Sara Wells is a histotechnician at Flagship Biosciences. She recently shared some background for a spotlight article, as well as an update on working during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sara received her BS in Biotechnology from Kent State University. She says she has always been a huge science nerd but didn’t realize histology was her career path until she became a researcher in Ohio.
Here’s more from Sara:
“At Kent State, I worked with the histology department and taught myself how to manually perform histological staining for research grants.
I then spent two years at Northeast Ohio Medical University in a research laboratory studying osteoarthritis and cartilage. My research into human cartilage and mouse studies have been published in three scientific articles. Most of these had histological samples in them.
I found Flagship Biosciences after moving to Colorado and they have helped me take my histology experience and make it into my career.
My team is my favorite part of my day. They are all very smart and make me want to become a better histotechnician. I learn something new and exciting every day.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, I have been very proud of Flagship Biosciences. They started social distancing as soon as our people were aware of the situation and before most knew about how to deal with COVID-19. The company cares about its employees and did everything they could to stop the spread of COVID-19, while maintaining critical laboratory capabilities for clients and supporting the livelihood of employees.
Even though most of our work is remote, the contact between teams and clients has stayed the same. The one team that needs to stay working on premise is very well-protected by following social distancing rules and has been given the personal protective equipment needed to stay healthy and maintain good hygiene while they work.
Thanks to the team that we have, Flagship Biosciences was ahead of the game with the pandemic. Our laboratory and analysis turn-around times have stayed consistent and the company is doing everything that they can to keep everyone safe.
Though I do not work directly with our clients, I believe that they are happy with how we are handling the outbreak. I have heard stories about how our clients have been grateful for us staying open during this time, even when they cannot. We still get our work done and send their results in a timely manner.
In the meantime, I feel safe as an essential worker when I am at the office. I know that our pathologist and other teams are keeping a close eye on the issues at hand and will inform us of any changes. I thank Flagship Biosciences for keeping up with the pandemic and helping flatten the curve.
Thinking of the future, I continue to look forward to helping people in general. When I hear that my work helps clients to find a cure to a disease or an ailment, it makes me feel like we can do anything as a team. I look forward to those moments and I feel strongly that Flagship Biosciences will have a lot of them.
For aspiring students in the field, science, in any form, takes patience and teamwork. If you want to follow your dreams and be a scientist, you will need to rely on people and take advice when needed. Only then will you be able to achieve great things!”