“We are completely honored to have Daniel join the team,” said Kevin Murdock, CEO of Premier Medical Laboratory Services. “His experience and knowledge of the field is extremely valuable in propelling us forward to fulfill our capabilities as a laboratory. He is a powerful addition to Premier, aiding in our mission to continually improve patient care with the latest in science and innovation.”

After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Oxford, Dr. Hughes studied for a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Genomics at the University of Cambridge and Welcome Trust Sanger Institute. Dr. Hughes then spent time in Brazil, where he developed an interest in infectious diseases. He went on to work on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) VectorBase project and Ensembl genome project at the European Bioinformatics Institute where he worked on numerous emerging genome projects. Subsequently, Dr. Hughes spent several years at the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine as a Lead Scientific Programmer & Analyst working extensively on the application of High-Performance Compute for Genome Assembly, Variant Calling, Annotation, and Cancer Genomics.

He then moved to Columbia University’s Medical School to build their infrastructure for the analysis of the Genetics of Complex Human Diseases where he was promoted to Director of Genome Informatics and Software Engineering. Dr. Hughes proceeded into cancer research at M2Gen where he was the Director of Cancer Knowledge Base and Pharma Services. Now, he joins Premier Medical Laboratory Services as the Director of Bioinformatics.

 “Working with the Premier Medical team has been great,” said Dr. Hughes, “It’s a dynamic environment that’s eager to bring in new challenges and meet the medical needs of the next generation.” Dr. Hughes also addressed Premier Medical’s growth in genome sequencing, “PMLS is adapting so quickly with all the state-of-the-art equipment. To think years ago, the first human genome took 10 years and cost millions. Now, with the machines Premier has, we can run 50 or 60 in a day or two and collect a large amount of data that can help us in our research.”

Learn more about Dr. Hughes’ position and goals for PMLS in the video below.

The BA.2 subvariant has been dubbed “stealth omicron” because it is difficult to detect as a mutation by PCR-based testing, the most common testing method for COVID-19. With the original BA.1 strain, scientists could use PCR-based testing to help identify omicron by looking for a S-gene dropout mutation. Once this was found, the scientists could be fairly certain the positive COVID-19 sample was the omicron variant. The stealth omicron subvariant does not have the S-gene dropout characteristic, making it difficult to distinguish BA.2 as the omicron variant vs. other COVID-19 variants by PCR-based testing alone.

In Denmark, BA.2 is now outpacing its predecessor, omicron BA.1, because it is more transmissible than BA.1. A study conducted by Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut (SSI), which analyzed coronavirus cases in over 8,000 Danish households between December and January, found that people infected with the BA.2 subvariant were roughly 33% more likely to infect others, compared to those infected with BA.1.

Throughout the world, the subvariant is currently present in 57 countries as reported to the GISAID database.  With this data, scientists are determining how deadly the strain is and how well it evades the current vaccines. The genetic difference between BA.1 and BA.2 is greater than the difference between the original SARS CoV-2 variant and the alpha variant, according to SSI. These differences could cause increased severity, the SSI also stated. Fortunately, it is expected that COVID-19 vaccines will have an effect in the mitigation of severe illness upon BA.2 infection.

Increasing access to data on these new variants is so important for our overall understanding of the virus and how it will affect the population,” said Kevin Murdock, CEO of Premier Medical Laboratory Services.

As of February 1, 2022, the state of Florida reported two cases of BA.2. Now, PMLS has identified an additional case for the state and will continue to conduct surveillance to help gather vital data on this new omicron subvariant and others.

Premier Medical Laboratory Services (PMLS) is proud to be back to our standard turnaround times of 24-48 hours. We have eliminated our backlog of tests and are now processing 95% of results in under 24 hours. Due to the ongoing Omicron surge, PMLS, like many labs across the country, experienced an unprecedented 733% increase in the number of tests to be processed. Through hard work, investments, and hirings, PMLS was able to “weather the storm” and get back to serving our country the right way.

Here is what Kevin Murdock, CEO of PMLS had to say on the topic: “Each test that we receive is important to us because we know that it affects someone’s quality of life. That’s why our team worked tirelessly to hire and train hundreds of South Carolinians and expand our infrastructure so that we could return to our normal turnaround times of results. We hold ourselves to the highest standards as a laboratory and look forward to serving South Carolina’s diagnostic testing needs.” 

Cause to Testing Delays

Over the last month, laboratories and manufacturers across the country have struggled to keep up with testing demands due to the ongoing Omicron surge. On January 3 alone, the US logged more than 1 million new COVID-19 cases for the first time according to Johns Hopkins University. Scientists found the milestone was driven by the Omicron variant, which is more highly transmissible than other variants. This led to a massive uptick in testing, causing thousands of labs like PMLS to enter an unprecedented situation. From January 3 to the week of January 17, PMLS received an additional tens of thousands of daily tests, far more than their normal daily test volume. This created a backlog. Paired with a record-breaking snowstorm, shipping delays, and supply chain shortages our usual 24-hour turnaround on testing turned into several days. This did not sit well with our leadership at PMLS, so they acted quickly and drafted an immediate plan to get back on track.

Solutions to Testing Delays

PMLS invested millions of dollars in capital equipment to support our infrastructure. As of January 20th, we installed more than 30 machines, increasing our testing capacity by an additional 60,000 tests per day. We have also hired on 300 more employees since the beginning of January and are still working to add on more South Carolinians to the PMLS staff. With the new infrastructure and workflow optimizations, we are now processing tests in under 24 hours and expect to keep it that way. For more information on this from South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) please click on the following link: https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/dhec-announces-premier-medical-cleared-testing-backlogs-returning-wait-times-standard

“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been proactive in fulfilling our staffing needs,” said Kevin Murdock, CEO and Founder of Premier Medical Laboratory Services. “To ensure that we continue to properly meet testing demands amid this new surge, we are looking to vastly expand our team and to provide jobs in the community.”

PMLS is a CLIA and COLA certified laboratory. They are the choice processing lab for Health and Human Services testing sites, and the trusted COVID-19 management partner for professional sports teams, schools, colleges, large corporations, and health departments across the nation. With an expanding team, they are inviting members of the Upstate community to join them in providing vital services and information, helping to battle COVID-19 and its new variants and to improve the future of healthcare with advanced medical diagnostics.

Currently, the lab is looking to fill the following positions:

Medical Laboratory Technician

Responsible for performing medical tests in the Molecular Lab. Does not need to be certified if a degree in Chemistry or Biology has been attained.

Responsibilities:

• Collect and organize blood, tissue, and other bodily fluid samples from patients
• Prepare samples for routine testing and analysis
• Properly record results for further analysis and easy reference
• Monitor inventory samples and supplies
• Maintain a clean work environment

Qualifications:

• You must have experience as a Medical Technologist (ASCP Certificate that is CURRENT is a plus!)
• BS in Biology or Chemistry is also helpful
• Familiarity with common medical terminology
• Experience in a laboratory setting
• Strong organizational skills

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $18-$22 per hour

Medical Technologist

Requirements:

• ***MUST HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH MANUAL EXTRACTION PROCESSES***
• Has earned a bachelor’s degree in a chemical, physical or biological science or medical technology from an accredited institution
• Has at least 2 years of current laboratory experience, in moderate complexity testing (Chemistry, Hematology, Urinalysis)
• Has 2 years of laboratory training or experience in high complexity testing (Allergy and/or Molecular)

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $24-$28/hr

All positions located in Greenville, SC. Please email: HR@DIVMEDINC.COM to apply.