Lab Matters Summer 2025 | Page 38

INFORMATICS

By Rachel Shepherd, senior specialist, Informatics

The strength of the public health system and its ability to modernize is dependent on workforce capacity. Like many public health laboratories, the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory( MSPHL), has struggled over the years to staff and retain specialized technical positions with qualified candidates who are passionate about public health. In 2022, to build a consistent pipeline of new talent, MSPHL onboarded five fellows across the laboratory, including their first ever Informatics Fellow, Dené Hall.

The Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program: an APHL-US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention( CDC) Initiative prepares scientists for careers in public health laboratory science. MSPHL identified an ideal candidate who had years of experience in laboratory science, healthcare system implementations and epidemiology, in addition to a degree in Informatics. For her part, Hall saw the fellowship in Missouri as a wonderful opportunity to pivot in her career, get back to the lab and leverage her information technology( IT) experience.

For her fellowship project, Hall created a work instruction manual— a step-by-step procedure for configuring, updating and operating the laboratory information management system( LIMS) to complete laboratory workflows. This project filled an important gap in the laboratory’ s documentation and MSPHL now uses these resources to train incoming staff at all levels and as a reference guide for existing staff.

Throughout the course of her fellowship, Hall rotated through each unit in the laboratory, talking to the bench scientists and learning about each division and how they worked together or supported one another. This exposure enabled her to develop a comprehensive understanding of how the data flows through the laboratory and why; it also strengthened the partnership and trust between the laboratorians and the informatics staff and helped breakdown silos across domains.

The Informatics team was in a state of transition when Hall began, and she helped create cohesion across what was largely a new team. It was clear she was a great fit and the laboratory wanted to hire her at the conclusion of her fellowship. While they had to wait for more than a year for the position to become available, Hall now serves in the role as Informatics Unit Chief. She was able to step into the position as someone with existing relationships and an intimate knowledge of the laboratory, Missouri’ s LIMS and the organization at large.

MSPHL hopes to bring on more informatics fellows in the future. Hall particularly sees this as an opportunity to attract talent from a wide range of backgrounds— computer science, IT and healthcare. While many fellows tend to come straight from university, Hall hopes to convey to people like her, who have longstanding careers and are eager for something different, that working in public health is lifechanging.“ It’ s never too late to do what you want to do.” g

As part of its Innovations in Informatics: Laboratory Success Stories series, APHL is currently collecting laboratories’ informatics success stories to showcase innovations and highlight what the public health community stands to lose without dedicated and longterm support. How has your laboratory combatted informatics challenges and developed solutions that improve laboratory operations, ultimately contributing to a healthier public? Share your story. And check out other stories from colleagues to get inspired:

Colorado: Whole Genome Sequencing Mandate-Need for Electronic Ordering Wyoming: A Portal to Save the Day Oregon: Streamlining the Laboratory Approach to Surveillance Reporting Fairfax County( VA): Modernization through Cloud Migration