FELLOWS
Champion of the Public Health
Laboratory Award
Recognizes federal, state and local elected
officials or executive branch employees
who have recognized the importance of
state and local governmental laboratories
that perform testing of public health
significance either through support of
legislation or federal agency decisions.
• CDC National Center for Environmental
Health (NCEH) E-cigarette/Vaping-
Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)
Laboratory Task Force
Presidential Award
The APHL Presidential Award was selected
by Dr. Grace Kubin during her Presidential
year (2019-2020) for the significant
contributions that were made to the
association’s work to promote policies
that strengthen public health laboratories.
• Wendi Kuhnert-Tallman, CDC’s
Infectious Disease National Centers
Healthiest Laboratory Award
Given to an APHL member laboratory that
is committed to safety, environmental
process, environmental policy and
employee health and wellness.
• District of Columbia (DC) Department
of Forensic Services Public Health
Laboratory
Thomas E. Maxson Education,
Training and Workforce
Development Award
Established in August 1998 in memory of
Dr. Maxson, this award honors an APHL
member who is a public health or clinical
laboratory practitioner, trainer or educator
who has made significant contributions
to public health laboratory practice
by creating, delivering or developing
continuing education opportunities,
programs, policies or practices for the
laboratory community.
APHL Fellows: Endings and Beginnings
By Heather Roney, MA, manager, Fellowship Programs
Even in these times of 24/7 COVID-19
response, APHL was able to honor its
graduating fellows during the 2020 APHL
Annual Awards virtual ceremony in June:
Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory
Fellows: Sara Belknap, Anna Hasche-
Kluender, Michael Mamerow, Julie
Miranda, Megan Nelson, Jennifer Rivers
and Kayla Simanek
Bioinformatics Fellows: Erin Young,
Rachael St. Jacques, Lacey Walker, Andrew
Lang, Peter Cook, Jonathan Gerheart and
Kate Prussing
ID Laboratory Fellows: Jonathan Plitnick
and Valerie Patritti
APHL wishes all graduating fellows the
best of luck and we look forward to
working with you in the future!
Class of 2020-2021
The Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory
Fellowship accepted nine fellows for the
2020 class. In addition to the regional
laboratories within the AR Lab Network,
the Florida Bureau of Public Health
Laboratories-Jacksonville, the Indiana
State Department of Health Laboratories
and the North Carolina State Laboratory
of Public Health have been selected as
additional host laboratories. Fellows will
assist host laboratories on performing AR
testing and programmatic activities to
enhance the laboratory’s AR capacity.
There will be six Bioinformatics Fellows in
the 2020-2021 class. Four will be placed at
CDC and two will be in state public health
laboratories in Utah and Minnesota.
Two individuals will begin a Laessig
Newborn Screening Fellowship and
Newborn Screening Bioinformatics and
Data Analytics Fellowship at the Virginia
Division of Consolidated Laboratory
Services and the Maryland Department of
Health in August.
A Special Opportunity
APHL was granted an opportunity to place
a limited number of laboratory-based
fellows into public health laboratories
for the upcoming year to work on the
COVID-19 response and respiratory virus
surveillance projects. The APHL COVID-19
Response Fellowship will place fellows
at the State Laboratories Division of the
Hawaii Department of Health and the
Massachusetts Department of Public
Health Bureau of Infectious Disease and
Laboratory Sciences where they will work
under the guidance of an experienced
public health laboratory mentor to assist
in the response to SARS-CoV-2 while
completing a dedicated fellowship project
with a viral respiratory focus. •
DIGITAL EXTRA: Watch this to find
out about APHL Fellowships.
• Robert Nickla, Oregon State Public
Health Laboratory
• Karen Stiles, Nebraska Public Health
Laboratory •
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org
Summer 2020 LAB MATTERS 33