APHL in Action

Summer 2024

• 7 Public Health Lab Professionals Describe Why They Started in Lab Science—and What Makes Them Stay
  Preparing specimens. Identifying pathogens. Detecting outbreaks. Working in a public health laboratory isn’t always pretty, but according to the lab professionals we talked with, it is incredibly important and rewarding.
  
  
• APHL Partners with Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to Bring Genomics Training to Regional Hubs
  The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has partnered with APHL’s Global Health team to bring genomic epidemiologic training to regions around the world via the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network (CZBiohub Network). CZBiohub Network is a group of nonprofit research institutes supported by CZI that bring together scientists, engineers and physicians with the goal of pursuing grand scientific challenges on 10- to 15-year time horizons. It focuses on understanding underlying mechanisms of disease and developing new technologies that will lead to actionable diagnostics and effective therapies.
  
  
• How the antiscience movement has risen in America—and where it’s headed next
  The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t launch the antiscience, antivax movement in this country, but it certainly escalated it. And with deadly effects. Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, co-director of Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and the Dr. Katherine Kelley Distinguished Lecture speaker at APHL’s 2024 Annual Conference, outlined the rise of antiscience activism in this country, the politicization of the movement and the dire consequences it continues to produce.
  
  
• Eyes Below the Surface: Wastewater Surveillance Pilot Program in Uganda Shows Potential for Future Pandemic Monitoring
  On March 21, 2020, Uganda declared their first confirmed case of COVID-19. As of July 14, 2023, a total of 168,489 cases and 3,627 deaths had been reported in the country. Initially, prevalence estimates of COVID-19 in Uganda were strictly limited to clinical surveillance – cases diagnosed following a doctor or hospital visit. In coordination with the Global Fund, the Uganda Central Public Health Laboratories (CPHL) and the National Water and Sewage Corporation, APHL launched a pilot program to explore the feasibility of using wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor the COVID-19 rates in the country.
  
  
• As Gonorrhea Cases Mount, Treatment Options Dwindle
  Nearly 650,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported in the U.S. in 2022, making it the second-most commonly notifiable sexually transmitted disease (STD) in this country. Chlamydia takes the number-one spot. But it’s not just the number of gonorrhea cases that has public health officials alarmed—it’s the propensity of the organism to become resistant to the drugs that can effectively treat it.

Spring 2024

• APHL Hosts Laboratory Leaders of Today in Atlanta
• APHL Receives Funding to Strengthen Public Health Laboratory Systems to Improve Food Safety
• Measles Outbreaks Still Occur: How the APHL/CDC VPD Reference Centers Are Working to Identify Them
• Nashville-based Laboratory Interns and Mentors Achieve Perfect Harmony
• CDC’s Labs Are Making a Comeback. Now They Need Support

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Fall 2023

Summer 2023

• Visit the All New APHL Learning Center!
• Shifting Data Modernization to a Global Stage​
• Wrapping up a Successful COVID-19 Exposure Notification System
• APHL Is a Washington Post 2023 Top Workplace—Again!

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Spring 2023

• Career Pathways Programs Grow Future Workforce
• Public Health Laboratory Internship Program
• Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program
• First APHL ID Lab Con Has “Infectious Energy”
• Featuring CDC's Demetre Daskalakis' Keynote
• Read about the popular Metagenomics session
  
• Watch the video recap
  
• Browse the Facebook photo album
• Laboratory Leaders of Today Strengthens Lab Leadership

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Fall 2022

• It's Time to Rethin​k How the US Responds to Infectious Diseases
• Oman Sends Two Twinning Envoys to Wyoming and Oregon
• Plus recaps from the APHL 2022 Newborn Screening Symposium and Public Health Laboratory Appreciation Month.

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Summer 2022

• APHL Awarded NIH Contract for Reporting OTC COVID-19 Results to Public Health Agencies
• APHL 2022 Annual Conference: A Huge Hybrid Success
  
• Lab Culture Podcast: What's Next for the LRN Response to Monkeypox?

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Winter 2022

• APHL Wins Accreditation as Health Information Service Provider
• APHL Celebrates CDC Laboratory Construction Awards as 'Important Beginning'
  
• Lab Culture Podcast: Discussing Food Safety With Colleagues, But Please Not Over Lunch

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Fall 2021

• New Workforce Project to Enhance Lab Capacity
• APHL Responds to COVID-19 Crisis in India
• Lab Culture Podcast: Launching an Unprecedented Prenatal Lead and Mercury Screening Program in New Jersey

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Spring 2021

• Detecting, Sequencing and Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 Virus Variants
• ELP Cohort 13 Takes on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  
• It's Lab Week—Celebrate Public Health Laboratory Heroes!
  

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Winter 2021

• Making Sense of the COVID-19 Data Story​
• Supporting the Continued Response to COVID-19
  
• Virtual Conferences Bring Far-flung Communities Together

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Summer 2020

• Bringing COVID-19 Exposure Notification to the Public Health Community​
• Virtual Storytelling Event: Pandemic Perspectives from the Public Health Lab
• Lab Culture Podcast: Life as a Public Health Lab Scientist Testing for COVID-19

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Spring 2020

• APHL, Partners Garner $550M for Data Modernization Initiative
• APHL EVALI Response Spurred by Strong Communication
• Read the 2019 APHL Annual Report

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Fall 2019

• APHL’s Newborn Screening Program Goes Global
• In Puerto Rico, a New Molecular Bacteriology Lab Allows Better Control of Foodborne Outbreaks
• Lab Culture Podcast: 20 Years of the Laboratory Response Network

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Summer 2019

• APHL Workshop Advances Integration of HIV, HCV and Syphilis Testing
• Self-directed Regional Networks: Connecting Neighbors Strengthens Labs
• Lab Culture Extra: Progress in Sierra Leone

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Spring 2019

• APHL: Engaging for Change in Emergency Diagnostics
• Enhancing Detection of Newborn Screening Conditions via Data Analytics
• Lab Culture Extra: How the Wisconsin State Lab Developed a Test for Brodifacoum and Why it Matters

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 Winter 2019

• Flu Without Labs: New Infographic Shows Power of the Public Health Laboratory
• Lab Informatics for All: New Courses Introduce Basics to Non-specialists
• Lab Culture Extra: Surge of West Nile Virus in North Dakota

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Summer 2018

• Environmental Health Videos Offer Answers in Minutes
• Taking Viral Load Testing from 3% to 46% in One Year
• Closing the Gap in Opioid Testing and Surveillance
• Biosafe360°: Leading in Laboratory Biosafety

Spring 2018

• Lab Quality Olympics: Assuring PulseNet Data Quality 
  
• One LIMS to Rule Them All: Solving a Terminology Conundrum 
  
• Reading Agar Plates and Line Items: Emerging Leaders Respond 
  
• APHL in Mozambique: Linking Labs Electronically ​
  

Winter 2018

• Power to the Labs: Surging for Hurricane Recovery in Puerto Rico
  
• From H5N1 to H7N9: Creating Training for Global Response to Novel Flu Viruses 
  
• APHL-CDC Antimicrobial Resistance Fellowship: Tackling a Growing Public Health Concern 
  
• From Recommendation to Reality: Advancing Newborn Screening for New Disorders ​
  

Fall 2017

• Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance with Data and Surveillance 
  
• Building Biosafety Leaders
  
• Scaling up HIV Viral Load Monitoring in sub-Saharan Africa
  
• Combatting Norovirus with CaliciNet  ​
  

Summer 2017

• Building Relationships for Quality Infl​uenza Surveillance
  
• Is My Water Safe? Assessing Lab Capacity for Well Water Testing
  
• Shifting to a Culture of Evaluation
  
• Supporting Molecular Technologies for Healthier Babies ​
  

​Spring 2017

• Tackling the Lab Workforce Conundrum
  
• Informatics TA Team: Speeding Delivery of Public Health Data
  
• Hawaii and Vietnam Partner for Testing Excellence
  
• Handle with Care: Moving Laboratory Specimens Around the World
  

Winter 2017

• ​New Web Portal Speeds Foodborne Outbreak Response
• Workshops Build Better Biosafety Officers
• APHL & EPA Partner to Protect Health and the Environment
• NewSTEPs Convenes Stakeholders to Improve Newborn Screening

Fall 2016

• ​​​​Bioinformatics Fellowship Tackles Data Avalanche​
• AIMS Platform: Outpacing Pathogens from the Cloud​
• AMD: Optimizing Technology at Public Health Labs​
• APHL Launches National Biomonitoring Network​​

Summer 2016

• ​​Meet APHL's 2016 Robin Copeland Fellows
• ​Public Health Labs Surge to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Accreditation
• APHL Fights Sickle Cell Disease with Expanded Training, New Resource
• Developing a Culture of Quality Through EQA​

​Spring 2016

• Growing Uganda's Laboratory Leaders
• Zika: Funding Imperative as Temperature Rises
• Preparing the World for Novel Influenza
• Building a Nationwide LIMS in Vietnam

Winter 2016

• ​A Clearheaded Case for Cannabis Testing
• Can Public Health Data Keep Nasty Microbes at Bay
• Native Son is Growing Guinea's Lab System
• Zooming in on Zika

Fall 2015

• APHL Expands Lab Capacity in Sierra Leone
• APHL and Partners Support Lab Accreditation
• ​Biosafety and Biosecurity a National Priority
• APHL Offers Comments, Principles re LDTs

 Summer 2015

• APHL and CDC Pilot WGS Data Exchange Project
• Addressing Newborn Screening Gaps in Ghana
• APHL Trains Labs to Respond to Harmful Algal Blooms

Spring 2015

• Did You Know about NewSTEPs Weekly Series? 
• At APHL-GWU International Institute, Countries Form Partnerships 
• APHL Models Ways to Sustainable Salmonella Serotyping 
• VPD Reference Centers: Just in Time for Measles Outbreak

Winter 2015

• ​APHL LIMS to Save Lives in Lesotho
• Ebola Zaire: APHL Actions in US & Internationally
• Emerging Leader Program Goes Global
• APHL Launches Informatics Project in Michigan​