26Sep / 2023

APHL Receives PEPFAR Award to Strengthen Global Laboratory Response to HIV

Graphic with a quote that says, "This partnership marks a significant step forward in the collective laboratory efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and related diseases worldwide."

For Immediate Release

Silver Spring, MD, September 26, 2023—The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) received an award through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to strengthen laboratory systems and services for timely, quality testing for HIV, tuberculosis and HIV-related diseases.

The cooperative agreement, which begins September 30, will strengthen the laboratory workforce and sustainable lab systems and services over five years. It will focus on lab informatics and data systems and help accelerate improvements in integrated diagnostic networks, the clinical-lab interface and public health preparedness and response.

“We are excited to begin this work that will close gaps in the global laboratory response to HIV,” said Scott J. Becker, MS, chief executive officer of APHL. “The award will help us leverage currently effective programs and assure access to quality laboratory systems and services. Through greater collaboration with leading partners in the field, we can better meet PEPFAR goals and control the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.”

APHL organized the Laboratory Improvement Partnership (LIP) to facilitate collaboration and maximize partners’ capabilities to effectively scale efforts toward PEPFAR goals. LIP unites highly proficient laboratory and clinical organizations with extensive experience in implementing PEPFAR laboratory initiatives. The partnership includes APHL, the American Society for Clinical Pathology, CRDF Global, US Pharmacopeia and the University of California San Francisco.

“This partnership marks a significant step forward in the collective laboratory efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and related diseases worldwide,” said Becker. “By consolidating the expertise and resources of these prominent organizations, LIP is set to play a pivotal role in advancing PEPFAR’s vital mission.”

APHL will coordinate LIP activities to achieve maximum effectiveness and avoid duplication of efforts and will build competency of local organizations to eventually assume direct management of PEPFAR-supported activities.

To learn more about APHL’s global health work, visit www.aphl.org/globalhealth.

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The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) works to strengthen laboratory systems serving the public’s health in the US and globally. APHL’s member laboratories protect the public’s health by monitoring and detecting infectious and foodborne diseases, environmental contaminants, terrorist agents, genetic disorders in newborns and other diverse health threats. Learn more at www.aphl.org.

Contact Michelle Forman at 240.485.2793 or michelle.forman@aphl.org

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11Apr / 2023

APHL Announces Call for Applications for Expanded Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program

Graphic that says, "Start Your Fellowship Journey with Us! Apply for a Public Health Fellowship Today! Learn more at www.APHL.org/Career-Pathways

For Immediate Release

Silver Spring, MD, April 11, 2023 – The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) is pleased to announce the expanded Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program: An APHL-CDC Initiative is now open for applications. Funded by the American Rescue Plan via the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program provides fellows exciting new career opportunities in laboratory science working collaboratively with industry leaders and developing professional networks. This program is a significant expansion of an existing APHL-CDC fellowship program. As part of the Career Pathways in Public Health Laboratory Science program, it has a broad goal of growing the public health laboratory workforce with skilled, qualified individuals early in their career.

The Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program supports a wide spectrum of program areas such as bioinformatics, biorisk management (biosafety), environmental health, infectious disease, informatics, food safety, newborn screening and quality management. Each fellow will be trained in alignment with established public health laboratory core competencies and functions, and will work on unique program-specific projects at their host laboratory.

“The public health laboratory workforce has been chronically under-resourced, but we are excited to take such a big step toward changing that,” said Scott J. Becker, chief executive officer, APHL. “The Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program will bring hundreds of new, highly trained professionals to laboratories around the country. We appreciate CDC’s support and partnership as we introduce public health laboratory careers to a new generation of scientists.”

Fellowships will be one- to two-year placements at US local, state and territorial laboratories serving the public’s health. Applications are now being accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. For complete information about the program, visit APHL.org/fellowships.

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The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) works to strengthen laboratory systems serving the public’s health in the U.S. and globally. APHL’s member laboratories protect the public’s health by monitoring and detecting infectious and foodborne diseases, environmental contaminants, terrorist agents, genetic disorders in newborns and other diverse health threats. Learn more at www.aphl.org.

Contact Michelle Forman at 240-485-2793 or michelle.forman@aphl.org

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19Oct / 2022

APHL Celebrates 2022 Newborn Screening Award Winners

The six APHL Newborn Screening Award winners pose with their awards.

For Immediate Release

Tacoma, WA, October 19, 2022 – At the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) 2022 Newborn Screening Symposium, APHL presented awards to six leaders in the field of newborn screening.

“Through their work, all recipients have directly improved the quality of life of newborns and their families,” said Scott J. Becker, MS, chief executive officer, APHL. “We commend the exceptional and innovative work of all those who were nominated.”

The following awards were presented in a ceremony during the Symposium today in Tacoma, WA:

The George Cunningham Visionary Award in Newborn Screening is given to someone who has made the greatest contribution to expanding or improving the screening of newborns by public health agencies in one or more states. This year’s award recipient is:

Sylvia Mann, MS, CGC, genomics section chief, Children with Special Health Needs Branch, Hawaii Department of Health

The Judi Tuerck Newborn Screening Follow-up and Education Award honors someone who has made significant and outstanding contributions in one or more of the following areas: enhancing the caliber of the newborn screening system; improving follow-up and education; developing creative short term follow-up strategies that significantly reduce the time to diagnosis and treatment of affected infants; developing or enhancing long term follow-up strategies; establishing novel approaches or methods for managing the integration of new technologies in newborn screening; translating novel approaches or methods into best practices or guidelines for follow-up and education; providing innovative newborn screening follow-up training/education for best practices; or improving practices to ensure timely detection, reporting, intervention and treatment for newborns detected with disorders/conditions. This year’s award recipient is:

Natasha F. Bonhomme, founder, Expecting Health; chief strategy officer, Genetic Alliance

The Everyday Life Saver Award in Newborn Screening highlights the meaningful, ongoing ways the recipient contributes to the morale of their team and/or operations of their program on a daily basis. This year’s recipient is:

Mei W. Baker, MD, director, Newborn Screening Laboratory, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene

The Harry Hannon Laboratory Improvement Award in Newborn Screening award honors someone who has made significant contributions in one or more of the following areas: assuring the quality of testing, enhancing the specificity of tests, establishing new creative laboratory approaches and technologies, providing laboratory training/education for new technologies and tests, or improving the detection of newborn disorders/conditions. This year’s recipient is:

Andreas Rohrwasser, PhD, MBA, director, Utah Public Health Laboratory

The Clinician Champion Award honors someone involved in patient care and who has made significant contributions in one or more of the following areas: ensuring newborns receive adequate screening and appropriate follow-up; assuring timely and effective communication of screening results to patients and families; and contributing to efforts to strengthen the impact of the public health newborn screening system by being directly involved in follow-up care, community affairs, newborn screening advocacy and/or community activities.

Susan A. Berry, MD, professor, Division of Genetics and Metabolism, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota

The Achievements in Public Health Informatics Award honors a person working in any aspect of newborn screening worldwide and has made significant contributions in one or more of the following areas: enhancing implementation practices for electronic messaging; developing strategies for achieving effective data management; improving laboratory capability for health information data exchange; or providing new and creative approaches to communicate findings through data visualization.

Brendan Reilly, program specialist VI / health informaticist III, Biochemistry and Genetics Branch, Laboratory Services Section, Texas Department of State Health Services

“We congratulate all award winners and thank them for their contributions to advancing the essential work of newborn screening,” Becker said.

Learn more about the APHL Newborn Screening Symposium.

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Contact Michelle Forman at 240-485-2793 or michelle.forman@aphl.org

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07May / 2020

Antibody Testing Is Important in COVID-19 Response, But More Data Is Needed to Expand Its Role

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Silver Spring, MD, May 7, 2020 — With increasing interest in expanded serological testing as part of the nation’s COVID-19 testing strategy, the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) today issued a joint statement outlining potential public health applications for antibody testing, while identifying caveats that limit its current use.

According to “Public Health Considerations: Serologic Testing for COVID-19,” serologic testing is helpful in estimating the prevalence of past viral infection or the cumulative incidence of infection in the US population. It can also improve understanding of disease transmission patterns and the proportion of people previously infected, among various populations. In order for these methods to be used effectively, however, public health researchers and scientists need more data on the performance characteristics of these tests and the human immune response to COVID-19, such as the persistence and protection offered by antibodies.

“Serological testing is an important part of a testing strategy in response to COVID-19, but there is simply a lot that we still don’t know,” said Scott Becker, MS, chief executive officer of APHL. “Until we have more evidence, serological tests alone should not be used to make decisions such as when staff can return to work, the need for personal protective equipment or the need to discontinue social distancing measures.”

“We don’t have all the information we need yet about COVID-19 serologic testing,” added Janet Hamilton, MPH, executive director of CSTE. “As we learn more, the information will improve our understanding of disease transmission patterns, and data from serologic surveys can be used to understand the proportion of persons previously infected among various populations.”

With the limitations in mind, the statement identifies several potential public health applications, including:

Determining how widespread COVID-19 infection has been in a community or population to both understand the scale of the current pandemic and in preparation for future vaccine development and deployment;
Identifying people with an antibody response to serve as convalescent plasma donors; and
Determining if a person had an immune response to SARS-CoV-2, irrespective of whether they had symptoms or not, yet more data is needed.

The statement also provides an overview of serologic methods, considerations for selecting assays for seroprevalence surveys and for test result interpretation, and outstanding research needs.

For more, contact Michelle Forman at 240-485-2793 or michelle.forman@aphl.org

# # #

Founded in 1951, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) represents the interests of State Epidemiologists from all 50 U.S. states and territories, comprising the Council. CSTE is also the professional home to nearly 2000 practicing applied epidemiologists working at the state, local, tribal and territorial levels. For more information, visit www.cste.org.

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13Apr / 2020

Nation’s Public Health Leaders Urge President Trump to use All Available Authorities to Quickly Produce Testing Supplies and Personal Protective Equipment

Lab scientist wearing personal protective equipment (PPE)

A joint statement by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Association of Public Health Laboratories, National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the National Emergency Management Association

“We urge President Trump and the Administration to utilize all existing authorities to require American corporations to expand or retool their production lines to urgently produce testing supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE). In order to respond to this pandemic, we need these items in mass quantities right now. Without a forceful and urgent call to these private sector partners, our nation won’t be equipped to contain COVID-19 and we will falter in our collective efforts to suppress this virus and reopen our cities, states, and territories.

“Specifically, production should include rapid manufacturing and production of supplies and equipment necessary for rapid point-of-care COVID-19 testing including reagents, point-of-care kits, viral transport media, laboratory supplies, and related products. Our nation’s recovery depends on public and private laboratories and public health, healthcare, and hospital systems having the capacity to test for COVID-19 in every community throughout the country. After robust testing capabilities are available, we will better be able to determine where and when it is safe to gradually loosen stay-at-home orders and restrictions on gatherings.

“Additionally, rapid manufacturing and production of PPE is needed to exponentially expand in settings where infection and transmission may be highest including hospitals, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, correctional facilities, grocery stores, and other venues where people congregate. Expanding PPE access to every necessary setting will protect those who are responding to COVID-19 today, but expansion will also be critical for preventing future COVID-19 transmission and lowering community transmission rates.

Our nation’s recovery from COVID-19 will be based on the rapid production of testing supplies and PPE. Now is the time for every company that can to produce these vital materials to help save American lives.”

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10Apr / 2020

Nation’s Public Health Leaders Urge President Trump to use All Available Authorities to Quickly Produce Testing Supplies and Personal Protective Equipment

Laboratory scientist wearing personal protective equipment (PPE)

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20Mar / 2020

COVID-19 Testing Needs to Be Limited to Priority Groups Until Sufficient Testing Supplies and Personal Protective Equipment is Available Nationwide

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) issued the following policy recommendations regarding testing for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Due to the widescale shortages of laboratory supplies and reagents, we strongly urge public health and healthcare professionals to prioritize COVID-19 testing among three specific groups:

Healthcare workers and first responders with COVID-19 symptoms.
Older Americans who have symptoms of COVID-19, especially those living in congregate settings.
Individudals who may have other illnesses that would be treated differently if they were infected with COVID-19 and therefore physician judgement is especially important for this population.

Testing for individuals outside these three groups is not recommended until sufficient testing supplies and capacity become more widely available.

Community-based COVID-19 testing (drive-through, walk-up, etc.) should be focused on making tests available to the three priority groups above. The goal of providing these community-based testing sites is to limit potential introduction of COVID-19 in healthcare and congregate settings.

While some communities may have sufficient testing supplies and/or personal protective equipment (PPE) to expand COVID-19 testing to other groups, mass testing of any American for COVID-19 at this time will quickly deplete the existing supply of testing reagents, laboratory supplies, and PPE needed to manage patients in clinical, in-patient and other residential settings.

Healthy individuals who are not able to get tested should practice social-distancing and follow the recommendations of their local and state public health authorities. Individuals with mild illness should stay at home, practice self isolation, monitor their health and manage their symptoms using self-care, and contact their health care provider if their symptoms get worse.

For more information on COVID-19, including guidance and guidelines for healthcare and public health professionals, visit: www.cdc.gov/covid19

For more information on ASTHO, including resources for state and territorial health agencies, please contact preparedness@astho.org, or visit https://www.astho.org/COVID-19/.

For more information on APHL, please contact info@aphl.org or visit www.aphl.org/COVID-19.

For more information on CSTE, visit www.cste.org or call 770-458-3811.

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31Jan / 2020

Media Statement on Novel Coronavirus Public Health Emergency Declaration from APHL Executive Director Scott Becker

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Michelle Forman at 240.485.2793, michelle.forman@aphl.org
David Fouse, 202.262.5417, david.fouse@aphl.org

Silver Spring, MD, January, 31, 2020 — “Today the White House declared the novel coronavirus (2019 nCoV) outbreak a public health emergency. Public health laboratories are a critical component of our public health system and are busy supporting the U.S. response.

“Today’s announcement is an important step and makes available critical resources to enhance our public health response. It allows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to provide an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so that test kits can be produced and rapidly distributed to public health laboratories.

“Public health laboratories across the country are increasing their readiness by reviewing pandemic preparedness plans, ensuring that necessary equipment and supplies are on hand; scheduling staff to ensure that there is adequate coverage for not only 2019-nCoV but also influenza; coordinating with epidemiologists and clinical labs on rule out testing, specimen referral and results reporting; and in other important ways.

“APHL has stood up our Incident Command System to support our member labs in this response and stands ready to assist our federal, state and local partners in this emergency.”

# # #

The Association of Public Health Laboratories works to strengthen laboratory systems serving the public’s health in the U.S. and globally. Learn more information at www.aphl.org.

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24Jan / 2020

Responding to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerging in Wuhan, China

Map of China highlighting Wuhan City where a novel coronavirus has emerged

By Scott J. Becker, executive director, APHL

As news spreads of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerging in Wuhan, China, we at APHL are taking this threat seriously while also remaining calm and confident that our public health system is prepared. APHL has activated our incident command structure (ICS) to support our members and partners during the response.

Despite being a new respiratory virus strain, there is a familiarity that is reassuring to many of us in public health but can be unsettling to others. This new outbreak resembles SARS, MERS, H5N1 bird flu and other emerging respiratory diseases from the past. However, illness does not appear to be as severe as those previous viruses although our understanding of 2019-nCoV is still developing.

While there is a lot we don’t know about 2019-nCoV, this is what we do know about the outbreak response to prevent its spread:

As the first 2019-nCoV patient was identified in the United States, our public health system worked. Efforts to disseminate information to the public and to health care providers led to the patient self-identifying and allowed his providers to quickly initiate screening, isolation and eventual diagnosis. The specimen was immediately sent to CDC for rapid testing and results were promptly reported.
Public health laboratories are ready to process and ship specimens to CDC whose laboratory is currently the only one able to perform diagnostic testing in the US. CDC is working hard to develop and qualify a test that public health laboratories can use. Performing testing close to where the patient is being treated is ideal, but developing an effective test requires strong science and that takes time. We expect this new test to be ready for public health lab use in the coming weeks. CDC is already working closely with FDA to get an emergency use authorization (EUA) to deploy the test across the country in the event a US public health emergency is declared. (An EUA cannot be given until the US Secretary of Health and Human Services declares a public health emergency.)
For all of the critical players in our public health system – public health laboratory scientists, epidemiologists, CDC, FDA, health care providers and others – this is all in a day’s work. Frequent preparedness training and routine outbreak responses ensure that when a new disease emerges, the public health system is ready.

An outbreak of a new virus like 2019-nCoV can sometimes stir up panic and fear. We understand why some feel that way, but we are also confident that the public health system is working to stop this virus just as it has done with many others. We hope that our confidence in their expertise and abilities is reassuring for you. It is not time to panic – it is time to wash those hands, catch your coughs and continue to be vigilant during this cold and flu season.

Update (Jan 31, 2020): Media Statement on Novel Coronavirus Public Health Emergency Declaration from APHL Executive Director Scott Becker

We will continue to update this post with more information as it becomes available.

What is an Emerging Infectious Disease?

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08Nov / 2019

CDC findings mark a breakthrough in investigation of lung injury associated with vaping

Statement from Scott J. Becker, executive director, Association of Public Health Laboratories

Silver Spring, MD, November 8, 2019 — “Test results announced today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mark a breakthrough in the ongoing investigation of lung injury associated with e-cigarette use or vaping.

“Laboratory scientists testing samples of lung fluid from 29 patients found vitamin E acetate present in all samples. These results provide direct evidence of this toxin at the primary site of injury within the lungs. They also complement tests conducted by the Food and Drug Administration and state public health laboratories that identified vitamin E acetate in e-cigarette or vaping products.

“While this is a big step in helping us understand what may be causing these injuries, these findings do not rule out the potential for other compounds or ingredients as contributing factors. There may be more than one cause of the outbreak.

“APHL applauds state public health laboratories, CDC, FDA and partners including the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists for their extraordinary collaboration and tireless and innovative work.

“This has been a complex investigation, and the work continues. But good science takes time, and public health laboratory work is critical to helping solve this important health challenge and stopping the outbreak.”

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More APHL’s support of the EVALI response

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Category Archives: media statement

APHL Receives PEPFAR Award to Strengthen Global Laboratory Response to HIV

APHL Announces Call for Applications for Expanded Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program

APHL Celebrates 2022 Newborn Screening Award Winners

Antibody Testing Is Important in COVID-19 Response, But More Data Is Needed to Expand Its Role

Nation’s Public Health Leaders Urge President Trump to use All Available Authorities to Quickly Produce Testing Supplies and Personal Protective Equipment

Nation’s Public Health Leaders Urge President Trump to use All Available Authorities to Quickly Produce Testing Supplies and Personal Protective Equipment

COVID-19 Testing Needs to Be Limited to Priority Groups Until Sufficient Testing Supplies and Personal Protective Equipment is Available Nationwide

Media Statement on Novel Coronavirus Public Health Emergency Declaration from APHL Executive Director Scott Becker

Responding to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerging in Wuhan, China

CDC findings mark a breakthrough in investigation of lung injury associated with vaping

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