from the bench
From the Great Lakes to Lake Victoria:
Strengthening Microbiology in Uganda
by Marty K. Soehnlen, PhD, MPH, section manager, Microbiology and acting director, Infectious
Disease, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Laboratories
years. Plans were developed for expanding
media production, developing capability
to test for pathogens from environmental
specimens, expanding the clinical service
offerings from both traditional culture
and molecular methods, and developing
partnerships for training programs with
the country’s health care facilities.
Marty Soehnlen (center) and the CPHL Microbiology group
The pull of public health is strong for so
many laboratorians—no matter where
we are from. But after almost 22 hours of
travel and a late night drive, I oscillated
between exhaustion and exhilaration
thinking about the project ahead. With
the support of the State of Michigan, I was
ready to begin a four-week stay in Uganda
to assist APHL’s Global Health Program in
setting up microbiology and molecular
testing laboratories in Kampala’s new
Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL).
Different, Yet Familiar
The late night arrival and hour drive
from the airport in Entebbe to Kampala
allowed me some time to soak in new
sights, sounds and contrasting smells—a
mix of diesel fumes from cars and clean
air of farmlands. It provided me with the
perfect image to describe this country
of extremes: unparalleled beauty and
friendliness among hard economic
conditions. And yet, the smell of fresh
waters along the edges of Lake Victoria
reminded me of home near the Great
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LAB MATTERS Fall 2017
Lakes. I treasured the drives from the
hotel in the central part of Kampala
to the laboratory which is along the
swamplands of Lake Victoria. I also
appreciated the times at the outdoor
group lunches where I would hear the
staff tell me stories of each of the unique
villages and cities they grew up in. It
reminds me how similar we all are to
one another despite great distances.
Getting To Work
The first day was a whirlwind of lab tours
and learning about staff capabilities,
but it was very clear that staff were
thirsting for additional knowledge
and recommendations. Early work
concentrated on developing plans to
bring CPHL up to standards that would
allow application for international ISO
accreditation by the end of 2017. While
the system’s foundation was well-
prepared for the accreditation process,
it was time to start thinking of system
improvements and moving testing
capabilities forward over the next three
Training staff from the ground up is
challenging, but offers many benefits.
Microbiologists often don’t have the
chance to physically set up a thermocycler
or gel electrophoresis units for PCR, an
exercise that they enjoyed. They also
learned about unidirectional workflow,
cross-contamination prevention,
programing and loading both a
conventional and real-time thermocycler,
and casting and loading conventional
agarose gels. To facilitate planning for
molecular testing at CPHL, I wrote a series
of standard operating procedures to serve
as templates. This allowed for the start
of training on molecular workflows and
gave CPHL staff a look at things to come.
The teams learned about development
of validations and verifications for
new assays, safe and effective use of
personal protective equipment (PPE), spill
cleanup steps, and safe and effective
use of biological safety cabinets.
Each staff member displayed an
unbridled enthusiasm to expand
CPHL’s capabilities to help the people
of Uganda. At the end of four weeks,
I knew that I had made lifelong
connections and gained even more life
experience than I am able to share. n
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org