Two new hires for BioLab
South End News
September 17, 2007
By Lou Manzo
Boston University announced the appointment of Dr. Thomas Geisbert as associate director of the Boston University BioSafety Level 4 Lab (BioLab). He will head the Specimen Core Processing Lab. B.U. also announced the hiring of his wife, Joan Geisbert, who will work within the specimen processing unit. The husband and wife team have over 50 years of combined experience working with infectious diseases.
“We are very excited to have them. The search was nationwide and took place over the last year,” David Goldberg, the associate director of corporate communications at Boston University said. “They are some of the best in the nation.”
Besides directing the lab, Dr. Geisbert also joins the Boston University faculty as a professor of microbiology. Geisbert comes to B.U. from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland. He has worked extensively with the Ebola virus and has published numerous papers on that virus and other infectious diseases.
“I did a lot of work with the military. There was intelligence that the former U.S.S.R. was developing the Ebola virus so there was a focus on bio-terrorism.” said Geisbert. “Ebola is unique, though. There is a military importance to it but there is also a great importance to studying it for other reasons.”
Geisbert stressed the effects the Ebola virus continues to have on human and ape populations in central Africa.
Dr. Thomas Geisbert’s wife, Joan Geisbert, will be the associate director in the processing lab. She will develop the training and certification program for faculty and staff in the laboratory. Joan Geisbert has worked in laboratories handling highly infectious diseases for 32 years.
“Joan will work hand in hand with anyone who hasn’t worked in a level four facility before. She’ll provide a mentorship program,” said Geisbert.
The announcement of the new hires comes two days after the Community Liaison Committee to the BioLab hosted an educational forum with neighborhood residents. Dr. Jack Murphy, a B.U. microbiologist, led the forum, which was titled “What Will Be Studied? What Are The Risks?” Local activists and B.U. staff clashed about the need for a Biolab and the health risks it may pose to local residents. Another forum is scheduled for Oct. 1 in the Cathedral High School gym to discuss the transport of specimens to the lab.
As construction of the BioLab continues, local residents will have more opportunities to voice their concerns. In December of 2006, the National Health Institute and B.U. agreed to study the potential impact on the neighborhood and to consider alternate sites in Tyngsborough, Mass., and Peterborough, N.H. A public hearing is set for Sept. 20 at Faneuil Hall to gather reactions from the study.
Dr. Geisbert said he is aware of the controversy surrounding the lab.
“There’s never zero risk but the goal is to put it at the lowest possible level,” said Geisbert. “I’m very conscious about safety. I’ve worked a long time to get this position.”