Lab Matters Fall 2017 | Page 5

executive director’ s message

I’ m a summer kind of person. I love the warmth, the sand and the somewhat relaxed feeling we have at APHL once the Annual Meeting is over.

But this year the end of summer was marked by a very intense hurricane season, more so than in others of recent memory. Harvey walloped Houston and coastal Texas, then Irma bounced through the US Virgin Islands and the surrounding Caribbean basin before impacting Florida. Finally, Maria hit the USVI with a one-two punch and rolled over Puerto Rico with catastrophic effects. APHL stood up our incident command structure to assist members in the affected regions, share information and provide the federal government with some situational awareness. Now we look to the rebuilding process and have sent an assessment team to San Juan. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our members and all the others suffering through the long process of response and recovery, and then to rebuilding lives and their institutions.

In the fall, things pick up at APHL. Along with the usual harbingers such as apple cider, pumpkins, leaf peeping and football games, it’ s meeting season, which gets me“ out and about” for many opportunities to visit with members. In September, APHL held the Newborn Screening and Genetics Symposium in New Orleans. We had hundreds of participants including members from 45 newborn screening programs. I also met with our corporate members from Perkin Elmer to thank them in person for their many contributions to APHL. I took home some wonderful memories of New Orleans, but sadly I also took home the flu( I didn’ t get my influenza vaccination early enough).

Luckily, I rebounded quickly enough to attend a meeting on US biosecurity hosted by the National Security Staff at the White House. Now THAT was a meeting! I was honored to represent the public health laboratory community on such a critical issue of national security— biosecurity both here and abroad.

Next up were APHL’ s fall committee meetings. I love to learn what’ s going on in member labs so we can synthesize that into APHL strategy for member services and programs. So far we’ ve hosted finance, food safety, global health, lab systems and standards, knowledge management, environmental health, and environmental laboratory science. But I also attended meetings in Geneva and Lyon with WHO to cement agreements on a Global Laboratory Leadership Program, then was back in Silver Spring for three days of leadership meetings including the annual corporate leadership council, the council of chairs, and the APHL Board meeting, where we established a new strategic map for APHL.

In early November I was on the West Coast for the California Association of Public Health Laboratory Directors meeting in San Luis Obispo immediately followed by the InFORM Conference in Garden Grove. I was happy to have our president Ewa King join me for those meetings where we met members from local labs in California and food safetyfocused members from across the country. In late November, APHL will bring together all APHL field staff based on the

In late November, APHL will bring together many APHL field staff based on the African continent for a week-long series of training and meetings in Johannesburg.”

– Scott Becker, MS

African continent for a week-long series of training and meetings in Johannesburg. I do get to be home for three days before I leave for what I expect is the final trip of the year and that’ s to Nashville for the Southeast Regional Collaborators meeting, one of the regional meetings supported through the ELC program at CDC. I haven’ t had the opportunity to meet with members in the southeast for a very long time. Also, I’ m really looking forward to experiencing the barbeque in Nashville!

My travel schedule has been packed, but it’ s been exhilarating to visit our members where they live and work. I remain very thankful and proud to be member of such a close-knit community of professionals. I’ m also thankful for a little“ at home” time before we jump into 2018. ■