American Gene Technologies® Professional Spotlight: Sabrina Campbell, Lab Manager

By American Gene Technologies
January 23, 2023

Curing HIV is an expensive endeavor, and under Sabrina Campbell’s watchful eye, an innovative service is funding the gene therapy trial that may lead to the end of the HIV epidemic. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shortage of PCR testing, which prompted American Gene Technologies® to open its own laboratory to bridge supply and demand. Every dollar of profit from the COVID-19 PCR tests performed in the clinical laboratory pays for the HIV Cure Program’s Phase 1 human trial. With such a critical responsibility, the clinical laboratory must operate uninterrupted, which is why we’re thrilled to highlight Sabrina Campbell, the lab manager who’s aiding a potential HIV cure with COVID-19 testing revenue.

With 33 years of experience in a clinical lab setting, including 20 years of service in various US Navy medical units and lab management experience in civilian hospitals and specialty clinics such as CCRM (Colorado Centers for Reproductive Medicine), Sabrina is the ideal lab manager. During her time in the Navy, Campbell’s responsibilities in the self-contained medical units aboard naval ships were all-encompassing. As you can imagine, the constraints aboard a combat-ready unit require highly efficient use of space, multifunctional staff, and a strong work ethic to keep the crew healthy and effective.

Campbell’s work stands out in comparison to land-based corporate labs with expansive facilities, extra staff, and a high degree of specialization. Her previous experience makes her perfect for a local clinical laboratory, where smaller teams compete with large corporate laboratories through process excellence. Under Sabrina’s leadership, the AGT™ laboratory gained a COLA accreditation and CLIA certification while keeping the lab in standards with Proficiency Testing through CAP. While large companies have the advantage of scale, Campbell’s lab has a combination of speed and quality; so when patients need results fast, her lab delivers.

The team of dedicated and multifunctional people in the lab stand ready to give meaningful test results in any condition. Some of the early days stretched from 9am to 5am; yes, 5am. Together, the team held strong to get test results to patients through holidays, snowstorms, and late nights. While other labs were slipping to three- or five-day delays in the face of demand spikes over 300%, AGT’s lab held strong at sub-24-hour turnaround times.

It’s a team effort, and a lot is demanded of the molecular laboratory, which is why we’re so glad to have Sabrina. Her exceptional skills are yielding financial rocket fuel to advanced genetic medicines, and her management style maintains the happiness and effectiveness of the lab’s staff. Local clinical labs provide the highest level of service to patients, which is why physicians partner with companies like AGT instead of the larger corporate labs. Maintaining that quality of service demands attention on all fronts and requires a manager who can handle curveball after curveball. In this situation, if you had to choose a single person to run a laboratory, Sabrina Campbell is an easy choice.