NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and NETEC Lead Regional Training on Special Pathogens Lab Skills

NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) successfully hosted an in-depth special pathogen skills training for laboratory technicians and directors. This hands-on training provided participants with essential knowledge and practical experience in handling pathogens that cause high consequence infectious diseases safely and effectively.

The training featured a virtual morning session attended by 60 online and 30 in person participants that covered key topics such as an overview of the National Special Pathogen System (NSPS), packaging and shipping, diagnostic testing, and waste management. In the afternoon, 30 in-person attendees participated in an immersive hands-on training session, where they practiced personal protective equipment (PPE) donning and doffing, waste handling, lab-specific special pathogen techniques, and spill management.

Florence Douyun (far left), Bellevue Hospital’s Assistant Director of Microbiology, and Crystal Evans, Regulatory Coordinator at Emory University, instructed trainees on how to safely handle special pathogens in a laboratory setting.

“This training plays a crucial role in ensuring that laboratory professionals are equipped with the necessary skills to respond effectively to special pathogen incidents,” said Vikramjit Mukherjee, MD, NETEC Co-Principal Investigator, and Chief of Critical Care and Medical Director of the Special Pathogen Program at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. “By combining didactic learning with practical, hands-on experience, we are enhancing national preparedness and strengthening healthcare response systems.”

*Vicki Herrera, Research Coordinator at University of Nebraska Medicine and NETEC’s Laboratory Work Group lead, demonstrated proper waste management practices.*

NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue was one of three institutions in the U.S. that treated patients in the Ebola outbreak in 2014, and subsequently formed NETEC, a consortium to enhance national special pathogen preparedness. The other two institutions are Emory University in Atlanta and University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. Bellevue Hospital also serves as the Level 1 Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) for Region 2, leading special pathogen preparedness and response efforts in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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