Editor's note: This is the fourth article in a 7-part series that highlights the efforts of the Military Health System laboratories and technicians who worked to identify COVID-19 variants using special sequencing technology.
The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases's Center for Genome Sciences played a key role in support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The laboratory has consistently provided critical reagents, protocol development, and support for training in whole genome sequencing from the early phases of the pandemic to multiple stateside and overseas laboratories within the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division Global Emerging Infections network.
Their support for early shipboard outbreak investigations and provision of support for viral culture and isolation has also been an important part of the Department of Defense's response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, USAMRIID also played a key role in building sequencing capabilities at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii by providing assistance to their laboratory over the past two and a half years.
This support was critical to the mission during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"As new sequencing activities came online to surge to meet the need, and existing sequencing capabilities experienced turnover from burn-out or competition in a fierce labor market, the reach-back laboratories like USAMRIID provided the necessary subject matter expertise for the network to stay functional," said U.S. Army Maj. Jeffrey R. Kugelman. "As a reach-back capability, USAMRIID provides the necessary subject matter expertise to explain what results mean and assists with quality control for determining contamination versus a new lineage call. We also act as surge capacity to the network. Throughout the outbreak, we have sequenced thousands of samples from Military Health System beneficiaries."
The team provided remote and in-person assistance to various labs.