Lab Culture Extra: How the WI State Lab Developed a Test for Brodifacoum -- and Why It Matters
Release Date: 04/03/2019
"We need to be obnoxiously positive and share how awesome we are."
Lab Culture
At the 2025 APHL Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon, APHL's current board president, president-elect and CEO sat down for a conversation about the challenges and successes of the past year. APHL President Dr. Megan Crumpler (director, Orange County Public Health Laboratory) and President-Elect Dr. Scott Shone (director, North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health) shared their experiences with major laboratory construction projects and their own approach to leadership. Along with APHL CEO Scott Becker, they discuss the challenges faced by public health laboratories and the need for a...
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Public health is always going to be a passion
Lab Culture
This episode is coming to you from the 2024 APHL Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! We had the opportunity to chat with APHL’s current President, President-elect and CEO about their experiences and observations from their roles. They are three extremely dedicated public health leaders who have come together at the Annual Conference for learning and collaborating, but also to see their colleagues who they consider friends and family. Don’t miss this episode! Tim Southern, PhD, D(ABMM) APHL President, 2023-2024 Laboratory Director, South Dakota Public Health Laboratory Megan...
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Dr. Bell and Dr. Yarosz love their CDC LLS fellowship experience. What is the LLS fellowship?
Lab Culture
What is the CDC Laboratory Leadership Service (LLS)? In this episode, we learn more about it from two current LLS fellows. Drs. Courtnee Bell and Emily Yarosz discuss how they learned about the fellowship, their experiences and where they see themselves when their fellowships end.
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Past, Present and Future of Biosafety
Lab Culture
Today’s show is a conversation between four past winners of APHL’s Leadership in Biosafety and Biosecurity Award. Jill Power, Christina Egan, Carrie Anglewicz and Andrew Cannons share their thoughts on the past, present and future of biosafety in public health laboratories. Andrew C. Cannons, PhD Laboratory Director Florida Department of Health Jill J. Power, MS Deputy Director New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Carrie Anglewicz, MS Biosafety Officer, Laboratory Outreach Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Christina Egan, PhD Deputy Director, Division of...
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APHL CEO Scott Becker wants to bring public health laboratory work into the foreground
Lab Culture
It’s September which means it is Public Health Laboratory Appreciation Month! We are kicking off a month of celebrating by chatting with Scott Becker, APHL CEO, about the exciting work being done by public health laboratory staff as well as the challenges many face. Scott also shares what he’s most looking forward to in the year to come. Don’t forget to follow #ThanksPHLabs and APHL on , , and this Public Health Laboratory Appreciation Month! Links:
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What's next for the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) response to monkeypox?
Lab Culture
As the 2022 monkeypox outbreak began to spread around the globe, the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) was prepared with the appropriate test and experienced staff trained to perform it. These frontline responders were the first to test suspected monkeypox samples in the US and continue to be vital to this public health emergency response. As we move into the next phase of this response with commercial laboratories coming online to test patients, what is the role of the LRN? What role do public health laboratories, the largest segment of LRN labs, play? In this episode, two key APHL leaders...
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Day 3: 2022 APHL Annual Conference
Lab Culture
Day three of the 2022 APHL Annual Conference was a great one! We started off with the annual awards ceremony which always sets the tone for an exciting day. This mini episode includes an interview with one of the APHL-CDC Bioinformatics Fellows about his first experience at the APHL Annual Conference.
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Day 2: 2022 APHL Annual Conference
Lab Culture
Today was the first full day of the 2022 APHL Annual Conference and it did not disappoint! From COVID-19 to newborn screening to food safety and more, there was a fascinating presentation to intrigue anyone. We kicked off the day with a sunrise walk and line danced together after lunch!
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Day 1: 2022 APHL Annual Conference
Lab Culture
The 2022 APHL Annual Conference kicked off as our first ever hybrid conference! Listen to a few attendees talk about what it means to them to be back in person at our largest conference ever and what they're looking forward to this week.
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Scientists in Oregon and Michigan Honor World TB Day
Lab Culture
Every year we commemorate on March 24, the anniversary of the day Dr. Robert Koch first announced that he discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes TB. This World TB Day, we are sharing an insightful conversation between two TB laboratory leaders: Angie Schooley, B.S. MT(ASCP), Mycobacteriology/Mycology Unit Manager, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services and Caitlin Miranda, M(ASCP), Microbiologist III, Oregon State Public Health Laboratory. Links: (February 8, 2022) (CDC Fact Sheet)
info_outlineIn the spring of 2018 patients suffering from profuse bleeding swamped emergency rooms in Illinois and Wisconsin. The cause? Synthetic cannabinoids laced with rat poison.
When an outbreak of contaminated synthetic cannabinoids reached Wisconsin in 2018, scientists at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) rushed to develop the first quantitative method for diagnostic testing of brodifacoum, a powerful anticoagulant used in rat poison. Thanks to their work, patients with brodifacoum poisoning can now be treated with a precisely calibrated dose of vitamin K and that treatment can be ended when it is no longer medically necessary. Previously, physicians had to guess when to end treatment and re-start it if they guessed wrong.
WSLH’s Noel Stanton, Chemical Emergency Response Coordinator, and Bill Krick, an Advanced Chemist in the Chemical Emergency Response Unit, speak with Public Affairs Director Jan Klawitter about the test’s development and the outbreak that made it necessary.
Links:
Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH)
Accolades for WSLH’s Chemical Emergency Response Team
Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2, Spice) – Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Lab Matters: Indiana and Wisconsin Respond to Synthetic Cannabinoid Contamination