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The Office of Research Services (ORS) is comprised of a diverse portfolio of services that support the NIH mission. In this special edition of I AM ORS, we showcase the exceptional employees behind the COVID-19 pandemic response efforts at the NIH.

Althea Treacy, Associate Biosafety Officer

Althea Treacy is an Associate Biosafety Officer with the Biorisk Management Branch in the Division of Occupational Health and Safety. She provides guidance and recommendation for researchers working with biological materials.  Althea is also the Quarantine Permit Service Office Team Lead, where she directs a team of collateral duty personnel. Her team reviews trade and import control for biological materials shipped to and from the NIH. When needed, she provides either hands-on training for high-contaminate researchers, or classroom training for fellows participating in the National Biosafety and Bio-Contaminate training program.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Althea has taken on the volunteer coordinator role at the NIH COVID-19 response center on-campus. As a volunteer coordinator, she ensures that the right people are serving in the right places across our response. Volunteers help to meet the needs of personnel with concerns of being infected with COVID-19 or being at risk of contracting the virus.

Althea says volunteer coordination requires more management than her typical role, which to this point, she has done at a very small scale. Althea says the response team has overcame challenges by identifying high-performing people across NIH, who can function with some training.  

At the end of each day, Althea enjoys family time with her husband and two young kids. She plans to take a road trip to Michigan with her family when it is safe to do so. Althea was born and raised in the upper peninsula of Michigan. She also has family living in the Philippines.

Althea will soon celebrate eight years at the NIH. She began her work at the NIH by way of her second post-doctoral position. Over the years, Althea has "loved" working with her team. "We have a fantastic group in DOHS," she says. "They make it a lot of fun to come to work."

Stephen Teagarden, Division Chief

Stephen Teagarden is Division Chief with the NIH Fire Department, where he manages strategic goals and maintains the Department's accreditation. He recently volunteered to support the NIH COVID-19 response team as the Incident Commander at the sample test site. As the Incident Commander, Stephen coordinates each patient at they come on-site by double checking all personal information, ensuring the team operates correctly, and if any team member needs anything while testing, he coordinates the process.

Stephen proudly and frequently volunteers to support those in need, from his trip to Hurricane Katrina to his assistance with Ebola transports to the NIH. He says helping others is a good feeling. "The feeling you get when you accomplish the task," he explains. "They are calling you at their worst moment and you're the one that's there to help them." Stephen finds volunteer work to be exciting and compares it to solving puzzles.

During his time at the test site, Stephen says he has met new faces. "I'm now working side by side with people that I probably would've never met if it wasn't for this pandemic," he said. "I'm working with post-bacs, doctors, people from the safety office, DEM [Division of Emergency Management]. The first couple of days we didn't know each other, didn't know each other's name, [didn't] know what each other did and now we are a pretty tight group over there." Stephen says he is "super proud" to have met everyone and is glad to be working side-by-side.

Stephen looks at this experience as a team operation. "I'm only one part in the working machine. The site team is the big picture," he says. "They are an amazing group of people from all different backgrounds that have come together to really make a smooth efficient operation." Stephen says the test site shows the love, dedication and compassion the team has for the NIH community.

Stephen has been with the NIH for seven years. He began his career as a volunteer firefighter in high school and has volunteered his entire career. Stephen is originally from Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County, MD.

Debra Gale, Management Analyst; NIH Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Program Manager

Debra Gale is a Management Analyst and the NIH Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Manager. She also serves as co-chair for the annual NIH "Take Your Child to Work Day" event and provides some support to Fed Feed Families. She began working at the NIH 13 years ago as a supervisor with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases (NIAID) and has worked within ORS for six years.  

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Debra transformed into the Call Center Manager with the NIH COVID-19 response team. The call center, located in the Building 10 FAES classroom, is a part of the Occupational Medical Service (OMS) and was set up under the direction of ORS Director, Colleen McGowan. NIH employees contact the call center to request testing if they suspect exposure to COVID-19. Employees are then asked to complete the NIH coronavirus survey. If qualified, the employee is tested and advised if they have tested positive or negative before receiving further directions.

Debra was called on to further organize the call center already standing but needing a few tweaks. "While it is challenging, the thing that we are doing here at the call-center, it's so positive for the NIH employees," she says. While wanting to help those employees calling in, Debra also focused on protecting the employees answering their calls. To do so, security measures and different procedures were put in place. To respect the social distancing, the call center rotates about 10 employees. To track all present in the call center, every table has a table number and seat number. Volunteers must sign in and provide their table and chair number. Housekeeping and IT staff are required to sign in as well.

Debra acknowledges that when there is a public crisis, NIH is always at the forefront while putting its employees first. "Even though this was a surprise to us," she explains. "We were able to put things in place and get it up and running. Even with the unknown somebody [at the NIH] is ready to tackle it."

Following the pandemic, Debra looks forward to hugging her grandkids, who she has only had contact with via video call. She also enjoys walking or bike riding with her husband on different trails and event planning.