Brockport native recognized as Navy and Marine Corps Force Health Protection Command Civilian of the Year

by Desmond Martin,
NMCFHPC Public Affairs

Andrew Bishop, a Brockport native and a 2003 graduate of Brockport High School, is now a Federal Government Navy employee and was selected as his command’s Senior Civilian of the Year for Fiscal Year 2023.

Bishop works for the Navy and Marine Corps Force Health Protection Command (NMCFHPC) in Portsmouth Regional Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia, as the Deputy Director of Laboratory Services and Deputy Navy Drug Testing Program Manager.

Bishop said he contributes to the NMCFHPC overall mission through program management and support for the Navy’s Drug Testing Program, primarily over both Navy Drug Screening Laboratories in Great Lakes, Illinois, and Jacksonville, Florida, as well as Directorate oversight for the Navy Bloodborne Infection Management Center and the Naval Dosimetry Center.

“I also provide support for the Office of Drug Demand Reduction, which provides oversight for each of the military branches drug testing programs,” he said. His efforts support numerous contracts such as laboratory reagents, consumable, maintenance support and scientific instrumentation procurement for the six Department of Defense (DOD) drug labs.

Bishop was awarded the Civilian Service Achievement Medal for his superior performance of his duties while serving as deputy director of Laboratory Services, NMCFHPC, Portsmouth, Virginia, from October 2022 to September 2023.

NMCFHPC develops and shapes public health for the U.S. Navy and Marines Corps through health surveillance, epidemiology and analysis, disease and injury prevention, and public health consultation.
“My organization’s overall mission is force health protection,” said Bishop. “Through laboratory services, I provide scientific guidance and oversight to four field activity units that are carrying out scientific analysis conducted to protect military members from infectious disease, illicit drugs, and exposure.” Bishop is also a member of the command’s Biochemistry Toxicology Advisory Board.

Bishop started Government service as a civilian employee in 2022. “Prior to entering Government Service, I was a faculty member of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Molecular Medicine,” he said. Before entering academia, he completed his postdoctoral training at the Cleveland Clinic and Texas Biomedical Research Institute related to pulmonary injury due to chemical exposures.

“I was a lead on DoD-level projects in collaboration with other faculty at Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine, on a Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority sponsored project, studying chlorine gas exposure,” he said. “Following the end of this project, an opportunity came my way to apply for a government position that utilized many of the scientific and project management skills I had mastered over the past fifteen years.”

When asked about some of the important lines of efforts he supported during two years in Federal service, Bishop shared a time when there was an increased need for testing outside of the routine testing at one of the Navy drug labs. “This required the need for both contracting and logistical support, to include a whole new contract, while at the same time significantly increasing testing,” he said. “These challenges were overcome by implementing process improvements to increase efficiency and reduce unnecessary procedures burdening the laboratory.”

Another effort Bishop was involved in was getting more than 10 million dollars of scientific instrumentation to support of the life cycling of aging instruments across all six drug labs. Bishop stated, “The major challenge was standing up two new contracts with two different vendors but also the logistics in delivering numerous systems to the laboratories as well as completing installation without impacting the laboratories daily production statistics.”

“What I have learned since starting Federal service is there are numerous jobs requiring a wide range of expertise you wouldn’t know could impact the military until you are exposed to the military culture and functions,” said Bishop.

“Applying the knowledge and expertise I’ve gained outside of the military over the last fifteen years strengthens my opinion that you can enter federal service to support the mission at any time of your career. You will continue to learn, and gain experience. And doing the tasks with a group that is driven towards the same goals is very rewarding.”