TLD Celebrates World Laboratory Day

In honor of World Laboratory Day, April 23, 2023, The Lab Depot had the pleasure of interviewing one of its many esteemed clients. Oxy-Gen Laboratory in Norcross, Georgia, at Peachtree Corners is a racially diverse, minority-owned business. They have worked diligently over the years to earn the distinctions of being a CAP (College of American Pathologists), CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments), and COLA (Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation) Certified professional laboratory. In addition to its commitment to clinical excellence, Oxy-Gen Labs fosters a culture of humility and service. CEO Jean-François Touré believes in community service as the foundation for the business. “I created the company to be a tool for the community. I want to be the lab of choice to eliminate the stress factor for people when they are sick. I am a chemist. As a chemist, I was setting up labs all over the country. Eventually, I decided to set up my own, not necessarily to make money, but to support the community in the best way that I can.”

 This sense of philanthropy and goodwill infuses the company at all levels. Not only does Oxy-Gen serve its community at large, but its internal structure is infused with these basic principles underlying all decisions. “I really love to hire people and give them great opportunities. I want to help and feel like I am contributing to the humanity of our community, and I want everyone to enjoy working here because they are helping the community. When they are touching the samples, I want them to understand they are helping the community, not just the business.”  Business Development Officer Mark Jones, Content and Communications Officer Susan K. Csomor, and Digital Marketing Specialist Heather Josey visited Oxy-Gen for a tour of the facility and an in-depth conversation about how the lab functions on a day-to-day basis and the kinds of scientific work they do.

Dedicated to precision, accuracy, and excellence, Katie Brubaker, Clinical Laboratory Technologist II, graciously showed the TLD team around the lab and gave great descriptions of Oxy-Gen’s lab organization, procedures, and how their teams work together toward the business’s common goals. As Clinical Laboratory Technologist II, Katie is ASCP Certified (American Society for Clinical Pathology). In addition, she is the Clinical Technologists Team Lead and Interim Supervisor. 

Even though they consider themselves a small lab, Oxy-Gen houses three separate laboratories within their Norcross facility. One lab is dedicated solely to toxicology testing; the other two comprise their molecular testing laboratory. There is a sampling preparation phase (the “pre” lab) and a post-preparation phase (the “post” lab). Toxicology has two lab technicians, and the molecular lab has three lab technicians. The four accessioners on staff serve both processing labs.

New in 2023

Oxy-Gen Laboratory has several different goals for 2023. For the molecular lab, Oxy-Gen’s goal is to diversify its panel list to continue to expand the different types of tests that they offer. They are currently working on validating several new tests before they can offer them as diagnostic tools to the public. Oxy-Gen is also working on diversifying its sample types as well. For example, they currently work only with nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal, saliva, STI swabs, urine, and buccal (cheek) swabs. This constitutes a wide range of sampling, but Oxy-Gen would like to be able to work with blood as a common sample type. Using it as a sample, a wide range of additional panels of tests can be run and evaluated. They are currently working on validating blood as an acceptable specimen type for their lab’s diagnostics. It is important for Oxy-Gen to always keep growing and expanding its offerings while always improving.

Precision and reliability of results directly impact a laboratory’s ability to deliver accurate information to clinical clients. Highly precise results equal the best chances for appropriate diagnostics in health care for concerned patients. This is an essential piece of Oxy-Gen’s promise to its clients: operating with integrity at the clinical level, as well as the level of business development and structure. Another Oxy-Gen goal is to work toward increasing its capacity for genetic testing. They own a unique machine called the iScan machine. During the discussion, it was noted that not many of these machines are currently operating in the United States. Oxy-Gen is proud of this very specific genetic sequencer’s capabilities. It offers a wide variety of panels that can be assessed, for example, PGX (pharmacogenomics) testing, carrier screenings, neo-natal testing, and nutrigenomics. Oxy-Gen would like to develop testing through this unique and useful piece of equipment. Continued commitment to consistent improvement keeps Oxy-Gen’s clients coming back and broadens its capacity to serve new and emerging populations.

Scheduling and Organization

Because Oxy-Gen has several different types of labs, each must run according to its processing requirements, depending on the applications and equipment. For example, the toxicology lab samples require different processing times and techniques than those in the molecular lab, so two shifts must be covered each day, early and late. Listening to each other and working with humility helps team members fulfill their individual responsibilities while still working toward the collective goal of each work process. These core values support the seamless function of the labs.

The molecular lab oversees tests like Covid and Fluvid, a panel of four viruses created by Oxy-Gen, including SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A, Influenza B, and RSV. Each part of the process must be carefully facilitated.  The molecular lab’s schedule tends to be just as busy as toxicology, if not more so. The lab technologists have lab time and data management requirements. Lab technology team leads, and supervisors can have other leadership duties, including additional data paperwork, inventory tracking, and employee management. Generally, the schedule requires an 8 am. to 5 p.m. workday; however, different technologists come at different times, depending on the workload. Mornings are dedicated to paperwork, including batch paperwork from the previous day’s testing. From day to day, the paperwork will change.

A great example of additional required laboratory paperwork is a validation report for the lab’s CAP certification. Labs must pass proficiency tests to earn and keep accreditation with the various organizations that confirm and validate the quality of their work. Accreditation groups will send random samples to be processed by a lab just as any other sample would be. If the results are in keeping with what they should be, the lab keeps its good standing and accreditation. Oxy-Gen just completed a round of PGX tests for CAP proficiency. The resulting data must be analyzed, and associated paperwork completed and returned. Once samples begin to arrive, lab time begins, which involves aliquoting, extracting, PCR, analysis work, and doing whatever work needs to be done. Because there are three molecular lab technologists, they all work very well together as a small team. Strong communication and great respect between them and management make this possible.

A smaller team also means multi-tasking to ensure sensitive material is handled properly. Much of the work they do in both labs is time sensitive. RNA is extremely unstable at room temperature, meaning it must be immediately used or frozen. This can mean dropping one task for another to preserve the integrity of the samples that are in process. There is no time to waste. Oxy-Gen has done a remarkable job of finding the right people to accomplish the work and produce timely results.

Katie Brubaker told a story about the pandemic that speaks to the collegial, collaborative, determined nature of their team. “We encountered a power outage during the Covid pandemic. We lost power, but one of the Hollywood production companies dropped off about 1,000 samples for people on set and needed their results. We had to buy a generator, but in the meantime, because the samples take four hours to process and run, we went into our CEO’s storage unit and found some old lamps.

So, while we were buying the official big generator, we bought a small one that didn’t have a lot of oomph. We hooked up one power strip to the generator, with one plug for the small generator and two for the old lamps we found. We did prep in the dark, in a windowless room in the old building. I held a flashlight in my mouth while wearing a mask to try to share some light on the bench with one of the doctors working with us and me. Once we prepped samples, I also had to aliquot in the lamplight. When this was done, we plugged the Kingfisher into the generator…we thought we would blow the generator up because we weren’t sure of the required voltage. We ran those samples and got the production company their results!”  

In keeping with their core values, this incredible team stood by their commitment to their client, fulfilled the testing, and delivered the results on time, in good spirits.

Lab Products and Purchasing

On a daily basis, Oxy-Gen uses a lot of plastic consumables: pipette tips, wash boats, deep well plates, PCR plates, and biohazard bags. They also use a great number of gloves. On a weekly basis, they create and send out a great number of sample kits, or test kits, which are distributed to clients who use them and send them back to be processed. These include nasal kits, saliva kits, vacutainer tubes, and cups. OpenArrayTM chips, Accu-Fill™ kits, and tips are evaluated weekly based on use. Frequently used larger laboratory equipment includes freezers, refrigerators, centrifuges, extraction machines, deep freezers, sequencers, mass spectrometers, and liquid chromatography instrumentation.

Cost efficiency is Oxy-Gen’s highest priority when making lab purchases. Katie says, “Our CEO makes all purchases and purchasing decisions, and we always must take inventory into account. If we need a two-week minimum on solutions and order only once a week, this affects how we order and stock items.” While cost-efficiency is important, Oxy-Gen also mentioned that they do not sacrifice quality for cost. Another consideration remains that there are machines that do not function properly without very specific plates or trays, for example, the Kingfisher.

For every new thing they try in the lab, it must be validated first, so a dry run is completed to ensure that a consumable or plate will work with their lab processes. Oxy-Gen takes great care in choosing its products to match its processes as a part of its refined approach to high-quality assurance.

Hiring as Service

Referring to the conversation with Oxy-Gen’s CEO, every level of the business functions to serve its community, internally and externally. This is evident in the lab’s employment opportunities and hiring practices. Current Lab Supervisor Katie Brubaker originally applied for an accessioner’s position. During her interview, when CEO Jean-François Touré saw that she had skills that would qualify her for a lab technician’s position, he immediately took her into the lab for a working interview for that job instead.

Serving employees, as well as the larger community, distinguishes Oxy-Gen Labs as a company consistently and actively functioning with a larger purpose aligned with its core values. Katie considers herself lucky to be employed with a company structured like Oxy-Gen Labs. Because it is a smaller company, there are more opportunities to directly impact its growth and success. When hiring needs arise, the pool of applicants for laboratory science positions can be limited. In addition, progression in the industry can also be challenging. According to Katie, “Once you’re there [in a lab], don’t give up. It is important to stick with it. If you know something, keep sticking with it and saying it. For example, I was interested in doing more validating for PCR testing. I had to ask if it was something I could do. It has greatly benefited me to work in a small lab to be able to directly speak to the CEO to ask questions like this.”

Oxy-Gen’s culture of humility, service, and consistent improvement also encourages these kinds of conversations among peers, employees, and supervisors. In this kind of collaborative atmosphere, everyone wins.

In closing, it is important to note that CEO Jean-François Touré specifically mentioned his great love and respect for all his employees. As a place to work, everyone is treated well and equally. “I love every single one of my employees. We are not always going to agree, kind of like a family, but I have their best interest at heart, always based on the mission, vision, and values of the company.”

The Lab Depot would like to thank Oxy-Gen Laboratory for showing us around their facilities and sharing their passion for what they do daily. World Lab Day gives us the opportunity to highlight the extraordinary scientific work being done in labs across the country and the world. Highlighting a local, dedicated laboratory helps us find inspiration right in our own backyard. Keep up the great work, Oxy-Gen!

A Very Special thanks to all Oxy-Gen Laboratory employees: CEO Jean-François Touré , Tasmim Alam- Accessioner , NiKendrick Sturdevant- Accessioner , Alan Sepulveda- Accessioner, Claude Sita-Zola – Accessioner, Katie Brubaker- Clinical Team Lead/Interim Supervisor, Sally Tran- Clinical Technologist, Hannah Nguyen- Clinical Technologist, Terrence Toussaint- Toxicology Supervisor, Umair Azhar - Toxicology Technologist, Julia Anglin- HR, Blake Pulliam- Account Manager, Patricia Michaels - Inventory Manager, Yapi Beda- Courier, Hugues Goly- Accounting, Sequoya Whiteside- Bookkeeper, Amila Mujkic- Billing Specialist,  Fafa Midjola- Billing Manager, Richard Duan- IT, Tyler Wortham- Marketing,  Sheila Orozco- Receptionist

 

Oxy-Gen Core Values: Stand by Our Commitments, Work with Humility, Operate with Integrity, Respect, Listen to One Another, Be Consistent, Always Improve, You are Your Environment, Community-Service Oriented