Her significant technical contributions and high level of dedication to duty are exemplified by her many accomplishments both within and outside of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sphere of influence. While assigned to the Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS), Office of Research Services, Office of the Director, NIH, LCDR Markley excelled as a laboratory safety specialist, consultant, developer, and presenter of highly acclaimed initiatives and programs in the laboratory safety arena. As a highly effective program manager, she has delivered projects in situations and under resource constraints that were less than optimal. She has contributed to program design and implementation of superior safety and health training programs for NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
For example, while tasked with developing and presenting the NIH laboratory safety programs, LCDR Markley developed standard policy and procedures for training programs and implemented the use of standardized training assessment tools. Her work directly contributed to the award of ‘Authorized Provider’ status by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training. Possessing Authorized Provider status enables the division and the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program to offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for all DOHS-sponsored training courses. DOHS and the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Program, also a DOHS program, are now the only authorized providers of CEUs at the NIH.
LCDR Markley was also tasked with educational material design that included the DOHS Web site. Through her own initiative, she developed and implemented a new training Web site with online registration and a linked database for the complete complement of NIH laboratory safety courses. Her efforts have resulted in markedly improved efficiency allowing NIH employees, contractors, and others to access the training calendar, register for classes, and view their training records online. LCDR Markley also developed several computer-based laboratory safety training programs meeting the needs of busy scientists while at the same time meeting NIH’s regulatory requirements, reducing NIH’s overall management risk. She was also involved in the development of a computer-based gaming platform and age appropriate laboratory safety training activity for high school students participating in a variety of student hire and volunteer programs at NIH. This program is innovative, exciting, and engaging while, again, decreasing the NIH management risk associated with allowing minors to work and train in NIH laboratories. Additionally, in Fiscal Year 2006, using a very clear, direct, and unassuming style, LCDR Markley presented laboratory safety training courses to over 7,000 NIH research personnel, a large proportion of which were international scientists. Her kindness, patience, understanding, and sensitivity for cultural differences have made these programs a great success.
Using her professional experience in adult learning techniques, her exemplary teaching abilities, grasp of technical and scientific information, and based on the overall success of her programs, LCDR Markley has been a significant contributor to international training initiatives of Federal agencies and non-governmental organizations. She coordinated the revision of the WHO Train the Trainer’s Manual in Biosafety. LCDR Markley served as an instructor and member of the CDC/National Environmental Health Association “Epi-Ready” team providing training to public health professionals in the conduct of foodborne disease outbreak investigations and surveillance procedures. She has collaborated with Department of Environmental Health and Safety at Dartmouth College and the Safety Department at Eraramus Medical Center (Netherlands) to develop a new, internationally-acceptable, introductory laboratory safety training program. The new course will be used to train researchers and laboratory support personnel around the world. LCDR Markley also served as the NIH representative on a CDC/USDA Steering Committee for developing a biosafety training curriculum for workers in Federal laboratories.
In support of the civilian biodefense initiative, LCDR Markley developed and delivered a 35-hour biocontainment laboratory safety training program for OSHA personnel. The course provided 55 attendees with knowledge of basic microbiology concepts; occupational hazards found in biomedical/biodefense laboratories; unique biocontainment laboratory design elements and equipment; and operational procedures, practices, and controls allowing OSHA inspectors to safely enter these laboratories, understand the mission of the civilian biodefense initiative, and the true nature of the risks associated with biocontainment/biodefense laboratories. She developed training objectives, prepared course outlines and materials, identified and engaged qualified instructors, and solely managed the week-long activity. As a result, impacts on important biodefense research being performed by the NIH-supported Regional Centers of Excellence in Biodefense and Regional Biocontainment Laboratories are being minimized.
In addition to the high degree of technical expertise displayed by LCDR Markley, she consistently exhibits the highest caliber of professionalism in the conduct of her assignments. Beginning her Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps) career as a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist and progressing to Program Manager, LCDR Markley later served as acting branch chief for the Community Health Branch, DOHS. She ably served the division in this acting position while maintaining and performing the myriad duties and activities associated with a complex, highly visible program at NIH. At the same time, she served as a member of several NIH committees and as the Outreach Program Manager for the division.
Due to her unique combination of biosafety skills, reputation as an educator and professional approach, LCDR Markley was recently recruited to serve at the Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of the Center Director, as the Biosafety Officer and the Select Agent Program Manager. In this role she will continue to be active in, and expand her previous interagency activities.
The outstanding contributions made by LCDR Markley, thus far in her career, clearly demonstrate the highest commitment to the practice of public health. Her scientific knowledge, expertise in public health practice, and personal drive to further the overall mission of the Corps are a credit to the Corps. She is an educator, mentor, and highly motivated professional who, on a daily basis, makes valued contributions to the biomedical research community, the Department of Health and Human Services, other Federal agencies, and international partners in public health.
LCDR Markley is an exemplary officer and a valued, professionally active asset of the Health Services category. Her exemplary, extensive, and continued contributions to the national and international health priorities of the United States merit her recognition with the 2007 Joseph Garcia Jr. Award.