FEATURE
I have an open-door policy on biosafety. My goal is to aid these laboratories in risk assessments and teach them what to look for when it comes to highly infectious disease— what’ s a red flag, what they can send to us and how we can help them. We’ re working to strengthen all our relationships moving forward.”
Kayle Cirrincione these laboratories in risk assessments and teach them what to look for when it comes to highly infectious disease— what’ s a red flag, what they can send to us and how we can help them. We’ re working to strengthen all our relationships moving forward.”
Innovation Supports Readiness
Boosting surge capacity in future emergencies requires embracing highthroughput instrumentation and robotics, according to Corrigan.“ There just really isn’ t any other solution,” he said.“ Human power is not enough to keep up with the volume we see in a pandemic.”
Corrigan said he is now adapting all laboratory assays to be performed on high-throughput instrumentation.“ I want them validated and ready to go,” he said.“ We’ ll pivot back to our lower-throughput efficient platforms, but now, I’ m ready to turn on my high-throughput instrumentation when I need it. Liquid handlers and continuous loading platforms enable higher volumes. I’ m boosting all my automation right now to make sure we’ re ready for anything that comes.”
Other technologies beneficial to readiness and response include whole genome sequencing and wastewater surveillance.
“ I think of these capabilities as arrows in my quiver to look for pathogens of concern,” Corrigan said.
Yet ensuring public health laboratories are ready to respond also means not forgetting the lessons of the past.
“ You can’ t flip a switch on readiness. It has to be nurtured,” Perry said.“ For me, that means building flexibility in staff and budgets, cross-training staff and maintaining supplier relationships long after a crisis ends. Sometimes, as we get separated from one incident to the next, it’ s easy to think,‘ Do we really need to do that?’” But when something happens, you’ re going to wish you maintained those capabilities for readiness.” g
14 LAB MATTERS Winter 2025 PublicHealthLabs @ APHL. org
APHL. org