Aquinas Landmark Spring 2021

5 H idden H eroes JohnOwens Jr. ‘91 MonroeCountyDepartmentofPublicHealth, COVID-19ContactTracingLead For 20 years, John Owens Jr. ’91 has been a contact tracer with the Monroe County Department of Health, responsible for reaching out to people with infectious diseases and ultimately helping to stop the spread. Twelve months ago, when Monroe County had its first case of Coro- navirus, John’s focus quickly shifted to COVID-19, in fact, his new title became COVID-19 contact tracing lead. Since then, he has headed a growing team of people who are responsible for reaching out to any- one who tests positive for COVID-19 in Monroe County to find out who they have been within six feet of, for 15 consecutive minutes, where one or both people did not wear a mask. As you might imagine, the job is unrelenting. “We’re a seven-day operation,”said John.“My team does interviews from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. every day.”He even recounted a four-week stretch when interviewers were working from 8:00 a.m. until midnight each day. John did many of the first 200 interviews himself, but as the case load grew, so did his team. Today, there are 70 members on Mon- roe County’s contact tracing team. “There are new things that come up every day – new questions, new situations, new scenarios. My phone never stops ringing.”And those calls are not just from his team, but from businesses and schools across Monroe County that rely on his expertise to know exactly who is and who is not a contact, and what the proper follow-up protocols are. Aside from his two decades of experience in contact tracing, John is quick to credit the efforts of the county’s Emergency Preparedness Team, the Commissioner of Public Health Dr. Michael Mendoza, and the Deputy Commissioner of Public Health Dr. Marielena Velez de Brown. “They not only prepared us to hit the ground running with that first interview on March 13, 2020, but they’ve been doing this work with us seven days a week and working so hard that it’s inspiring to the whole team and the other staff,”noted John. The biggest challenge he faces now is training.“For the past month I’ve been training 8-10 new case investigators each week. In addition, we’re learning new things constantly about coronavirus and how the infection works so we are continually training our staff on the changes.” It’s a tall task, but one John says is well worth it. “Going to work is rewarding because I know that what we’re doing as a team is making a difference in our community. We’re helping to stop the spread of infection and in turn, that’s saving lives.”That teammental- ity extends beyond the health department, first responders, and those on the frontlines in hospitals and clinics according to John. “It’s people in the community doing their part as well. We must contin- ue to be diligent about wearing masks and distancing, it’s so incredibly important in helping to slow the spread of this infection until we can get everyone vaccinated. The big picture is that we need to keep every- one safe. We’re all in this together.” Pharmaceuticals as a potential treatment for critical COVID-19 patients. “A typical day in research involves making sure that patients are properly enrolled in the study, getting proper sample collection, and prep. Then we analyze specific markers. Some days require more steps than others, and many sections of the project can’t move forward until other milestones are complete,” said Cherisse. As the pandemic created staffing needs in every area of the health care industry, Cherisse moved to Los Angeles to take advantage of the unique opportunity to gain essential lab experience by pursuing more COVID-based lab contracts. “Blending all of my current experiences has allowed me to have a better understanding of the demands of higher- level positions within the science industry, and what will be required when I specialize in veterinary lab medicine in the future,” she noted. She also explained how through this experience she has gained first-hand perspective on the demands in both research and response in the race to understand and manage the novel coronavirus. While completing her graduate studies, Cherisse has most recently worked as a Clinical Laboratory Technician for One Health Labs at SONY entertainment, and as Quality Control Laboratory Director/Senior Laboratory Scientist for a Florence Technologies Lab at Hawaiian Airlines, experience that is invaluable to her long-term goal and brings the process of research, clinical testing, and trials full circle.