2026 Public Health Laboratory Newsroom
Ensuring Safety While Testing for Tuberculosis, Tularemia, Anthrax, and More

Within the Minnesota Public Health Laboratory, the Infectious Disease Lab tests samples for a wide range of pathogens, including some of the most dangerous on Earth. In a special Biosafety Level III suite, scientists analyze specimens for the organisms that cause tuberculosis, tularemia, anthrax, and many other potentially lethal diseases.

It is vital to have the highest levels of safety precautions in the Minnesota Infectious Disease Laboratory. Association of Public Health Laboratories Biosafety Fellow Zoe Quinn is devoted to ensuring its scientists have the most effective personal protective equipment (PPE), along with many other procedures and measures tailored for their important and potentially hazardous work.

An early interest in science

Biology was one of Zoe Quinn’s favorite classes in high school. She was also active in the Aliveness Project, a non-profit supporting people with AIDS and HIV. Her volunteer experiences motivated her to pursue a career in medical research.

Quinn went on to major in genetics, cell biology and development at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She began working in one of the department’s labs in 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Her work became collecting ticks from fields for Lyme disease research. Only when COVID-19 restrictions eased could she return to the lab.

In Quinn’s senior year at the University of Minnesota Duluth, she took a class covering the science and public health impact of HIV. It sparked in her an interest in how diseases affect communities.  

Starting a career in lab work

After graduating from college, Zoe Quinn began working at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities’ Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Science. She spent nearly five years engineering cell products targeted against HIV.  

During her time at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Quinn unexpectedly developed a passion for biosafety: the procedures, measures, and equipment necessary to minimize the risks of working with biological agents. She found herself interested in researching the reasons behind the PPE she was using in the lab. Quinn took on the additional role of keeping coworkers up to date on PPE and conducting annual biosafety trainings.  

Quinn valued the importance of protecting people who are advancing scientific research. She also wanted to advance the field of biosafety. Science makes great progress every day; Quinn wanted to help biosafety keep pace.  

Joining the Minnesota Public Health Laboratory

Zoe Quinn reached out to the biosafety officer of the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Science to learn about their career path. Serendipitously, around a week later, the Minnesota Infectious Disease Laboratory spread the word that it was offering a biosafety fellowship through The Association of Public Health Laboratories. Quinn quickly applied and got the job.

Quinn’s main project as a biosafety fellow is to review the PPE that scientists use in the Biosafety Level III suite. She is carefully analyzing whether it aligns with risk assessments and protects lab workers from the hazards posed by a large range of dangerous pathogens.  

Quinn is also reviewing decontamination procedures. Testing potentially contaminated samples results in waste that is potentially hazardous. It must be decontaminated before it can be put into the waste stream. Quinn plans to put fake waste with biological indicators through the waste stream and then test whether those biological indicators survive the processes.

The Minnesota Infectious Disease Laboratory has a safety task force that assembles scientists from each unit to deal with projects that impact them directly. Zoe Quinn has become an active member of the task force. One example of the task force’s work is to review whether the waste containers in biosafety cabinets are working optimally.

The biosafety improvements that Zoe Quinn pursues constitute one example of the behind-the-scenes work that the Minnesota Department of Health does to help keep Minnesotans healthy. Many infectious diseases are kept in check thanks in part to Quinn and the other members of the Minnesota Infectious Disease Laboratory.

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