of submitters across a
large region to ensure timeliness and transparency?
Track-Kit sample tracking is being used by thousands of users to
track newborn screening specimens and sexual assault kits. Track-
Kit is a cloud-based system that is in use or is being deployed in
seven states/provinces in North America. More than simply telling
you where your samples are, Track-Kit can also:
• Alert hospital or lab staff of delays so that they can take action.
This not only expedites processing samples, it can save money by
avoiding recollection and associated costs (kit, collection, courier
and processing).
• Give all users the information they need around the clock,
including giving the state a global view of the status and location
of all kits.
• Track inventory to ensure hospitals never run out of kits, which
can save time and money.
• Increase quality by alerting the collector if a kit has expired.
Avoiding using expired kits means the lab gets a quality sample
the first time, and avoids requesting a recollection and additional
costs.
• Meets hospital accreditation requirements as it documents
delivery of kits to the lab.
This poster shows graphically two use case deployments and how
states are benefitting:
Newborn screening (NBS): Track-Kit is being used in Ontario by 200
hospitals to track 150,000 specimens a year. The state of Utah will
be deploying Track-Kit to 42 hospitals to track 115,000 specimens
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by the end of 2019. These newborn screening programs know the
status of every specimen to ensure timely screening. Specimens
must be tested within 48 hours of collection to identify babies
who are at risk of serious disease. Before tracking, specimens
occasionally went astray, getting lost in the hospital, or getting
lost by the courier; the lab may not have known that a baby was
missed until days later. Delays in diagnosis and treatment can
result in delay in a baby’s development, lifelong serious disease
or premature death. Track-Kit is helping Ontario and Utah to avoid
delays and meet their timeliness goals.
Sexual assault kits (SAK): Many states now have laws specifying
that rape kits must be sent to the lab and processed within a
certain timeframe and that survivors are informed as to the status
of their kits. Track-Kit is being used in Washington State, Arizona
and Michigan and is being deployed in Texas and Nevada to track
SAKs from collection at the hospital, in law enforcement custody,
and delivery to the DNA lab. Using a confidential survivor portal,
survivors can access the location and status of their SAK as well
as access local, regional and national resources and contact
information for their medical facility and law enforcement agency.
States are able to maintain a global view of all SAKs to meet their
legislative and reporting requirements.
Presenter: Heather MacIntosh, STACS DNA, Ottawa, ON, Canada,
[email protected]
Workforce Development
A New Public Health Laboratory Workforce: The Rise of
Millennial Laboratorians
A. Wright, Association of Public Health Laboratories
After analyzing multiple APHL administered workforce surveys,
it is evident that more millennials are joining the Public Health
Laboratory workforce but choosing not to remain in the workforce
for more than 5 years. This presentation will discuss the important
findings from a focus group with PHL millennials on why they choose
to work in a PHL, why they choose to remain in a PHL, and trends
in their training needs and desires. It will also cover different PHLs
models of recruitment and retention practices based on feedback
from millennials and lab directors.
Presenter: Andrea Wright, Association of Public Health
Laboratories, Silver Spring, [email protected]
Early Findings from a National Assessment to Help
Shape and Support Public Health and Clinical Laboratory
Workforce Development
R. Ned-Sykes, S. Strider, Q. Zheng, P. Thomas and Y. Wilkins, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
Challenges in public health laboratory (PHL) and clinical laboratory
(CL) workforce development are numerous; but, not all are well
documented from a national perspective. The CDC recently began
a 3-year initiative — the Workforce Assessment of Laboratory
Communities (WALC) — to better enable the development of
collaborative strategies to address challenges and needs in
laboratory workforce development. As a first step, a literature
review was conducted to document the extent and scope of data
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