APHL has been strengthening public health laboratories for 75 years. It started in 1951, when the need for coordinated, quality laboratory science in service of community health was just beginning to take shape. A lot has happened since then!

This year marks 75 years of APHL advancing quality laboratory science, practice, and policy in support of public health. To mark the milestone, we are sharing a series of short videos tracing our history from the very beginning. First up: 1951 to 1998. Watch to see how it all started!

ICYMI: Six African countries wrapped a successful wastewater-based surveillance pilot, proving it is an effective, low-cost way to detect emerging threats earlier than traditional clinical surveillance. Read more in our latest Lab Culture News article: buff.ly/Xikiv8L

75 years ago, smog blanketed cities, synthetic chemicals filled homes, and industrial waste poured into rivers. How did America respond? A session at the 2026 APHL Annual Conference explored the history of environmental testing and its role in building a healthier country. Read more: buff.ly/aY35qdl

16 laboratorians from across the US recently came together at the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa for an APHL #Legionella workshop. As Legionnaires' disease continues to rise, expanding diagnostic capacity in public health labs is more critical than ever.

In 1951, cells were taken from Henrietta Lacks without her knowledge or consent. Those cells changed science forever. At APHL 2026, her great granddaughter Veronica Robinson reflected on her legacy with us. Read more: buff.ly/YwpuJDE

APHL has been building laboratory workforce capacity for 75 years! That includes training scientists in emerging technologies like next-generation sequencing, genomic surveillance and bioinformatics so that public health labs can keep pace with the science.

APHL supports a network of public health laboratories across all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories. When a new health threat emerges, that network means labs are not starting from scratch. They are coordinating, sharing methods and scaling response together!

Antibiotic resistance surveillance happens in public health labs. Scientists track which strains of bacteria are becoming resistant to which drugs, and that data shapes treatment guidelines used by clinicians across the country. Follow us to learn more about public health laboratories.

When you drink tap water, you're trusting a public health laboratory you've probably never thought about. These labs test for hundreds of contaminants including heavy metals, pesticides, and microbial threats. Safe drinking water doesn't happen by default.

Public health laboratories can identify a pathogen from a clinical sample in hours. During an outbreak, that speed is the difference between a contained cluster and a community-wide spread. The lab result you never hear about is often the one that stopped something much worse!

From the specimen to the surveillance report, public health labs play a critical role in tracking viral hepatitis across the country. Explore CDC's HepTracker dashboard this #HepatitisAwarenessMonth to see the data behind the work: buff.ly/yxLPxvl

Six African countries wrapped a successful wastewater-based surveillance pilot, proving it is an effective, low-cost way to detect emerging threats earlier than traditional clinical surveillance. Read more in our latest Lab Culture News article: buff.ly/Xikiv8L

Public health labs can detect COVID, flu, RSV, and even mpox in wastewater days before clinical cases spike. They're essentially reading the community's health signals before people even know they're sick!

As the Andes virus situation continues to evolve, public health laboratories are playing a critical role in the US response. Get the latest on what we know, how testing is being conducted and what labs across the country are doing to stay prepared. Read updates on Lab Culture News: buff.ly/2s8vNKd

APHL hosted a Biorisk Management Workshop from May 19–21, 2026 at the Utah Public Health Laboratory, bringing together #biosafety professionals for hands-on technical training in biorisk management. Thank you to the Utah Public Health Lab for hosting, and great work to all who attended!

When there's a foodborne illness outbreak, public health labs use a method called whole genome sequencing to match the pathogen in sick patients to the exact batch of food it came from. It's how they connect a listeria case in Virginia to a deli in California!

Uganda launched a Sample Tracking App and enhanced laboratory data repository in February, giving labs, coordinators, and drivers real-time visibility into sample shipments and disease trends nationwide. Read our latest Lab Culture News article to learn more: buff.ly/mHjMp6B

Public health labs are part of the Laboratory Response Network, a system designed to handle biological, chemical, and radiological threats. Most people don't realize their state lab can test for things like anthrax, nerve agents, plague, and do it fast!

Earlier this month, APHL welcomed students from Perry Hall High School and Nottingham Middle School to the 2026 APHL Annual Conference in Baltimore. They got hands-on time with real public health laboratory professionals and partners. This is what investing in the next generation looks like!

The 2026 APHL Annual Conference brought together public health laboratory professionals from across the country for several days of science, collaboration, and community in Baltimore. The full 2026 APHL Annual Conference album is now live on Facebook: buff.ly/TTqpAOw

Antibiotic resistance testing in a public health lab goes way beyond "yes or no." Labs can determine which specific genes are making a bacteria resistant, how that resistance might spread, and whether it's ever been seen before. Follow us to keep learning about public health laboratory work!

Collecting data is one thing. Putting it to good use is another. APHL trainers recently led workshops on phylogenetics, data usability, and LIMS needs for the Instituto de Salud Publica in Santiago, Chile. #globalhealth The latest Lab Culture News has the details: buff.ly/3RO9I8g

Honduran laboratory scientists partnered with APHL to co-lead a regional sequencing training in Panama -- a first for Latin America under an international Trainer-of-Trainers model. Read more on the blog: buff.ly/IcPkyLp

San Diego County is celebrating one of its own after Dr. Jeremy Corrigan, director of the county's public health laboratory, received the APHL LEAD Award at this year's Annual Conference in Baltimore. Read more via San Diego's County News Center: buff.ly/XuhKJhm

APHL continues working with public health laboratory members as federal, state and local authorities monitor American passengers of the cruise ship MV Honius for symptoms of Andes virus (hantavirus). [Updated May 14] Read about this situation and recent updates on Lab Culture News: buff.ly/CZldkYf

Meet Ashley Mowatt, our Public Health Laboratory Ambassador of the Month from the St. Mary’s County Health Department. Ashley developed strong mentoring skills, deepened her commitment to public health lab work and found a purpose in encouraging the next generation. Learn more: buff.ly/4hosAae

Congratulations to the 2026 #APHL Annual Award Winners, recognized at this year's Annual Conference in Baltimore for their outstanding contributions to public health laboratory science, leadership, and workforce development! Read the full press release: buff.ly/IW3gvVy

Nebraska Public Health Laboratory staff worked over the weekend to develop/ validate its own PCR test for the Andes virus. “What Nebraska did to stand up a test is one of those lessons learned—get ready before you even need to test," said Kelly Wroblewski, APHL. From @wired.com

As CDC and other agencies respond to a cluster of the Andes virus (hantavirus), APHL has stood up an Incident Command System (ICS) to ensure a unified organizational response. While the risk to Americans is extremely low, public health labs are prepared. Read our latest article: buff.ly/CZldkYf

Congratulations to Dr. Peter Iwen, a professor in our department and director of the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, who received an @aphl.org Lifetime Achievement Award at the group's 2026 meeting in Baltimore.

That's a wrap on #APHL's 2026 Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD! More than 1,450 public health laboratory leaders, scientists, and partners came together! Thank you to everyone who joined us. Get the recaps on Lab Culture News: buff.ly/9rSi7gz

#APHL's 2026 Annual Conference is officially a wrap. More than 1,450 public health lab professionals gathered in Baltimore this week and shared trends, best practices and a well-deserved celebration of APHL's 75th anniversary! Full Recaps: buff.ly/9rSi7gz

We took Baltimore as an opportunity to sit down with APHL's top leaders in our newest podcast! APHL's President, President-Elect, and CEO sat down to reflect on a year of challenges and wins — and what comes next for the public health lab community. Lab Culture Ep. 36 is out now: buff.ly/f6GDJ7U

We had some great exhibitors at #APHL 2026, thank you for coming! We were happy to have you! ☺️

Congratulations to the 2026 #APHL Annual Award Winners, honored at this week's Annual Conference in Baltimore! From emerging leaders to lifetime achievers, these individuals represent the very best of public health laboratory science. Read the full press release to learn more: buff.ly/IW3gvVy

Awards, Spirit Day, and 101 exhibitor booths — the last full day of the 2026 #APHL Annual Conference did not disappoint. Full recap and photo gallery on Lab Culture News: buff.ly/dodY9a4

Congratulations to MGI graduate student Danielle Gregory on winning the third place poster award in the Career Pathways section of the Association of Public Health Laboratories @aphl.org annual meeting.

The rules guiding public health action are changing. At the 2026 #APHL Annual Conference, Joshua Sharfstein, MD of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shared how we can adapt and even advance our practice amid the turmoil. Read his advice on Lab Culture News: buff.ly/m3rUZOv

At Day 2 of the 2026 #APHL Annual Conference, descendants of Henrietta Lacks spoke on the legacy of HeLa cells and the importance of consent and trust in science. Baltimore-area students joined us the same day for a hands-on lab activity with industry professionals! Full recap: buff.ly/5TCFq1D

Day two of the 2026 #APHL Annual Conference in Baltimore brought students into the lab world, and invited attendees to sit with one of medicine's most important and complicated stories. Check out more highlights on Lab Culture News: buff.ly/5TCFq1D

We are officially live in Baltimore for @aphl.org! The GT Molecular team is ready to chat about the latest in wastewater-based epidemiology, MST, arbovirus, and molecular assays. We’d love to show you how we are streamlining laboratory workflows. 📍Find at Booth #519 #APHL2026 #publichealth #APHL

Discover how public health laboratories are integrating BugSeq into their everyday bioinformatics routines! Visit us at booth 200 at @aphl.org 2026; we are eager to learn about the challenges you face and discuss how our solutions can support your work. #APHL

#APHL2026 is underway in Baltimore with 1,400 attendees from across the country. Dr. Joshua Sharfstein delivered the Katherine Kelley Distinguished Lecture and the message was clear: this work matters. Check out the action from our first day of APHL 2026, with much more to come! buff.ly/yAaxZRk

The #APHL 2026 Annual Conference is underway in Baltimore. Day one opened with a surprise Hairspray performance and the Dr. Katherine Kelley Distinguished Lecture from Joshua Sharfstein, MD of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Visit to Lab Culture News for more: buff.ly/yAaxZRk

Fellows and interns kicked off the #APHL 2026 Annual Conference a day early in Baltimore! They covered everything from networking and leadership to storytelling, social media, and hearing directly from public health professionals about how they got to where they are today. Great start!

APHL's blog has a new name and a new home! Lab Culture News is now live on our redesigned website, with reporting and insight on the impact of public health laboratory science and culture. Head to our new website to read more! buff.ly/EKNfgLv

APHL partnered with PAHO and CDC to train lab professionals from six Latin American countries in influenza genomic surveillance at an international bioinformatics workshop in Santiago, Chile. Full story: buff.ly/9kRRMY3

The 2026 #APHL Annual Conference is almost here! May 4-7 in Baltimore, and this year we are celebrating 75 years of APHL. Come ready to connect, learn, and celebrate. May 4-7 in Baltimore. We will see you there. Learn more at www.aphl.org/AC Final Program now available: buff.ly/prRI1jL

Live, work or play in B-more? In town for the @aphl.org Annual Conference? Whatever brings you to the city, consider connecting with @usfcoph.bsky.social Bulls for happy hour! Tuesday, May 5 | 7:30 - 9 p.m. Pratt Street Ale House RSVP today🤘🏾 eventful.usf.edu/alumni/group... #ThisIsUs