While COVID-19 testing is not a long-term aspiration for their company — Contamination Source Identification® (CSI®) — they quickly pivoted to answer the call for rapid and accurate testing. In fact, the company is not only serving students, faculty, and staff right here on Juniata’s campus, but is providing rapid clinical diagnostic testing to nursing homes and other universities in the central Pennsylvania area.

Behind the Scenes: Contamination Source Identification

Ironically enough, CSI®, founded in 2018, actually has its roots in Juniata’s alumni magazine. Wright and Dr. Regina Lamendella, George ’75 and Cynthia ’76 Valko Professor of Biological Sciences here at Juniata, launched Wright Labs LLC out of the JCEL business incubator in 2015. Upon reading about the company in the magazine, Gary Shope (now partner and CEO at CSI®) got in touch with them. The three then started CSI® together with a goal to better inform the clinical world of the presence of infectious microbes. Shope has over 40 years of experience in the medical device business, a majority of those as a CEO. Meanwhile, his son, Alexander Shope joined the company as Chief Medical Officer.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the company had focused primarily on improving disease diagnosis by providing the first and only RNA sequencing test for Lyme disease.

“At CSI®, we possess novel next generation sequencing technology and data analysis pipelines that permit improved detection of pathogens in alternative disease states such as Lyme Disease, Clostridium difficile infection, etc.,” explains Wright, Executive Vice President and Bioinformaticist at CSI®. “We are also currently working on a proprietary product and process that detects all pathogens (including SARS-CoV-2) on high-touch surfaces.”

Fortunately for Huntingdon and the surrounding areas, CSI® was able to transition quickly to COVID-19 testing.

Shifting to COVID-19 Testing

“The technique we use to test for COVID-19 is much less complicated than our proprietary technologies,” explains Alexander J. Shope, M.D. “However, we decided to shift our focus, bring in some additional equipment, and hire additional employees so that we could really help out our local community. Truly, we wanted to do as much good as we could for the central PA area.”

While turnaround times for testing at many labs was once as long as 16 days, with CSI®’s testing workflows, results have consistently been available in 24 to 48 hours at most.

“I’m personally very proud of our staff and take great pride in the number of facilities, nursing homes, and people in the community that we’ve been able to help,” Shope says. “We really have some of the brightest, hardest working employees I’ve ever seen. When we decided to make the switch, every single person stepped up and put in incredibly long hours in order to make this all happen.”

Wright is proud to mention that many of those employees are Juniata alumni as well. “We are privileged to have a brilliant team of motivated and passionate individuals who bring a positive mentality that makes work a complete joy,” he says. “It speaks to the quality of the education and institution of Juniata College, our alumni progress rapidly into hardworking individuals seeking to progress in their professional fields while simultaneously bettering their communities.”

Inside the Lab

Shope is a graduate of Penn State College of Medicine, where he received his M.D. However, always having an interest in the business side of medicine, he didn’t follow the traditional path to residency and become a practicing physician. As Chief Medical Officer at CSI®, his role is to give insight, direction, and leadership to the company as a whole as they work to develop various diagnostic tests.

“I apply my clinical knowledge and experience as we develop many of these various aspects,” Shope says. “For example, I help point us in the direction of what disease states may be more meaningful or impacted by our advanced technology.”

Currently, Shope also has the crucial role of reporting positive COVID-19 tests so that risk can be mitigated as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Wright manages CSI®’s deliverable.

“In our case, this is the clinical or environmental report (for surface testing) that we provide to our customers which breaks down the results of our proprietary RAPID-Dx® data analytics pipeline,” Wright explains. “This reporting structure and data analytics pipeline is constantly evolving, thanks to the efforts of our fantastic bioinformatics team lead by Colin Brislawn ’14 and Vasily Tokarev ’17. I could not ask for a better team to drive the groundbreaking work we conduct daily at CSI®.”

Making a Difference

Being able to serve Juniata College and surrounding communities is an opportunity for which both Wright and Shope are grateful.

“While it can certainly be overwhelming at times, it feels great knowing that every day we are delivering important information that directly benefits the safety and well-being of the general population,” Wright says.

“It’s quite humbling to have been given this kind of opportunity to impact Huntingdon, and central PA as a whole during this pandemic,” Shope adds. “I’ve been very fortunate to have been surrounded by many amazing mentors during my education.”

Among those mentors, Shope has had the privilege of working with Dr. Javad Parvizi of Rothman Orthopaedics, who is one of the most renowned orthopaedic surgeons in the world.

“Dr. Parvizi was instrumental in encouraging me to take this opportunity as CMO despite my young age, and he and I are still in touch today working on additional innovative medical ventures,” he says.

Shope also serves as CMO of AIONX® Antimicrobial Technologies, which sells a continuously self-cleaning surface. Through his work with AIONX® and CSI®, he’s found his true calling — helping to bring new medical technologies to market.

“I could impact several hundred or maybe a few thousand patients every year by being a clinical physician,” he says, “but bringing just one technology such as either of these would allow me to impact millions of people potentially.”

He offers these words of wisdom for others: “Even though it may seem as though there is a set path that you have to follow, sometimes taking a different path is what will really end up being the right thing for you. Don’t be afraid of risk or of being different.”

But most importantly, don’t forget the importance of enriching your community and giving back to humanity, as Juniata reminds us and just as CSI® did to help our community navigate these uncertain times.

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Juniata Alumni and Current Students Working at CSI®:

• Lauren Lock ’18
• Christopher Mclimans ’17
• Colin J Brislawn ’14
• Truc Ly ’18
• Akiva Hort ’20
• Jeremy Chen See ’19
• Nicole Piccioni ’22
• Jordan Thomas Pellegrino ’21
• Nathan Heibeck ’19
• Kristen Behrens ’18
• Maria Fowler ’20
• Olivia Wright ’22
• Samantha Anderson McGarry ’23
• Lauren Reed-Brown ’20
• Logan Peachey ’21
• Elizabeth Linville ’09
• Vasily Tokarev ’17