Get ready for Lab Week! April 22-28 we will join our members and partners to celebrate the vital contributions laboratory professionals make to protect public health and safety in the US and around the globe. APHL will be particularly focused on the laboratory professionals who make up our community – the dedicated individuals working at local, state, environmental and agricultural laboratories which comprise the public health laboratory system.

We have lots of fun things planned this year! Scroll down for printable posters, downloadable graphics and more.

Follow APHL for our special Lab Week content (there might even be a contest on Facebook… hint hint…)!

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Subscribe to our blog
• Subscribe to our podcast, Lab Culture, on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. Or find individual episodes on our blog.
• LinkedIn company page
• LinkedIn group
• Join the conversation using #LabWeek on any social network that uses hashtags (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.).

While we celebrate our members, we also use Lab Week to increase awareness and demonstrate the importance of public health and environmental laboratories in our communities. We encourage you to do the same!

Below are some resources to help launch your own Lab Week celebration. These resources are for local, state, public health, environmental and agricultural laboratories alike!

Printable posters to display in your lab:

• APHL Lab Week 2018 poster
• Environmental Laboratory Professionals Week 2018 poster

Graphics:

• There’s a Lab for That – Lab Week 2018 (sized for Twitter)
• There’s a Lab for That – Lab Week 2018 (sized for Facebook)
• There’s a Lab for That – Lab Week 2018 (Instagram)
• Medical Laboratory Professionals Week 2018 — official logo

Sample social media posts (include a graphic or photo for added visibility):

• It’s #LabWeek! High-five a laboratory scientist! http://bit.ly/labweek2018
• Detect. Respond. Repeat. #LabWeek http://bit.ly/labweek2018
• Worried about contaminants in your air, water or soil? There’s a lab for that. #LabWeek http://bit.ly/labweek2018
• Just an upset tummy or one case of many in a foodborne outbreak? There’s a lab for that. #LabWeek http://bit.ly/labweek2018

Videos

Here are two animated videos to share with your public audiences. Feel free to share the link or embed on your website.

• What is a public health laboratory?
• What is an emerging infectious disease?

What exactly do public health laboratories do? Share these stories that highlight their work:

• 100 Years of Influenza: Will Public Health Be Ready for the Next Pandemic? [Lab Matters magazine]
• Past, Present and Future of PulseNet [Lab Culture podcast]
• Making sense of newborn screening cut-off values [Blog]
• Prepare for PFAS: An Emerging Chemical Threat [Lab Matters magazine]
• Scaling-up viral load testing in Ghana is critical to stopping HIV [Blog]
• Antimicrobial resistance: What is it? Why is it a problem? What is being done to stop it? [Blog]
• Four Corners States Biomonitoring Collaborative: Leveraging lab capacity toward regional health concerns [Blog]

Encourage others to consider laboratory careers! Share these stories:

• Lab sciences grad program brought me from the yogurt factory to public health
• Moving from academia to public health: Did I make the right choice?
• From The Lorax to the Laboratory

Celebration ideas:

• Celebrate Lab Week internally with a social event, banners or other decorations.
• Hold an open house for media, elected officials, school groups, staff families and other members of the public. Check out the Milwaukee Health Department Laboratory’s story about their health fair for students.
• Visit local elementary, middle and high schools to talk with students interested in STEM disciplines.
• Write an op-ed piece for local newspapers and/or magazines to highlight the valuable contributions your public health laboratory staff are making in your community, city and/or state.
• Are you the lab director or section manager? Think of fun and meaningful ways to thank your staff for their dedication to public health.

Kick off Lab Week with an Earth Day celebration and carry it through the week!

• Host a Green and Blue Day and ask staff to wear colors representing earth and water.
• Hold a grounds-keeping afternoon: Invite staff and their families to help with weeding, mulch, planting, etc.
• Ask if your regional EPA office plans to do something for Earth Day and join them as a partner.
• Encourage employees to do Meatless Monday or purchase items at a local farmer’s market instead of the supermarket.
• Encourage employees to Travel Differently on Tuesday carpooling, taking the bus, walking or riding their bike to work.

Check out the WEF-APHL environmental lab webcast: Introduction to the 2017 Method Update Rule

On April 26, 2018 1:00-3:00 pm ET, join Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) for a free webcast that will introduce certified laboratory personnel to the changes found in the 2017 Method Update Rule (MUR). Updates include EPA-promulgated changes to Clean Water Act analytical test procedures for analyzing chemical, physical and biological components of wastewater and other environmental samples. If you work at a state or local public health or environmental laboratory and/or are an APHL member, please email Sarah Wright before registering to receive a code to waive the $40 fee.

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