When Bob Wickert heard the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was looking for volunteers to go overseas, it peaked his interest.
The national Association of Public Health Laboratories sent an e-mail nationwide on behalf of the CDC, asking for volunteers with technical experience in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. PCR is used for rapid detection of disease.
Wickert, molecular microbiologist in UNMC’s Department of Pathology and Microbiology, and the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory (NPHL), said the CDC has provided training grants to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, to help support the surveillance of Influenza A/(H5N1), commonly referred to as avian or bird flu. The grants will be used to train lab specialists in using PCR to process human specimens to diagnose avian influenza, as well as build their laboratory capabilities.
The ultimate goal is to prevent widespread illness through early detection if the disease begins to spread from human-to-human.
“We’re going to Bangkok, Thailand, with the intention of setting up workshops to help train people in PCR,” Wickert said. “I enjoy foreign travel and I like teaching and doing workshops, so it’s a sense of adventure and the opportunity to see a different part of the world.”
Besides the CDC’s requirement for a current passport, Wickert, who has 20 years of experience in molecular diagnostics, also met the CDC’s requirements of having knowledge of biosafety practices, teaching experience and PCR expertise. He will participate in the training workshops for two weeks in April and one week in June.
Patricia Blevins, emerging infectious diseases program manager, Association of Public Health Laboratories in Maryland, said the CDC’s Influenza Branch and the APHL in October 2005 recruited short-term technical consultants from states and local public health laboratories. About 15 people from across the country applied for the positions, she said. Five were chosen, including Wickert, to make up the team that will consist of both CDC and state public health representatives.
Wickert said he appreciates the encouragement and support of his leaders, Tony Sambol and Steven Hinrichs, M.D.
“Bob is a skilled clinical scientist and was just one of an elite few that were chosen by the CDC for this mission,” said Sambol, NPHL coordinator of special pathogens and bio-security laboratory sections. “It’s great that Bob will be able to share his training and expertise to help combat a potentially serious situation that the world could face.”