The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) https://www.aphl.org protects 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.
Due to existing health threats and the current COVID-19 pandemic, APHL is involved in strengthening the public health laboratory system. With help from CDC’s Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, APHL has been awarded $282 million over five years to help strengthen the capacity of the nation’s public health laboratories by assisting in the growth of qualified personnel.
CDC’s funding will establish the Public Health Laboratory Workforce Pipeline Project. The project will increase the number of qualified personnel by expanding training opportunities, by building up the existing APHL-CDC Fellowship Program, and launching a new internship program to enhance laboratory capacity now and in the future.
According to Scott Becker, CEO, APHL, “The COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted the value of public health laboratories while exacerbating ongoing workforce development challenges. Challenges can include staffing shortages due to an aging workforce plus the increasing complexity of skills needed to keep up with technology advances.”
Building on APHL’s existing programs, the expanded fellowship program and the new internship initiative will provide real world experiential and professional impact learning opportunities for undergraduate bachelor, masters and doctoral level laboratory scientists.
APHL is seeking applicants for fellowship positions for placement in January 2022. Subsequent classes will be recruited annually for placement beginning in summer 2022 through summer 2025. For further information, go to https://www.aphl.org/fellowships.
In another move, the COVID-119 pandemic has spotlighted the digital disconnect between healthcare systems and public health agencies. In response, the eHealth Exchange https://ehealthexchange.org and APHL have developed a connection that facilitates automatic routing of COVID-19 notifications to public health agencies in all 50 states. These connections can be used for any reportable disease or condition, not just COVID-19.
“COVID-19 has certainly been the impetus to accelerate the exchange of secure electronic health information exchange,” said Jay Nakashima, eHealth Exchange Executive Director. “But the same infrastructure we use for COVID data can do so much more to improve patient care. We are pleased to develop a connection with APHL that leverages our existing connectivity to enhance health outcomes.”