Lab Matters Fall 2016 | Page 31

member spotlight

Director

Pentella was born in Canton , OH , home of the Football Hall of Fame . He earned two degrees in microbiology before moving to Florida to work as a clinical microbiologist at Lakeland Regional Medical Center Hospital , while earning his MS and PhD . In 2001 , he accepted a position as program manager at the State Hygienic Laboratory – University of Iowa , where he advanced to associate director before leaving in 2013 to assume the directorship of the Massachusetts Public Health Laboratory .

Staff

The laboratory has 120 employees , divided among six divisions : microbiology headed by Tracy Stiles , MS ; molecular biology and virology headed by Smole ; chemistry headed by Jamshid Eshraghi , PhD ; quality assurance facilitated by Kim Doan ; biosafety led by Shoolah Escott , MS , MT ( ASCP ); support services headed by Keith Parry ; and information technology .

Revenue

The laboratory ’ s $ 15 million annual budget comes from a mix of state funding ( 45 %), grants ( 46 %) and fees .

We meet regularly with state partners in Epidemiology and Food Protection to discuss in real time all potential foodborne outbreak investigations . These investigations require a coordinated effort from all three groups to be successful .

– Tracy Stiles , MS

Testing

Since another state department oversees water , air and soil testing , most of the 250,000 annual samples submitted for testing are clinical . And although the laboratory has capability for highly specialized testing — serving as a Level 1 Laboratory Response Network – Chemical ( LRN-C ) laboratory , Tier 1 LRN – Biological laboratory and a BioWatch facility — its highest-volume tests are for common sexually transmitted infections — gonorrhea , chlamydia , HIV and syphilis — and TB . These four tests alone generate more than 100,000 test results per year . Among its environmental tests are assays for eastern equine encephalitis in mosquito pools , Vibrio parahaemolyticus in oysters and various pathogens in food .

Away from the bench , the laboratory boasts impressive collaborations with state and community partners , including :

• An active outreach program for biological and chemical threat training for first responders and sentinel clinical labs

• A training program for post-doctoral research fellows

• Numerous research projects with the surrounding academic community , such as a partnership with Harvard School of Public Health to sequence archived Bordetella pertussis isolates

• “ Active engagement ” with the co-located state epidemiologists , including a biweekly food safety meeting

• Collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ’ s training program for clinical microbiologists

Said Pentella , “ We engage in many discussions with the infectious disease epidemiologists and other health department bureaus that make for a good relationship between the laboratory and the primary users of our test results .”

Success Stories

• Embracing new technology has always been a laboratory forte . In the past few years , for example , the laboratory has adopted MALDI-TOF for bacterial identification and acquired four next-generation sequencing platforms for detection of foodborne pathogens , respiratory pathogens and other disease agents .

• This year , the laboratory attained ISO 17025 accreditation for food testing for pathogenic bacteria . Kim Doan , the ISO Certification Manager , stated

MA SPHL Management Team ( from l to r ): Keith Parry , Shoolah Escott , MS , MT ( ASCP ), Sandy Smole , PhD , Kim Doan , Michael Pentella , PhD , Jamshid Eshraghi , PhD and Tracy Stiles , MS

“ Through hard work , communication , support within the agency and outside the agency , we are able to achieve our goals in producing good quality results in a timely manner to our providers and in essence protecting the public .”

Other notable achievements include :

• Detecting and sequencing the pathogen , norovirus , at the center of a highprofile Chipotle restaurant outbreak earlier this year

• Providing analytical support for myriad other high-profile public health investigations , including an imported case of measles , an imported case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome , a case of anthrax related to imported goat skins and many , many others

• Instituting a biomonitoring program through a grant awarded in 2014

• Establishing an insectary to study the emergence and over-wintering of Aedes albopictus in Massachusetts

• Expanding its safety program substantially . The laboratory established a safety committee , hired a biosafety manager , updated its safety procedures , conducted on-site risk assessments and is now reaching out to area clinical labs .

Challenges

Pentella said the laboratory ’ s “ biggest challenge ” is the facility renovation : “ We ’ re very much engaged in how we ’ re going to do this and still operate on a 24 / 7 , 365-day basis .” Other challenges include :

• Replacing experienced scientists as they retire

• Maintaining adequate resources for critical operations

• Assuring “ our staff get the training they need for the kind of testing we ’ re going to be doing in the future ,” such as genetic sequencing . “ We ’ re on the cusp of some excellent new technology and we need to optimize that and apply it thoughtfully to achieve the best public health outcomes .”

Goals

Pentella ’ s goals for the laboratory are simple , yet lofty :

• Stay on top of test technology

• Improve IT systems . “ We ’ re looking at how to modernize our software and migrate from three laboratory information management systems to just one .”

Pentella said , “ More and more patient testing is going to the patient bedside . But we ’ re still here in public health to help epis quickly determine the source of infection to prevent transmission . That ’ s how healthcare will be improved in the future — to quickly respond to clusters of infection . We don ’ t see the large sustained outbreaks we did in the past . Yet , there are many opportunities for public health to expand , such as looking at antibiotic resistance and how that ’ s spread . I really think we ’ re at an exciting time in public health and we ’ re able to do a great deal more in the public health laboratory . But you have to manage adoption of technology very carefully to bring those future visions to fruition as economically and efficiently as possible .”