by Heather Roney, manager, fellowship program
Recently, APHL surveyed past EID Laboratory Fellows to track their post- fellowship career paths. Nearly half of the past program participants participated in the survey. APHL was pleased to learn that many former fellows remain active
in laboratory science and public health laboratory practice.
The majority of past fellows (60%) identify their current employment as within a laboratory or a public health department or public health organization. Twenty-nine percent (29%)
are working in a local, state or federal (CDC) public health laboratory. Two-thirds of the past
fellows still working in public health credited the fellowship program for helping shape
their choice to stay in the field. The majority of past fellows—even those no longer in public
health—claim to have some continued involvement in the field through volunteer work or
professional organization. This indicates that the program may have initiated a lasting
commitment to public health, despite diverging career choices. The vast majority (86%) of
past fellows rate the program as having “met” or “exceeded” their expectations. Highlights of
the fellowship experience were the flexibility of the projects and rotations within the lab to
get an overall view of the work of a public health laboratory. In the end, 99% of respondents
said they would recommend the fellowship program. APHL looks forward to following the
careers of these and future fellows.
EID Laboratory Fellow Jennifer Faulwetter at the Orange
County, California Public Health Laboratory
current eiD laboratory fellows on the Move
The Tennessee Department of Health Laboratory was awarded $35,000 from APHL and CDC
for a performance evaluation of syphilis assays and testing algorithms. The lab was one of
two to receive funds to evaluate testing methods for syphilis. Former EID Fellow Brock Neil,
manager of immunoserology, virology and rabies, and current EID Fellow Michelle Landes
will head the project, working on surveillance-based research and updating the nation’s
syphilis diagnostic process.
Andrea González was co-author of a poster “Discovery and Validation of Prognostic
Diagnostic Biomarkers for Severe Dengue by Proteomic Screening” at the American Society
of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) meeting in Atlanta in November 2012.
Having completed public health microbiologist certification training, Syreeta Miles was
awarded the New Tech Scholarship to attend the 76th Annual Southern California American
Society for Microbiology General Meeting in November.
Jennifer Faulwetter completed her two-year fellowship at the Orange County, California
Public Health Laboratory, and accepted a position as public health microbiologist at the
Alaska State Public Health Laboratory in Anchorage. Congratulations! u
