Lab Matters Winter 2019 | Page 30

FELLOWS APHL Fellowship Update: Engaging the Next Generation of Fellows APHL Releases Three Position Statements by Heather Roney, MA, manager, Fellowship Programs by Nisha Quasba, specialist, Public Policy APHL released three position statements in 2018. They will be live for five years and sunset in 2023. • PHPR: Field Screening Kits and Devices Must Work (*New* Position Statement Format!)—APHL opposes the use of federally unapproved field-screening kits and devices used to detect biological and chemical warfare agents. • Global Health: Improving Health Outcomes by Strengthening National Public Health Laboratory Systems Globally—A fully coordinated and integrated National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) System is essential for the surveillance, detection and response to address public health threats. Antimicrobial Resistance Fellow Abby Hoffman works on Neisseria gonorrhoeae testing at the Texas State Health Services Laboratory APHL has completed recruitment for its 2018 classes of Bioinformatics and Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Fellowship Programs. We look forward to selecting the fellows and host laboratories for the coming program cycles. Bioinformatics Fellows alumni Kevin Libuit, Logan Fink and Sean Wang played critical roles in developing the curriculum for AMD Academy: Intermediate Bioinformatics Training for Microbiologists to be held in January and May 2019 at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. They will also serve as faculty for the course. Libuit and his mentor Denise Toney from the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services are preparing a podcast about his experience as an APHL fellow and the integration of bioinformatics and sequencing into public health laboratory science. Three current AR fellows have been accepted into CPEP-accredited fellowships. CPEP fellowships are 28 LAB MATTERS Winter 2019 prestigious two-year programs accredited by the American Society for Microbiology’s Committee for Postgraduate Educational Programs (CPEP). The fellows are: • Global Health: Quality Systems for Point of Care Testing—A Quality Management System (QMS) for point of care (POC) testing including rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) is needed to ensure that testing performed in all settings is of high quality globally. n • Mimi Precit (Washington State Department of Health Public Health Laboratory) CPEP Fellowship: Medical & Public Health Microbiology Fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles/University of Southern California • Eric Ransom (Antimicrobial Resistance Coordination and Strategy Unit, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, CDC) CPEP Fellowship: Medical & Public Health Microbiology Fellowship at Washington University • Emily Snavely (Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health) CPEP Fellowship: Medical Microbiology Fellowship at the University of Utah, ARUP (Associated Regional and University Pathologists) Laboratories n PublicHealthLabs @APHL APHL.org