PRESIDENT ’ S AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ’ S MESSAGE
Articulating APHL ’ s DNA for the Next Generation
our members and staff , but its ideals and beliefs for the membership .
We received over 300 data points from our members , which helped shape a workshop in early December 2022 with the board , chairs of our committees , task forces , and strategic implementation groups , and our senior staff to model an early set of values . We then stood up a working group to complete the formulation of these values . And as announced at APHL 2023 , while these values seem very simple on their face , they are encoded into the very DNA of not only the public health mission , but also who we are as an association .
Community
We actively foster meaningful connections and belonging among members and partners to promote collaboration , growth and diversity of thought that maximizes our contributions to advance public health .
Daphne Ware , PhD , President , APHL and Scott Becker , MS , Chief Executive Officer , APHL
After the last two years of video meetings , virtual conferences and social distancing , 2023 got started for APHL at warp speed with lots of in-person committee and subcommittee meetings , as well as our first ID Lab Con . The association was really excited to launch the new conference — postponed from its original 2020 date — and figured we would have a modest turnout of around 300 participants or so . Instead , our members and partners jumped right into it with dynamic presentations and 500 + attendees networking and exchanging ideas . And our momentum is carrying us through , with a successful APHL 2023 in the books , the 13th National Conference on Laboratory Aspects of Tuberculosis in June , our staff-related APHL Week in July and our Newborn Screening Symposium in October .
But we have also had the opportunity to do some critical thinking about our identity as a scientific and memberdriven organization . Even though we were all stretched thin during the pandemic , the innovations came fast and furious and really made us think about not only who we are as a community , but also what we want that community to look like going forward . We are trying to see who we are after the changes wrought by COVID-19 . So last year we began to seek member input about putting APHL ’ s values into words . Not its value , which we believe is communicated every day by all
Those of us who have worked in public health laboratories for a long time know how supportive our laboratory community can be . No matter where we are in the laboratory or what function we are performing , we are all supporting the mission of public health . And it can really be easy to have your head down in a grant application or in emergency testing . But you are not alone at the bench , in your laboratory or at your computer … you belong to a robust , collaborative network of like-minded people . And we are here for you .
Diversity , Equity , Inclusion and Accessibility
We embrace , promote and model a culture of diversity , equity , inclusion and accessibility ( DEIA ) and recognize it as essential to the work we perform and the communities we serve .
2 LAB MATTERS Summer 2023
PublicHealthLabs @ APHL APHL . org