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Boston Globe

How R.I.'s new state health lab will be more ‘flexible, adaptable, and responsive to emerging threats'

Q. For folks who are unaware, what does the Rhode Island State Health Laboratory do? Gallagher: Rhode Islanders are affected every day by the work of [the Rhode Island Department of Health] State Health Laboratories. We help ensure the health and safety of the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. The lab supports law enforcement in their investigations; promotes public safety; helps determine exposure to environmental toxins like lead and chemicals like Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up The State Health Laboratories also provide testing services not available anywhere else in the state, like rabies testing and arbovirus testing of mosquitoes. Advertisement How does the new lab space change lab operations? What will you be able to do that you can't do at the current facility? What will be improved at the new lab? This new, state-of-the-art facility will allow RIDOH to be more flexible, adaptable, and responsive to emerging threats. The new facility will also allow better data management in updated information technology networks, more space for new instrumentation, and space designed for workflow optimization. Advertisement One particular area of growth will involve pathogen genomic sequencing, which is a process that allows us to understand a pathogen's genetic makeup. This has the potential to revolutionize how we monitor and treat infectious diseases and investigate crimes. We started this work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now we will be at the cutting edge of this field with this facility. When you say revolutionize, what do you mean? And what about the lab will be cutting edge for pathogen genomic sequencing? For a long time, scientists in our field were focused on determining the presence or absence of an organism. Over the last five to 10 years, genomic sequencing has opened up a whole new world. Now, in addition to determining the presence or absence of an organism, we're learning about what types of treatments it would be resistant to, whether it's related to other clusters of pathogens, and how to best develop countermeasures, like vaccines. People talk about genomic sequencing as revolutionary because it's allowing us to get out ahead of public health threats like never before. The new State Health Laboratories will have expanded capacity for genomic sequencing. Rhode Island Dept of Health Lab Director Dr. Glen Gallaher, left, and RI Governor Dan McKee, right, spoke before the media toured the new Rhode Island State Laboratories last month in downtown Providence. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff The new building will house the new state laboratory, as well as , the quasi-public agency working to lure biotech companies to the state. The building, when complete, will also join . How may the state laboratory leverage that location for future collaboration? Are there research partnerships to be made with your new neighbors? Advertisement At our new location, we look forward to building out some of our existing relationships with academic researchers at institutes of higher education and industry labs. We already work with Brown University and the University of Rhode Island on shared interests to better leverage the data generated by our laboratory. We're hoping that this can extend to more practical, shared collaboration in the new space. One area of potential benefit could be for startups looking to field test new equipment and generate the data needed to drive the adoption of new devices and new technologies. Will the Health Department seek partnerships with start ups? We're always looking to explore new collaborations with people and entities that can help us better serve Rhode Islanders. The state health laboratory began testing wastewater during the COVID pandemic, and wastewater testing will now have a dedicated area in the new lab building. How does the laboratory decide which new initiatives to pursue? Does the lab have plans to expand its capabilities at all in the coming years? We test for the presence of some pathogens in our environment in response to national clinical and public health trends. We also set priorities based on the specific needs of our local partners, like health care providers, public health practitioners, hospitals, community organizations, and others. The foundational technological capacity we have in wastewater testing certainly presents us with opportunities to expand for additional pathogen testing in the future. How will Rhode Islanders feel the impact of this new lab space? The improvements we'll be able to make at the new facility with our new instrumentation will, in some cases, mean results provided to our partners and the public more quickly. Advertisement And the people who use our testing services will feel an impact as well. With the new facility, we are moving toward more digital systems for test requests, receiving results, and payment for services. These enhancements will make the experience of accessing our testing services much easier. With other workflow improvements, results will generally be available much sooner as well. The Boston Globe's weekly Ocean State Innovators column features a Q&A with Rhode Island innovators who are starting new businesses and nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, and reshaping the state's economy. Send tips and suggestions to reporter Alexa Gagosz at . Christopher Gavin can be reached at