FELLOWS
APHL Fellows : Endings and Beginnings
By Heather Roney , MA , manager , Fellowships
APHL ’ s graduating fellows were honored virtually at the APHL 2021 Annual Awards . Several new groups of fellows will begin assignments in member laboratories and at CDC in the summer and fall :
• Two new laboratories will host
Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Fellows : the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services and the State Laboratories Division of the Hawaii Department of Health . The six fellows recruited this year will work alongside experienced mentors on dedicated AR projects to detect and respond to emerging resistant pathogens .
• There will be seven
Infectious Diseases Bioinformatics Fellows in the 2021-2022 class , who will be located in a mixture of CDC labs and state public health laboratories . For the first time , we have a fellow at a local laboratory .
• Four new fellows will join the newly redesigned Infectious Diseases Laboratory Fellowship . Fellows will receive training in bench-level laboratory skills and methods and assist with high-priority infectious disease testing , surveillance and control measures . Fellows are placed in disease-specifics tracks including COVID-19 , influenza and vaccine preventable diseases .
COVID-19 Response Fellows continue to provide essential support during the pandemic in their respective public health laboratories . Their numerous contributions include actively participating in critical laboratory activities and training events . Fellows are developing SOPs for wastewater testing of SARS-CoV-2 , assisting with evaluations of rapid antigen tests for use in public schools , collaborating with health departments to provide guidance on point-of-care tests to state National Guard personnel , and training volunteers at COVID-19 testing events .
The
COVID-19 Laboratory Associate Program will continue through June 2022 . Over 30 associates will continue to assist with the pandemic response in their host laboratories . The program sparked an interest in careers in public health laboratory science for some participants . Katherine Akinyemi , a current fellow in the City of Milwaukee Health Department Laboratory says that following the program , “ I hope to continue working in a public health laboratory and increasing my skills and knowledge in molecular science .” Her colleague Addie Skillman shares her enthusiasm about the program . “ Working [ in the laboratory ] has been an extremely rewarding experience that has illuminated the complexities of the functions of a public health laboratory . It ’ s astonishing to think about the scope of work performed in this laboratory , and I ’ m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the exceptional COVID-19 team here !”
We look forward to supporting these APHL fellows and associates and sharing their successes . n
As a recipient of American Rescue Plan funding , APHL is recruiting for a new fellowship and internship initiative to begin in January 2022 . Applications for host laboratories are now being accepted !
Read more about the new program and the application process .
32 LAB MATTERS Summer 2021