Global Health Capabilities

APHL supports coun​tries in improving laboratory biosafety and biosecurity through risk assessments, trainings, mentorships and supporting progra​​ms, such as the Biological Safety Cabinets (BSCs) Certification Training Program which focuses on developing participant skills in the maintenance and certification of BSCs. 

Laboratory access to a reliable source of power is critical to healthcare service delivery and disease control and prevention. APHL supports the installation of various energy solutions—including solar energy systems—at laboratories, clinics and hospitals, and provides training for system maintenance.

APHL supports capacity building for surveillance of antimicrobial resistant pathogens through the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Laboratory and Response Network, and partners with PulseNet International for training and laboratory capacity building for implementing surveillance of bacterial enteric pathogens.

The GLLP is a comprehensive, competency-based, One Health–focused laboratory leadership program that strengthens laboratory workforce capacity and supports the development of laboratory systems to meet current and future challenges. As one of six founding partners of the GLLP, APHL is uniquely positioned to support countries and regions in implementing GLLP— offering options from full program implementation to targeted support such as stakeholder engagement, program planning and development, and training of trainers and mentors.

APHL supports countries in evaluation, design and implementation of laboratory information systems (LIS), which facilitate efficient management of testing workflows, enable public health and clinical laboratories to report results, and address the data integration, interoperability, visualization, standardization and standardizing necessary for effective utilization of laboratory data by surveillance and clinical partners.

APHL assists countries to build their laboratory workforce and move toward accreditation through capacity building in quality management systems (QMS), laboratory leadership, internal and external quality assessment and specific diagnostic techniques related to a country's disease testing priorities. APHL uses "train the trainer" programs to build laboratory workforces that can apply QMS toward accreditation and enhance the quality of a country's laboratories.

APHL works with countries to develop and optimize next generation sequencing (NGS) protocols and laboratory procedures in a pathogen-agnostic and pathogen-specific approach on Illumina, Oxford Nanopore Technologies and Ion Torrent sequencing pl​​atforms. APHL supports, trains and advises on laboratory capacity building for NGS, QMS, bioinformatics and genomic epidemiology to produce actionable genomic data for public health decision making. 

A National Public Health Laboratory Network is essential for countries to implement surveillance for priority diseases and prepare, detect and re​spond to the next outbreak. This includes providing guidance on government policy, establishing a laboratory-tiered network, and developing national strategic and operational plans that allow for a systematic and stepwise approach to building a national public health laboratory network

The APHL Laboratory Twinning Initiative is an innovative, peer-to-peer approach to strengthening national public health laboratory systems in a sustainable, cost-effective and mutually beneficial manner. Twinning builds on APHL’s membership base of ​​US state public health laboratories and pairs them with international laboratories; it fosters long-term partnerships that build laboratory capacity and quality systems and provide ongoing learning and development opportunities.

APHL supports the improvement of waste management systems in the laboratory through technical assistance. APHL supports ac​tivities such as: incinerator repair and installation, liquid waste disposal including guanidinium thiocyanate (GTC), development of waste management strategies and on-site training for laboratory personnel on appropriate waste management disposal methods.  

APHL supports laboratory capac​ity building for collecting and testing wastewater samples for molecular and genomic surveillance using an NGS approach. This surveillance program is principally designed to test for SARS-CoV-2, but the number of pathogens being surveyed can be expanded based on a country’s need for pandemic preparedness.

APHL develops and implements cust​om workshops and curricula focused on eliminating immediate technical gaps while also comprehensively addressing a broad range of management and leadership skills to enhance workforce capacity and support laboratory system building.