Lab Culture

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 episode of Lab Culture reveals some of the many ways in which working in Alaska is unlike anywhere else. Jayme Parker, manager, Virology Unit, Alaska State Public Health Laboratory (Fairbanks) Nisha Fowler, microbiologist, Alaska State Public Health Laboratory (Fairbanks) Links: Virology Unit of the Alaska State Public Health Laboratory Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities -- FAQs Alaska's permafrost/ice lenses  

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 quantitative method for diagnostic testing of brodifacoum, a powerful anticoagulant used in rat poison. Thanks to their work, patients with brodifacoum poisoning can now be treated with a precisely calibrated dose of vitamin K and that treatment can be ended when it is no longer medically necessary. Previously, physicians had to guess when to end treatment and re-start it if they guessed wrong. WSLH’s Noel Stanton, Chemical Emergency Response Coordinator, and Bill Krick, an Advanced Chemist in the Chemical Emergency Response Unit, speak with Public Affairs Director Jan Klawitter about the test’s development and the outbreak that made it necessary.   Links: Wisconsin Stat

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 – West Nile Virus Key Factors Influencing the Incidence of West Nile Virus in Burleigh County, North Dakota

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 interviews Dr. Denise Toney, director of Virginia DCLS, about the value and growing need for bioinformaticians in public health labs.    Links APHL-CDC Fellowships APHL-CDC Bioinformatics Fellowships Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS) APHL Off the Bench (new Facebook group!)

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 and families to make critical changes to a baby’s diet to prevent those consequences. Today, December 3, is PKU Awareness Day. It’s hard to say where newborn screening would be without that first PKU test. And 55 years later, it’s hard to say where newborn screening would be without the families and individuals living with PKU who have shared their stories to convey the value of this simple test. One of those individuals is Kevin Alexander. Kevin has been a leader in the PKU community simply by sharing his story and his experiences living with PKU. He has spoken at conferences and events around the world, created a video documentary about his life, served as a leader

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 bat?! Joanne Bartkus, PhD, D(ABMM) Director, Public Health Laboratory, Minnesota Department of Health Scott J. Becker, MS Executive director, Association Public Health Laboratories​ @ScottJBecker Links Lab Matters Lab Matters -- Android app Lab Matters -- iTunes app APHL Board of Directors      

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 membership and other opportunities.

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 public health lab for 16 years and is now the state training coordinator at the Mississippi Public Health Lab. Dr.Ona Adair has been working in the public health lab for nine years and is now the Chemistry Division director at the South Carolina Public Health Laboratory. Dr. Harmeet Kaur worked in the Placer County Public Health Laboratory for four years and is currently a LabAspire Assistant Director Fellow. Kristen Durie has been working in the public health lab for six years and is now the chemistry quality assurance manager at the New York State Food Laboratory. Matt Bradke has been working in the public health lab for 16 years and is now the chemical terrorism lab

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 laboratories working continuously to keep our communities and populations safe. This is the second episode in the series produced by members of the Emerging Leader Program cohort 10.  Emerging Infectious Disease Response: APHL’s Infectious Disease Program Laboratory Response Network (LRN) Interviewer: Kate Wainwright, PhD, D(ABMM), HCLD (ABB), MPH, MSN, RN, deputy director, Public Health Protection and Laboratory Services, Indiana State Department of Health Expert: Peter Shult, PhD, director, Communicable Disease Division; associate director, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison   Newborn Screenin

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 Testing Interviewer: *Amanda Hughes, program manager of ambient air quality monitoring, State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa Experts: Michael Schueller, assistant director of operations, State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa Nancy Hall, program manager, Environmental Microbiology, State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa Water quality testing at the State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa   Alcohol Testing Interviewer: *Gitika Panicker, microbiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Expert: Laura Bailey, director, Office of Alcohol Testing, Arkansas State Public Health Laboratory Alcohol testing at the Arkansas State Public Health Labor

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 two TB laboratory leaders: Dr. Marie-Claire Rowlinson, assistant laboratory director, Bureau of Public Health Laboratories, Florida Department of Health and Dr. Beverly Metchock, team lead, TB Reference Laboratory, CDC Division of Tuberculosis Elimination.    Links APHL TB program World TB Day Resources National Tuberculosis Controllers Association The Tenacity of Tuberculosis: MDR-TB (blog post)

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 US-based APHL leadership and global health program staff and consultants working in-country to discuss organizational operations and key programmatic successes and challenges. In most cases, this is the only time during the year that these individuals have an opportunity to meet face-to-face. Participants from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Guinea, Sierra Leone and APHL’s US headquarters were all in attendance. Interviews include: Levi Vere, Laboratory Quality Monitoring Manager, APHL Zimbabwe Shanette Nixon, Global Health Consultant, APHL Esther Vitto, Laboratory Program Support, APHL Sierra Leone Mohamed Fofanah, Associate Specialist, Administrat

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  biosafety and biosecurity in laboratories, and ultimately improve public health laboratory biosafety and biosecurity across the US. So what exactly does the Biosafety Peer Network do? Three members of this network -- Rebecca Sciulli (Hawaii), Paul Fox (Hawaii) and Anne Marie Santos (Guam) sat down for a conversation about their work. Photo: Paul Fox (left) and Rebecca Sciulli (center) giving Anne Marie Santos (right) a tour of the Hawaii Laboratories Division facility to showcase their biosafety practices, as part of the Peer Network program. Links Biosafety Peer Network Program Application Laboratory Biosafety & Biosecurity Resources Biosafety & Biosecurity Tra

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 were out of range for PKU. In this episode, Michelle interviews Sloane's mom, Judith Forman, about that experience. Newborn Screening Gets Personal: My Niece’s Positive Screen Classic Phenylketonuria (PKU) Benign Hyperphenylalaninemia (Hyper-Phe) APHL's Newborn Screening & Genetics Program What is newborn screening? FAQs

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 at APHL, answer these questions and more.    Links: What is PulseNet? About PulseNet (CDC) PulseNet success stories 20 years of PulseNet: Preventing thousands of illnesses and saving millions of dollars (cost-benefit analysis) Awards PulseNet has received Innovations in American Government Award CBS News article on PulseNet launch including quotes from Al Gore 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly and Salmonella Nchanga Infections Associated with a Raw Scraped Ground Tuna Product Laboratory Response Network (LRN) New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Division of Food Laboratory Shari Shea on Twitter APHL’s Food Saf