A microbiologist from the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC), was recognized as the 2017 Society of American Federal Medical Laboratory Scientists (SAFMLS) Outstanding Laboratory Manager Award, in a ceremony held at NMCPHC, June 15.

Lt. Cmdr. Tupur Husain, the deputy department head and microbiology component manager (MCM) for NMCPHC's Expeditionary Platforms (EXPLAT) and laboratory director overseeing Navy Environmental Preventive Medicine Unit (NEPMU) Microbiology Laboratories and Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit (FDPMU) Mobile Microbiology Labs, was presented the award at the SAFMLS annual meeting and Clinical Laboratory Management Association Knowledge Lab in Nashville, Tennessee, March 26-29, 2017.

SAFMLS is a non-profit organization that was established in 1971 with the mission of maintaining and enhancing high professional standards through improved laboratory policies and technology in support of health care delivery systems of the Armed Forces, Public Health Services and Veterans Administration. The Outstanding Laboratory Manager Award is presented annually to an outstanding field grade officer who demonstrates innovation and efficiency managing personnel, financial resources and laboratory operations.

"The award spans across all services for the Department of Defense, so I am humbled to be acknowledged as this year's recipient from such a pool of competitive and accomplished peers," said Husain.

Prior to being commissioned in the Navy Medical Service Corps, Husain was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University before working in the civilian biotechnology sector, then a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

Since becoming a commissioned officer in 2006, Husain has been able to apply his extensive expertise in the field of microbiology to design and produce premier solutions contributing to the prevention of disease among service members.

Some of his notable achievements within the U.S. Navy include leading the Navy's Plasmodium vivax malaria vaccine development program at Naval Medical Research Center and cooperative biological engagement projects in partnership with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency while at the Naval Medical Research Unit in Egypt.

During his time at NMCPHC, Husain has supervised the management of the mobile FDPMU microbiology labs and in garrison resources for the various NEPMUs across the globe. "I was fortunate to previously serve on the FDPMU teams for NEPMUs-TWO and FIVE for their Operational Readiness Evaluations (OREs), and now at NMCPHC providing guidance for new FDPMU trainings, such as piloting the new Food Microbiology course, coordinating our participation in Influenza Diagnostics trainings and writing new infectious disease scenarios to push the limits of multidimensional thinking by our FDPMU microbiology components," said Husain. "These are just some of the many moving dynamics for extensive preparations to make sure our FDPMU microbiology components can do what they need to do so they can be where they need to be."

Innovative projects he has submitted for research and development funding include designs for a diagnostic device to rapidly identify bacterial species based on their cell membrane properties similar to the HAZMAT ID for chemical compounds; molecular "drones" to target drug resistant tuberculosis infected macrophages; and strategies to counter potential microcephaly in utero.

"We are all very proud of Dr. Husain's work and his expert knowledge. The diseases he helps prevent are the most debilitating to service members both here in the continental United States (CONUS) and deployed," said Dr. Gary C. Breeden, deputy director of Preventive Medicine and Program Manager of Entomology and Dosimetry Support Services at NMCPHC.

In addition to his professional achievements, Husain has played a significant role in the professional growth of junior laboratory personnel. Recently, as a leader in EXPLAT, Husain was a central ORE Team member in facilitating and ensuring all FDPMU team personnel received necessary technical laboratory training, in addition to guidance in operation risk management, which resulted in five successful OREs with a special focus on the superior performance of the mobile microbiology lab components.

"The SAFMLS award further emphasizes the importance and relevance of our work in EXPLAT to support and to enhance our agile and advanced mobile microbiology labs on the FDPMU teams, along with validation of the FDPMU and its microbiology component to identify infectious disease pathogens and bio threats along with course of action recommendations as a leading, mission critical capability asset for greater Department of Defense needs if called upon," said Husain.

For more information on SAFMLS, visit: www.safmls.org/annual_meeting_presentations.html

For more information on the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center, visit: www.nmcphc.med.navy.mil/ or find NMCPHC on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NavyAndMarineCorpsPublicHealthCenter

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