Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL)

Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) A healthier world through quality laboratory systems. http://www.APHL.org APHL represents state and local governmental health laboratories in the United States.

The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) works to strengthen laboratory systems serving the public’s health in the United States and globally. Its members, known as “public health labo​ra​tories,” monitor, detect and respond to health threats.

Henrietta Lacks, a young Black woman in Baltimore, died from cervical cancer in 1951. Prior to her death—and without her...
06/01/2026

Henrietta Lacks, a young Black woman in Baltimore, died from cervical cancer in 1951. Prior to her death—and without her knowledge or consent—doctors removed cells from her cancerous tumor. These cells, dubbed HeLa cells, were unique in that they could divide and replenish at astonishing rates, launching unprecedented advances in cell research.

But what questions do these cells raise about medical ethics? And how would Henrietta feel about the contributions they’ve made to scientific advancements?

“She helped in life and even in death, and she would want to see science advance,” Veronica Robinson, Henrietta’s great granddaughter said at the 2026 APHL Annual Conference. “Sometimes bad things happen to good people so that great things can happen to the world.”

Read more about the Lacks Family and their perspectives on HeLa cells turning 75 in our current Lab Culture News article: https://buff.ly/YwpuJDE

Uganda, with support from APHL, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ministry of Health Uganda and others, rec...
05/29/2026

Uganda, with support from APHL, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ministry of Health Uganda and others, recently launched three new tools to help modernize its laboratory systems.

Those tools include an app that precisely tracks the movement of specimen samples, an enhanced laboratory data repository where data is validated, standardized and then stored and a central dashboard that allows clinicians, laboratory professionals and others to visualize—in near real time—things like geographic distribution of cases and positivity rates.

Read our latest Lab Culture News article for more details on the modernization and how it will improve laboratory science in Uganda: https://buff.ly/mHjMp6B

ICYMI: Collecting data is one thing. But how do you put it to good use? That’s the question posed by APHL trainers at a ...
05/29/2026

ICYMI: Collecting data is one thing. But how do you put it to good use? That’s the question posed by APHL trainers at a recent workshop to members of the Instituto de Salud Publica (ISP) in Santiago, Chile. The trainers conducted workshops on phylogenetics, data usability and determining LIMS needs.

Our latest Lab Culture News article has all the details: https://buff.ly/3RO9I8g

One of the best parts of APHL 2026 Annual Conference? Watching our leadership alumni find each other.Members of the Emer...
05/28/2026

One of the best parts of APHL 2026 Annual Conference? Watching our leadership alumni find each other.

Members of the Emerging Leader Alumni Network (ELAN) and Laboratory Leaders of Today Alumni (LLOTA) reconnected at the Welcome Reception and again later in the week at a dedicated networking event. The energy in those rooms was a reminder of what these programs build: not just skills, but lasting professional communities.

From the specimen to the surveillance report — public health labs play a critical role in tracking viral hepatitis acros...
05/27/2026

From the specimen to the surveillance report — public health labs play a critical role in tracking viral hepatitis across the country. Explore CDC's HepTracker dashboard this to see the data behind the work: https://buff.ly/yxLPxvl

With funding from the Global Fund and support from APHL and in-country Ministries of Health, six African countries—Ugand...
05/26/2026

With funding from the Global Fund and support from APHL and in-country Ministries of Health, six African countries—Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Tanzania—recently completed a successful years-long pilot wastewater-based surveillance (WWBS) program.

The project’s aim was to assess how well WWBS can monitor disease outbreaks and guide public health decision-making. While the project focused on surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, the countries found that WWBS was an effective and low-cost way to monitor any number of emerging pathogens.

“If sustained, WWBS offers the ability to detect threats earlier than traditional clinical surveillance—creating an opportunity to contain outbreaks before they escalate,” APHL’s Noah Hull, PhD, senior manager, Global Health, explained. “The true value of systems like this is difficult to quantify; when they work as intended, they prevent crises from occurring in the first place, making their impact both substantial and largely invisible.”

Read more about the program and the impacts it has had in our latest Lab Culture News article: https://buff.ly/Xikiv8L

Members of APHL Emerging Leader Program Cohort 19 brought energy and purpose to APHL 2026 Annual Conference, leading a d...
05/25/2026

Members of APHL Emerging Leader Program Cohort 19 brought energy and purpose to APHL 2026 Annual Conference, leading a dynamic roundtable to gather feedback on their project: a "managing up" toolkit designed to help public health laboratory staff strengthen communication and alignment with supervisors.

The conversation didn't stop there. Cohort 19 also showed up at the APHL Member Experience Booth, connecting with attendees and championing this leadership initiative every chance they got!

As the Andes virus situation continues to evolve, public health laboratories are playing a critical role in the US respo...
05/22/2026

As the Andes virus situation continues to evolve, public health laboratories are playing a critical role in the US response. APHL has activated an Incident Command System to coordinate with CDC and member labs.

Get the latest on what we know, how testing is being conducted and what labs across the country are doing to stay prepared.

Read full updates on Lab Culture News: https://buff.ly/2s8vNKd

APHL hosted a Biorisk Management Workshop from May 19–21, 2026 at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services publi...
05/21/2026

APHL hosted a Biorisk Management Workshop from May 19–21, 2026 at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services public health laboratory, bringing together biosafety professionals for hands-on technical training in biorisk management. Thank you to the Utah Public Health Laboratory for hosting, and great work to all the professionals who attended!

ICYMI: We took Baltimore as an opportunity to sit down with APHL's top leaders for our newest podcast! Dr. Scott Shone o...
05/21/2026

ICYMI: We took Baltimore as an opportunity to sit down with APHL's top leaders for our newest podcast!

Dr. Scott Shone on being "obnoxiously positive." Dr. Sharon Massingale on regional consortia, community, and a journey she never could have predicted: "And who knew that today I stand here with my colleagues as the incoming president for APHL."

Plus a look back on 75 years of APHL history with CEO Scott Becker.
Lab Culture Ep. 36 is out now: https://buff.ly/f6GDJ7U

Address

Silver Spring, MD

Telephone

+12404852745

Website

https://aphl.start.page/, http://linktr.ee/APHL

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