Focus on Fellows
Focus on Fellows is an APHL publication that provides an opportunity to see the faces and learn a little more about the Public Health Laboratory Fellowship Program participant who have been working, learning and developing laboratory andprofessional skills alongside you. This publication is a collection of all fellows who participated in, or graduated from the fellowship program between 2023-2024.
Bioinformatics and Molecular Epidemiology
Zachary Mudge
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Projects: FungiNet: Genomic epidemiology and surveillance of Candida auris.
Mengfei Peng
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Project: Using Next-Generation Genome Sequencing and bioinformatics analysis to identify and track Mpox and rabies viruses.
Biosafety and Biosecurity
Joseph Ramanow
New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories
Project: New Hampshire Public Health Laboratory ISO 35001 implementation.
Environmental Health
Anthony Arancio
New York State Department of Health-Wadsworth Center
Project: Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) analytical method development for the cyanotoxins in surface water of New York State.
Nicholas Brinza
Maryland State Department of Health Laboratories Administration
Madelyn Caldwell
New York State Department of Health-Wadsworth Center
Project: Investigation of Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs).
Sarah Fleegal
Maryland State Department of Health Laboratories Administration
Project: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): deploying state-of-the-art mass spectrometry to address the greatest environmental issue of our lifetime.
Eimi Percival
California Department of Toxic Substances Control
Project: Targeted and non-targeted analytical approach to identify exposures to combustion biproducts relevant to public health around wildfires.
Farooq Salangi
New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories
Shenelle Shaw
New Jersey Division of Public Health & Environmental Laboratories
Project: Implementation of automated solid-phase extraction (SPE) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) analysis in non-portable water by Environmental Protection Agency Method 1633.
Food Safety
Jasmine Foster
New Jersey Division of Public Health & Environmental Laboratories
Eddie Mitchell
Maryland State Department of Health Laboratories Administration
Infectious Diseases
Kathryn Fisher
New York State Department of Health-Wadsworth Center
Project: Structural and functional characterization of a novel transcription factor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Erin Klingbeil
New York State Department of Health-Wadsworth Center
Project: Developing efficient therapeutics for mycobacterial infections.
Amanda Kurtz
New York State Department of Health-Wadsworth Center
Project: Role of quorum-sensing synthase mutations in clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Juliana Nzongo
Riverside University Health System Public Health Laboratory
Project: Implementation of wastewater surveillance program.
Easton Reagan
New York State Department of Health-Wadsworth Center
Project: Characterizing the mycobacterial small proteome.
David Nathan Twersky
New York State Department of Health-Wadsworth Center
Project: Developing efficient therapeutics for mycobacterial infections.
Cesar Zelaya
Riverside University Health System Public Health Laboratory
Project: Implementation of wastewater surveillance program.
Informatics
Sarah Mustaqali
New Jersey Division of Public Health & Environmental Laboratories
Project: Prenatal and newborn screening for lead and mercury - data administration and modernization.
Newborn Screening
Dylan Hendricks
Illinois Department of Public Health Laboratory
Quality Management
Isaac Eaves
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Jayvon McKinley
Ohio Department of Health Laboratories
Project: Quality management modernization and training development at the Ohio laboratory.