Lab Culture

Latest Episodes:

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha: Storytelling and the Flint Water Crisis Jun 13, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, author of What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City, joins us for an interview about the importance of storytelling in public health. Did Dr. Mona's successful use of narratives allow Flint's story to be as resilient as the people who lived it?

Links

Is water in Flint safe to drink? It's not just a question of chemistry. [Op-ed by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha]

What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City

2019 Annual Meeting: Day 3 Jun 06, 2019

Show notes

Today was day three of the annual meeting! We started the day with awards ceremony and concluded with the member assembly, listening to many great speakers in between. For many, the highlight was the Dr. Katherine Kelley Distinguished Lecture delivered by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. Dr. Mona is a pediatrician, scientist, researcher, activist and author of What the Eyes Don't See. Her research and the work of her team exposed the deliberate effort to cover up the Flint water crisis and the lead poisoning of Flint, Michigan's children.

APHL honors public health leaders at 2019 annual meeting

What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City

2019 APHL Annual Meeting: Day 2 Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

It was another great day at the annual meeting in St. Louis! As the attendees interviewed on this episode will share, some of the highlights included Poster Speed Dating, learning about new technology from exhibitors and, of course, networking.

Follow #APHL on Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

2019 Annual Meeting: Day 1 Jun 04, 2019

Show notes

We're in St. Louis for the 2019 APHL Annual Meeting! This episode is a round-up of all the excitement of the first day. It was fascinating and exhausting, just as the annual meeting should be.

Follow #APHL on Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

Alaska state virology lab: Freezing temps, wild animals, and extremely dedicated staff Apr 24, 2019

Show notes

Every area of our country is unique in ways that make public health laboratory work vary from one state or locality to another. But just as Alaska is different from the lower-48 states in most ways, their public health lab's work is too. Have you ever considered all the ways it might be different to work in the Alaska state lab in Fairbanks? This episode of Lab Culture reveals some of the many ways in which working in Alaska is unlike anywhere else.

Jayme Parker, manager, Virology Unit, Alaska State Public Health Laboratory (Fairbanks)

Nisha Fowler, microbiologist, Alaska State Public Health Laboratory (Fairbanks)

Links:

Virology Unit of the Alaska State Public Health Laboratory

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities -- FAQs

Alaska's permafrost/ice lenses

Lab Culture Extra: How the WI State Lab Developed a Test for Brodifacoum -- and Why It Matters Apr 03, 2019

Show notes

In 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

Laboratory Response Network (LRN)

APHL in Action archives

Extra: Surge of West Nile Virus in North Dakota Feb 19, 2019

Show notes

What happens inside a public health lab when a health threat sends it into overdrive? Find out how the North Dakota lab met a surge in West Nile Virus in 2018 in this APHL in Action Lab Culture Extra.

Links:

APHL in Action Archives

CDC Preliminary Maps and Data for 2018, West Nile Virus

CDC ArboNET Disease Map

North Dakota Department of Health – West Nile Virus

Key Factors Influencing the Incidence of West Nile Virus in Burleigh County, North Dakota

Exploring bioinformatics: From fellow to full time in Virginia Feb 08, 2019

Show notes

Kevin Libuit went from the APHL-CDC Bioinformatics Fellowship to a contractor to working full-time as a bioinformatician at the Virginia state lab (VA Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS)). First he talks about when he discovered bioinformatics as a field and how the fellowship propelled his career. Then Kevin takes the mic and interviews Dr. Denise Toney, director of Virginia DCLS, about the value and growing need for bioinformaticians in public health labs.

Links

APHL-CDC Fellowships

APHL-CDC Bioinformatics Fellowships

Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS)

APHL Off the Bench (new Facebook group!)

Introducing: PKU Life Podcast with Kevin Alexander Dec 03, 2018

Show notes

Fifty-five years ago, newborn screening was born. At the time, though, that little heel prick was performed to screen for only one condition: phenylketonuria (PKU). Without early intervention, babies born with PKU faced severe cognitive, behavioral and other neurological disorders. The advent of PKU newborn screening allowed health care providers and families to make critical changes to a baby's diet to prevent those consequences.

Today, December 3, is PKU Awareness Day. It's hard to say where newborn screening would be without that first PKU test. And 55 years later, it's hard to say where newborn screening would be without the families and individuals living with PKU who have shared their stories to convey the value of this simple test. One of those individuals is Kevin Alexander.

Kevin has been a leader in the PKU community simply by sharing his story and his experiences living with PKU. He has spoken at conferences and events around the world, created a video documentary about his life, served as a leader and friend to others living with PKU, and now he shares his voice in a new podcast.

For this PKU Awareness Day, we are sharing Kevin's podcast, PKU Life Podcast with Kevin Alexander. We are so appreciative of Kevin's willingness to both share with and listen to those in the newborn screening community. Kevin, thank you for your leadership, friendship and generosity!

PKU Life Podcast with Kevin Alexander – Facebook

PKU Life Podcast with Kevin Alexander – Instagram

PKU Life Podcast with Kevin Alexander – Twitter

APHL's Newborn Screening Program

APHL blog posts about PKU

PKU Awareness Day

Informatics, health equity and bat snuggles Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

Joanne Bartkus, APHL's board president and director of the Public Health Laboratory at the Minnesota Department of Health, sat down with Scott Becker, our executive director, and Gynene Sullivan, editor of Lab Matters magazine, to talk about priorities for the year. Their conversation ranged from informatics to health equity to... snuggling with a bat?!

Joanne Bartkus, PhD, D(ABMM) Director, Public Health Laboratory, Minnesota Department of Health

Scott J. Becker, MS Executive director, Association Public Health Laboratories @ScottJBecker

Links

Lab Matters

Lab Matters -- Android app

Lab Matters -- iTunes app

APHL Board of Directors