Lab Matters Fall 2025 | Page 5

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’ S MESSAGE

“ The more things change, the more they remain the same.” How I wish that adage was true, especially in 2025.

The first eight months of the year have been a rollercoaster for APHL’ s members and for the organization. In January, we went from a staff of 300-plus strong down to a little over 200 when our entire Global Health program was halted due to stoppages in federal funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention( CDC) and reductions in force across CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services( HHS). The stoppages in the 11 countries we work in reverberated through not just our staff and country directors, but also through in-country ministries of health and our international public health partners. Fortunately, we were able to bring all staff back within a few weeks to continue our important global work.

While the shock to the public health system has been somewhat blunted by time and the tireless efforts of our Global Health team, the challenges remain.

The damage that has been the hardest to quantify, however, is in the relationships that had been built over decades of work. With the stroke of a pen, relationships with ministries of health, public health leadership and equipment vendors were shattered, and trust in APHL was eroded. We are still working to regain that trust, but to rebuild those relationships will take months if not years.

And we are adjusting, even as our world continues to change. In October, APHL will be launching its strategic planning process once again. While we will be actively soliciting participation from members, we will also be taking a deep look at the results of evaluations from our conferences, training courses and other events. APHL takes that feedback very seriously and, while we try to make improvements as we go along, having that member view during our strategic planning process is critical to our success

Scott Becker, MS Chief Executive Officer, APHL

as an organization. If we didn’ t have members, we would not exist.

As CEO, I’ m looking forward to working with leadership at CDC to find common ground and educate new leaders about our dynamic public health laboratory community. But as the firing of the newly appointed CDC director and the resignations of top leaders from within the agency of late August showed, there is anything but stable leadership at CDC now. We will continue to“ walk a fine line,” or“ thread the needle” or insert any phrase here that fits as we continue supporting members and educating the public about the work we do, which includes Congress. While there is some early good news coming from Capitol Hill in reference to public health laboratory funding, it’ s hard to predict what the final funding levels will be, especially in these unprecedented times.

One thing I know for sure, however: APHL will continue to advocate for the essential work of public health laboratories and support our members in protecting us all against health threats. g