GLOBAL HEALTH
Developing Laboratory Leaders:
APHL Joins with Global Partners to Address a Growing Need
By Jocelyn Isadore MPH, consultant, Global Health; Burton Wilcke, Jr., PhD, associate professor emeritus, University of Vermont;
and Shannon Emery, MSPH, manager, Global Health
Across the globe, health laboratories
play an essential role in human and
animal disease detection, diagnosis, and
control and the detection and control
of environmental and agricultural
pathogens, chemicals and residues.
Laboratories from all sectors depend
on effective leaders and collaborative
systems for their success. However,
advanced leadership learning
opportunities designed specifically for
laboratorians are not readily available,
especially in low- and middle-income
countries. To address this critical gap,
six health organizations have united for
the first time to define competencies for
laboratory leadership and create a global
leadership plan.
The Global Laboratory Leadership
Programme (GLLP) is a multi-year
collaboration between APHL, the
US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), the European Centre
for Disease Prevention and Control, the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, the World Organisation
for Animal Health and the World Health
Organization. Each partner has extensive
experience in laboratory strengthening
within their respective mandates and
together they provide a unique multi-
sectoral perspective to improving
laboratory systems. The GLLP will provide
competency-based course materials
and an implementation guide for a
comprehensive laboratory leadership
program.
First Steps
The partners have successfully developed
a Laboratory Leadership Competency
Framework, the first framework focused
specifically on leadership competencies
for laboratory scientists. It provides a
three-level structure that allows step-wise
progress towards the expert level of a
competency. The framework can be used
at the individual or institutional level as a:
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
The Global Laboratory Leadership Programme Partnership. Representatives from the Association of Public Health Laboratories
(APHL), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health
Organization (WHO) meet in Paris, France in January.
• Standardized reference for laboratory
workforce development applicable
across national and/or regional health
laboratory systems
• Foundation for laboratory leadership
curricula and programs
• Guidance for writing standardized job
descriptions
• Guidance to develop a tool for self-
assessment, observer assessment
or a combination of both to identify
individual or group needs and guide
staff development planning
• Guidance for individuals to assess
their current level of knowledge, skills
and abilities, identify areas in need of
improvement and plan for achieving
higher levels of proficiency
Future Products
This framework will provide the
foundation for the second product of the
GLLP, a learning program designed to
foster and mentor current and emerging
APHL.org
laboratory leaders to build, strengthen
and sustain national laboratory systems.
The learning program is flexible and
may be adapted to individual country
needs. Since its intent is to include all
sectors and disciplines of the laboratory
system in the same program, it will
reinforce collaboration, communication
and coordination under the One Health
approach.
The GLLP partnership has successfully
taken the first step to addressing gaps
in laboratory leadership through the
development of the Laboratory Leadership
Competency Framework and all partners
are committed to creating the GLLP
learning package. According to CDC
Division of Global Health Protection
Laboratory Team Lead Dr. Leonard Peruski,
“The promise and power of the GLLP
is because of this collaboration. The
expertise and experience provided by each
of these organizations is complementary
and fosters the use of best practices—a
true ‘win-win’ for developing laboratory
leaders to meet global needs.” n
Spring 2019 LAB MATTERS
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