Winter in July 2018 – Our Month of Service – Kijabe Pathology Laboratory

The Ferguson family returned for the second consecutive “summer” to serve in the pathology laboratory at Kijabe hospital. This year our nephew, Austin, accompanied us to help in the laboratory. While the heat was beating down in the southern United States with temperatures topping out regularly over 100°F, Kijabe’s average temperature ranged mostly between the mid 40s and 50s throughout the month. It also seemed the wet season extended into the month of July (normally finishes during June), which resulted in a very damp and colder month than usual.

Laboratory Update & Immunohistochemistry

It was great to see continued high quality microscopic slides produced in the lab that resulted from work done on a short trip in February (Operation Kazuri Slide). In addition to routine surgical pathology service work, the goal for the month of July was to set up and test a manual method for immunohistochemistry at Kijabe.

Austin was a critical link in this work, as he assisted in helping set up equipment and reagents. Additionally, the laboratory staff was very enthusiastic about learning new skill sets to do immunohistochemistry. We are appreciative of the many individuals and corporations who have helped to support this project, which without would have been exceedingly difficult and much more expensive!!

The first steps to begin immunohistochemistry at Kijabe hospital were successful. The main goal for July was to see if immunohistochemistry could be technically performed at an acceptable level. The answer to this was a resounding yes! However, full implementation and training will be a process that will most likely take one to two additional years of active support, education, and practice.

We look forward to bringing volunteers with technical expertise in immunohistochemistry to Kijabe hospital to support this mission. Any individuals with an interest and abilities to support this project are encouraged to contact us through the volunteer interest page on this website.

Future Direction for the Pathology Laboratory

There are several exciting areas of progress in the pathology laboratory, which are updated below:

Pathology LIS System – Kijabe Hospital and pathology volunteers are working with the ASCP to implement a cloud-based LIS system. Currently work at Kijabe is done in a basic database program, without the usual audit tracking and protections that most LIS systems provide. The ASCP has partnered with XIFIN to produce a cloud-based pathology LIS system for pathology laboratories in Africa. We hope to be able to test this product in early 2019, and have a collaborative partnership with the ASCP to maximize the quality of pathology services at Kijabe.
Whole Slide Imaging – In an effort to be able to obtain expert pathology consultations, work is being done to obtain and install a whole slide imaging system for Kijabe. This would allow remote consultation with experts anywhere in the world on difficult cases. Additionally, this would also help to create a large database of cases that would be highly valuable for training purposes.
Immunohistochemistry – Plans are to continue implementation of immunohistochemistry with an emphasis on laboratory staff training and selection/optimization of antibodies. Needs for this project include volunteers with technical expertise who can spend 1 to 2 weeks in the laboratory training staff.