Bioscience Capacity Building

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, TMC has been involved with U.S. efforts to actively involve scientists and technicians and engage them with meaningful and relevant work. Over decades, TMC’s engagement has evolved into what is commonly called “capacity building” with U.S partner countries. TMC now provides scientific, laboratory, and administrative personnel who are supporting biomedical research and surveillance in Europe and Central Asia, most notably at the U.S.-built and funded Lugar Center in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. TMC’s PhD scientists are fulfilling some of the most interesting research in their respective regions.

As part of this federally funded capacity building, TMC provided the Republic of Georgia with a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Prior to the LIMS installation, research and health facilities across the Republic of Georgia were manually sharing information across locations. With TMC’s LIMS implementation, scientists and health professionals were able to electronically share valuable data. Georgia’s LIMS functionality was immediately put to practical use with the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.

After the COVID outbreak, TMC provided capacity building training to Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Health (MoH) for the administration of COVID tests. In April 2020, TMC refreshed the skills of five MoH professionals, who then trained 17 laboratory specialists on the PCR technique, which was the only World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended method for COVID detection. The training included the Tashkent Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education (TIPME) and the Republican Center for the Prevention of Plague, Quarantine, and Most Hazardous Infections Laboratory (CPPQMHI) in Tashkent, Bukhara, and Nukus. After two weeks of mentorship by TMC, a total of 22 MoH laboratory specialists (including eight trainers) were qualified and began performing COVID-19 testing at their laboratories, which greatly aided the people of Uzbekistan during the pandemic.