This episode is coming to you from the 2024 APHL Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! We had the opportunity to chat with APHL’s current President, President-elect and CEO about their experiences and observations from their roles. They are three extremely dedicated public health leaders who have come together at the Annual Conference for lear…

What is the CDC Laboratory Leadership Service (LLS)? In this episode, we learn more about it from two current LLS fellows. Drs. Courtnee Bell and Emily Yarosz discuss how they learned about the fellowship, their experiences and where they see themselves when their fellowships end. CDC Laboratory Leadership Service (LLS) Virginia Division of Consoli…

Today’s show is a conversation between four past winners of APHL’s Leadership in Biosafety and Biosecurity Award. Jill Power, Christina Egan, Carrie Anglewicz and Andrew Cannons share their thoughts on the past, present and future of biosafety in public health laboratories. Andrew C. Cannons, PhD Laboratory Director Bureau of Public Health Laborato…

It’s September which means it is Public Health Laboratory Appreciation Month! We are kicking off a month of celebrating by chatting with Scott Becker, APHL CEO, about the exciting work being done by public health laboratory staff as well as the challenges many face. Scott also shares what he’s most looking forward to in the year to come. Don’t forg…

As the 2022 monkeypox outbreak began to spread around the globe, the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) was prepared with the appropriate test and experienced staff trained to perform it. These frontline responders were the first to test suspected monkeypox samples in the US and continue to be vital to this public health emergency response. As we mo…

Day three of the 2022 APHL Annual Conference was a great one! We started off with the annual awards ceremony which always sets the tone for an exciting day. This mini episode includes an interview with one of the APHL-CDC Bioinformatics Fellows about his first experience at the APHL Annual Conference.…

Today was the first full day of the 2022 APHL Annual Conference and it did not disappoint! From COVID-19 to newborn screening to food safety and more, there was a fascinating presentation to intrigue anyone. We kicked off the day with a sunrise walk and line danced together after lunch!

The 2022 APHL Annual Conference kicked off as our first ever hybrid conference! Listen to a few attendees talk about what it means to them to be back in person at our largest conference ever and what they're looking forward to this week.

Every year we commemorate World TB Day on March 24, the anniversary of the day Dr. Robert Koch first announced that he discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes TB. This World TB Day, we are sharing an insightful conversation between two TB laboratory leaders: Angie Schooley, B.S. MT(ASCP), Mycobacteriology/Mycology Unit Manag…

Like most things in public health science, food safety is complicated. The nuance can be difficult for non-scientists to understand and difficult for scientists to communicate. On this episode of Lab Culture, Shari Shea, APHL’s director of food safety, discusses some of what makes food safety fascinating and complex along with guests Ben Chapman, A…

Eric Bind and Andrew Steffens, scientists at the New Jersey Public Health and Environmental Laboratories, knew their lab was capable of screening expectant mothers and newborn babies for lead and mercury. But creating a program that also included important clinical interventions was unprecedented. On this episode of Lab Culture, they share how they…

In October 2020, Dr. Rick Bright resigned in protest as director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) because of the Trump administration’s political interference in the COVID-19 response and their efforts to spread dangerous misinformation. Since then, Dr. Bright h…

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has been a major topic of discussion among APHL’s members, staff and partners as well as in the national discourse. Understanding the minority experience is important so that individual and systemic progress can be made. But what is it like for public health laboratory staff who identify as being in a minority …

On August 27, 2020, APHL joined The Story Collider for a very special edition of their show featuring four true, personal stories about from APHL members about how COVID-19 has impacted their lives. This episode is a recording of that show. The Story Collider produces dozens of live shows all over the country, and recently has moved to an exciting …

Jessica Bauer and Matt Sinn are scientists at the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory. On this episode, they shared their experiences performing COVID-19 testing, working long hours seven days a week, supporting their staff while trying not to burnout themselves. As they describe in this conversation, the experience has been nothing they ever c…

Are we already at the end of 2019?! While to many of us it felt like the year flew by, APHL staff, members and partners accomplished a LOT in an effort to protect the public's health. In this episode, Scott Becker, APHL's executive director, reviews some of the highlights of the year along with Gynene Sullivan, APHL's manager of communications, who…

This year marks 20 years since the inception of the Laboratory Response Network (LRN). Founded by APHL, CDC and the FBI, the LRN exists to protect the public from biological and chemical threats. How did the LRN get its start? And how has it evolved over the past 20 years? This episode of Lab Culture features an interview with two public health lab…

APHL has a long history of involvement in Sierra Leone where we’ve provided technical assistance to strengthen the nation’s laboratory system for over a decade. Following the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, we were invited back to build laboratory response capability for Ebola and other highly infectious diseases. We found there was a lot to be done: a s…

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, author of What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City, joins us for an interview about the importance of storytelling in public health. Did Dr. Mona's successful use of narratives allow Flint's story to be as resilient as the people who lived it? Links Is water in Flint safe to drink?…

Today was day three of the annual meeting! We started the day with awards ceremony and concluded with the member assembly, listening to many great speakers in between. For many, the highlight was the Dr. Katherine Kelley Distinguished Lecture delivered by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. Dr. Mona is a pediatrician, scientist, researcher, activist and author…

It was another great day at the annual meeting in St. Louis! As the attendees interviewed on this episode will share, some of the highlights included Poster Speed Dating, learning about new technology from exhibitors and, of course, networking. Follow #APHL on Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

We're in St. Louis for the 2019 APHL Annual Meeting! This episode is a round-up of all the excitement of the first day. It was fascinating and exhausting, just as the annual meeting should be. Follow #APHL on Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

Every area of our country is unique in ways that make public health laboratory work vary from one state or locality to another. But just as Alaska is different from the lower-48 states in most ways, their public health lab's work is too. Have you ever considered all the ways it might be different to work in the Alaska state lab in Fairbanks? This e…

In the spring of 2018 patients suffering from profuse bleeding swamped emergency rooms in Illinois and Wisconsin. The cause? Synthetic cannabinoids laced with rat poison. When an outbreak of contaminated synthetic cannabinoids reached Wisconsin in 2018, scientists at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) rushed to develop the first quant…

What happens inside a public health lab when a health threat sends it into overdrive? Find out how the North Dakota lab met a surge in West Nile Virus in 2018 in this APHL in Action Lab Culture Extra. Links: APHL in Action Archives CDC Preliminary Maps and Data for 2018, West Nile Virus CDC ArboNET Disease Map North Dakota Department of Health – We…

Kevin Libuit went from the APHL-CDC Bioinformatics Fellowship to a contractor to working full-time as a bioinformatician at the Virginia state lab (VA Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS)). First he talks about when he discovered bioinformatics as a field and how the fellowship propelled his career. Then Kevin takes the mic and inter…

Fifty-five years ago, newborn screening was born. At the time, though, that little heel prick was performed to screen for only one condition: phenylketonuria (PKU). Without early intervention, babies born with PKU faced severe cognitive, behavioral and other neurological disorders. The advent of PKU newborn screening allowed health care providers a…

Joanne Bartkus, APHL's board president and director of the Public Health Laboratory at the Minnesota Department of Health, sat down with Scott Becker, our executive director, and Gynene Sullivan, editor of Lab Matters magazine, to talk about priorities for the year. Their conversation ranged from informatics to health equity to... snuggling with a …

Day 3 of the APHL Annual Meeting was a big one! We had several captivating sessions including this year's Katherine Kelley Distinguished Lecturer, Maryn McKenna, renowned journalist and author. Listen to today's episode to hear a few attendees share what they took away from the day.

A huge component of any APHL Annual Meeting is the exhibit hall. This year we were joined by 68 exhibitors, all of whom were sharing new and interesting products, services and technologies with meeting attendees. In today's episode, we chat with representatives from Roche, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Hologic. Learn more about APHL's corporate membersh…

We are in sunny Pasadena, California for the 2018 APHL Annual Meeting! Here is a little look at what we did on the first day. Stay tuned for updates every day through June 5. 2018 APHL Annual Meeting and Twelfth Government Environmental Laboratory Conference Join the conversation using #APHL on: Twitter Instagram Facebook…

The people who work in public health laboratories make a difference in your community daily. In this third episode, members of the Emerging Leader Program cohort 10 sit down with their peers to hear how their public health laboratory careers have made an impact. ELP cohort 10 members featured in this episode: Dana White has been working in the publ…

Maybe the saying is true: you don’t know what you had until it is gone. For the families in this episode, the absence of public health laboratories turned their worlds upside down and negatively impacted both the present and future. These families represent us all and highlight the vulnerabilities that would exist if there were no public health lab…

Public health laboratories do a great deal of work that impacts the daily lives of everyone in America. Do you know exactly how much they’re doing? The first episode produced by members of the Emerging Leader Program cohort 10 looks at some of the work performed by public health lab scientists. (*indicates ELP cohort 10 member) Water Quality Testin…

What is the Emerging Leader Program (ELP)? APHL staff, Pandora Ray and Kajari Shah, share how the ELP got its start and how it has progressed. This year's ELP cohort is producing three episodes for Lab Culture that will be released over the coming weeks. Stay tuned! APHL Emerging Leader Program

Every year on March 24, APHL recognizes World TB Day, a day to focus on the valuable work of our members and partners. While tuberculosis is often considered a disease of the past, it is resurging and presenting significant new public health challenges including drug resistance. This World TB Day, we are sharing an insightful conversation between t…

In November, Scott Becker, APHL’s executive director, traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa for the second APHL International Team Meeting. While he was there, he sat down with five members of the APHL international team to discuss their work and what led them to pursue a career in laboratory science. The APHL International Team Meeting allows for…

The Biosafety Peer Network (aka the Visiting Biosafety Official Program) links US local, state, and territorial public health laboratories with US-affiliated Pacific Island laboratories to facilitate mentoring and information sharing among biosafety officials and officers. The exchange is intended to foster a collaborative community, advance biosaf…

Four years ago, as APHL joined with partners to celebrate the 50th anniversary of routine newborn screening in the United States, newborn screening hit more closely for APHL staff than it ever had before. Michelle Forman, manager of media and Lab Culture host, received a text that her new niece, Sloane, had a positive newborn screen. Her results we…

PulseNet revolutionized foodborne outbreak detection in the United States. What exactly is it? How did it get started? Why was it so significant? And what does the future of foodborne outbreak detection look like? Brian Sauders, molecular microbiologist at the NY State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and Shari Shea, director of food safety a…

APHL was an official and proud partner of the March for Science! We spoke with two people who joined us on Saturday, April 22 about why they were marching for science. Links: APHL's March for Science photo album Official March for Science website Everything you need for Lab Week 2017 APHL is now on Instagram!…

On March 6, a small group of APHL members and our policy staff visited House and Senate offices as part of our annual Hill Day. Peter Kyriacopoulos, APHL’s senior director of public policy, interviewed the group following their meetings to get their immediate thoughts. Links: ELC Program: Essential Funding for Public Health Lab Response Epidemiolog…

Did you know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare) includes critical public health funding? What would the repeal of the ACA mean for public health? Peter Kyriacopoulos, APHL’s senior director of public policy, talks about the CDC-managed Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) program, a source of crosscuttin…