State Laboratories Staff ‘Rise to the Occasion’ to Protect Hawaii’s People

For the past two years, the State Laboratories Division (SLD) of the Hawai‘i Department of Health has been very busy analyzing thousands of samples COVID-19 specimens due to the ongoing pandemic. But that is not all they do to protect the people of Hawai‘i by a long shot.

The dedicated doctors, researchers, and scientists at SLD are working every day keep our drinking water safe, detect impurities in our food supply, and safeguard against infectious diseases.

“An interesting aspect of public health laboratory work is that the character of our daily work can change significantly as challenges to the health of our communities emerge,” said SLD Administrator Edward Desmond, Ph.D. “Besides the COVID-19 pandemic, other health challenges include outbreaks of influenza, food-related gastroenteritis, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and yeast, and food tainted by various chemical and biological contaminants. SLD staff are flexible and rise to the occasion when new methods need to be learned and strong personal and team effort is required.”

Kathleen Ho, DOH Deputy Director of Environmental Health, said the work done at the state laboratories is critical in detecting many contaminants in our environment. It is the careful analysis performed by state personnel that allows us to understand and react to health emergencies as quickly as possible.

The SLD’s objective is to enhance the effectiveness of other health programs by providing specialized laboratory services to health care facilities and departmental programs and to various official agencies.

To meet these objectives, the state labs annually conduct:

• 5,500 recreational water samples
• 300 food products
• 5,000 drinking water samples
• 40,000 human clinical specimens

SLD also conducts research, laboratory science investigations, and participates in emergency response efforts such as bioterrorism preparedness and monitoring air quality effects of volcanic activity.

“DOH has environmental programs such as Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch, Clean Water Branch, Wastewater Branch, and Safe Drinking Water Branch. SLD performs lab work to support all these environmental programs, as well as the Disease Outbreak Control Division,” Desmond said.

The staff must quickly adjust to investigate any new health challenges as they emerge. Desmond said a typical staff member has a degree in either microbiology or chemistry and many supervisors have earned their master’s or doctorate degrees.

“Many of our staff could make more money working in private sector laboratories, but they continue to work in the public health laboratory because they get satisfaction from working for the public good,” he said.

For COVID-19 testing, SLD supports the needs of the Department, particularly the Disease Outbreak Control Division (DOCD).

“Much of the COVID work over the past two years has been testing where the private sector has not been able to do so. For example, SLD has done a lot of testing for correctional facilities, until they arranged a contract with a private laboratory,” Desmond said. “SLD has also supported community testing, for example at pop up testing sites, the Honolulu Chinatown testing site, and Aloha Stadium. SLD has also been the primary agency responsible for detecting and tracing COVID variants in our State.”

Desmond said SLD also keeps a close watch on our drinking water.

“Our laboratory is certified by EPA Region 9 to perform drinking water testing and we are able to analyze over 100 chemical and various microbial contaminants spread over 11 chemical testing procedures and three microbiological testing procedures.”

Desmond has a Ph.D. in microbiology, and a board certification from the American Board of Medical Microbiology. He has 35 years’ experience working in public health laboratories, and 13 years’ experience working in hospital laboratories.

“I like public health laboratory work because of the variety of challenges and the great people I am privileged to work with,” he said.

For more information, visit https://health.hawaii.gov/statelab/