Ed Kopp Email & Phone Number

Florida, United States

Supervise high complexity molecular and cell culture-based clinical testing in the Virology department• Directly and indirectly supervise staff (as many as 14 directly and 20 indirectly across multiple shifts at peak staffing levels) to ensure proper testing of >1,000 COVID-19 high-throughput clinical specimens per day alongside low-throughput biosurveillance molecular and cell culture testing, including real-time RT-PCR, viral culture in mammalian cells, and Sanger and next-generation sequencing techniques• Oversee quality assurance for the molecular and cell culture Virology areas to meet CLIA and state requirements• Coordinate with Virology and laboratory leadership to ensure that the department is operating efficiently and meeting Department needs• Direct and perform molecular and cell culture testing of clinical and surveillance specimens in a team environment to meet stated testing turnaround times. Approve results in LabWare Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)• Oversee establishment and verification of standard operating procedures for molecular testing• Interact with colleagues, vendors, healthcare providers, and partners using email, phone calls, conference calls, and in-person interaction to ensure that the proper testing is performed in a timely fashion and that equipment, reagents, and tests are performing optimally• Train new employees in established techniques and procedures

Biosafety officer, trainer, and consultant for Tampa and Miami state public health laboratories and central and south Florida sentinel clinical laboratories in a position funded by the 2015 CDC ELC Domestic Ebola Supplemental for Enhanced Laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity Capacity Cooperative Agreement•Developed training materials in Biosafety Risk Assessment and Laboratory Biosafety in PowerPoint and Word in conjunction with internal stakeholders. Provided on-site and remote training and consultation to Tampa and Miami state public health laboratory staff•Created biosafety risk assessment tools by combining and distilling complex regulatory and guidance documents into easy-to-understand tools to be used by clinical staff with a variety of backgrounds•Coordinated with Florida state public health laboratory staff to conduct biosafety risk assessments to identify risks in their high complexity clinical procedures, analyze the assessments, recommend appropriate strategies for mitigating biosafety gaps, and guide them through implementation of mitigation strategies•Established relationships with sentinel clinical laboratory staff across Florida. Provided on-site and remote training and consultation to staff representing >70 clinical laboratories using overnight travel and electronic communication. Prepared reports documenting services provided and the solutions proposed to mitigate identified risk•Liaised with internal staff to ensure that grant deliverables were met or exceeded. Tracked and prepared data in Excel and delivered status reports for federal grant issuers to ensure that milestones were met•Maintained the Tampa state public health laboratory respiratory protection program documentation and provided the associated respiratory protection training and respirator fit testing•Reviewed and revised Tampa and Miami state public health laboratory BSL-3 laboratory biosafety manuals•Drafted the BPHL Biosafety Outreach webpage

Performed complex testing within the Virology department in a grant-based position•Coordinated molecular testing of clinical and surveillance specimens in a team environment to meet stated testing turnaround times•Performed molecular testing to test for the presence of respiratory viruses, arboviruses, and other viruses using real-time (RT-)PCR (performed using Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast Dx, Roche LightCycler, and Cepheid SmartCycler machines)•Performed sequencing of clinical and surveillance specimens to identify the exact species of enterovirus present in a specimen•Inoculated cell cultures and examined them for cytopathic effect (CPE)•Performed DFA and IFA testing on cell cultures that demonstrated growth of virus from clinical and surveillance specimens•Approved test results in LabWare Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)•Verified or established procedures for molecular testing in accordance with CLIA requirements•Drafted and updated written standard operating procedures for molecular testing and sequencing of clinical and surveillance specimens in accordance with CLIA requirements•Interacted with colleagues, equipment and reagent vendors, healthcare providers, and partners using email, phone calls, conference calls, and in-person interaction to ensure that the proper testing was performed in a timely fashion and that equipment, reagents, and tests were performing optimally•Performed quality control measures to ensure that tests, reagents, and machines were functioning properly; prepared new reagents, discarded reagents, and cleaned work areas and equipment as necessary•Trained new employees in established techniques and procedures•Extracted specimen data from LabWare Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) using SQL queries. Organized and analyzed data for inclusion in the CDC Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) grant application to demonstrate that deliverables were being met

Performed complex testing within the Virology department in a grant-based position•Coordinated molecular testing of clinical and surveillance specimens in a team environment to meet stated testing turnaround times•Performed molecular testing to test for the presence of respiratory viruses, arboviruses, and other viruses using real-time (RT-)PCR (performed using Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast Dx, Roche LightCycler, and Cepheid SmartCycler machines)•Performed sequencing of clinical and surveillance specimens to identify the exact species of enterovirus present in a specimen•Inoculated cell cultures and examined them for cytopathic effect (CPE)•Performed DFA and IFA testing on cell cultures that demonstrated growth of virus from clinical and surveillance specimens•Approved test results in LabWare Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and coordinated with outside entities when the immediate supervisor was unavailable•Verified or established procedures for molecular testing in accordance with CLIA requirements•Drafted and updated written standard operating procedures for molecular testing and sequencing of clinical and surveillance specimens in accordance with CLIA requirements•Interacted with colleagues, equipment and reagent vendors, healthcare providers, and partners using email, phone calls, conference calls, and in-person interaction to ensure that the proper testing was performed in a timely fashion and that equipment, reagents, and tests were performing optimally•Performed quality control measures to ensure that tests, reagents, and machines were functioning properly; prepared new reagents, discarded reagents, and cleaned work areas and equipment as necessary•Trained new employees in established techniques and procedures•Accessioned specimens for molecular, cell culture/DFA/IFA, and ELISA testing•Organized specimens, supplies, and work areas

Performed complex testing within the Virology department in a grant-based position•Performed molecular testing of clinical and surveillance specimens in a team environment to meet stated testing turnaround times•Performed molecular testing to test for the presence of respiratory viruses, enterovirus, and other viruses using real-time (RT-)PCR (performed using Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast Dx, Roche LightCycler, and Cepheid SmartCycler machines)•Performed sequencing of clinical and surveillance specimens to identify the exact species of enterovirus present in a specimen•Performed DFA testing on cell cultures that demonstrated growth of virus from clinical and surveillance specimens•Verified or established procedures for molecular testing in accordance with CLIA requirements•Drafted and updated written standard operating procedures for molecular testing and sequencing of clinical and surveillance specimens in accordance with CLIA requirements•Interacted with colleagues, equipment and reagent vendors, healthcare providers, and partners using email, phone calls, conference calls, and in-person interaction to ensure that the proper testing was performed in a timely fashion and that equipment, reagents, and tests were performing optimally•Performed quality control measures to ensure that tests, reagents, and machines were functioning properly; prepared new reagents, discarded reagents, and cleaned work areas and equipment as necessary•Trained new employees in established techniques and procedures•Accessioned specimens for molecular, cell culture/DFA, and ELISA testing•Organized specimens, supplies, and work areas

Assisted personnel within the Virology department•Accessioned specimens for molecular, cell culture/DFA, and ELISA testing•Organized specimens, supplies, and work areas•Drafted an accessioning procedure for the months following the 2009 novel H1N1 influenza outbreak

Tampa, Florida, Us

•Collected, input, and analyzed data as related to test results of HIV-positive patients•Performed office tasks including filing and answering phones

Master Of Science, Environmental Science & Policy

Bachelor Of Arts, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Education record