Everything you need for Lab Week 2017

Lab Week is coming! April 23-29 we will join our members and partners to celebrate the vital contributions laboratory professionals make to protect public health and safety. APHL will be particularly focused on the laboratory professionals who make up our community – the dedicated individuals working at local, state, environmental and agricultural laboratories which comprise the public health laboratory system.

Follow APHL for our special Lab Week content!

• We’re now on Instagram!
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Subscribe to our blog

While we celebrate you, our members, we also use Lab Week to increase awareness and demonstrate the importance of public health and environmental laboratories in our communities. We encourage you to do the same!

APHL will be kicking off Lab Week by joining the March for Science! Check out our toolkit!

Below are some resources to help launch your own Lab Week celebration. These resources are for local, state, public health, environmental and agricultural laboratories alike! (If you are specifically interested in National Environmental Laboratory Professionals Week, scroll down for the toolkit.)

Social Media

Join the conversation using #LabWeek on any social network that uses hashtags (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.).

Sample social media posts (include a graphic or photo for added visibility):

• It’s #LabWeek! High-five a laboratory scientist! http://bit.ly/LabWeek17  
• Detect. Respond. Repeat. #LabWeek http://bit.ly/LabWeek17 
• Emerging infectious disease making its way around the world? There’s a lab for that. #LabWeek http://bit.ly/LabWeek17 
• Suspicious white powder sent to government offices? There’s a lab for that. #LabWeek http://bit.ly/LabWeek17 
• Worried about contaminants in your air, water or soil? There’s a lab for that. #LabWeek http://bit.ly/LabWeek17 
• Just an upset tummy or one case of many in a foodborne outbreak? There’s a lab for that. #LabWeek http://bit.ly/LabWeek17

Graphics

• There’s a Lab for That – Lab Week 2017 (sized for Twitter)
• There’s a Lab for That – Lab Week 2017 (sized for Facebook)
• There’s a Lab for That 2017 (Instagram)
• Official Medical Laboratory Professionals Week logo

Videos

Here are two animated videos to share with your public audiences. Feel free to share the link or embed on your website.

• What is a public health laboratory?
• What is an emerging infectious disease?

What exactly do public health laboratories do? Share these stories that highlight their work:

• PulseNet helps Washington public health solve largest Salmonella outbreak in recent history
• Making sense of newborn screening cut-off values
• APHL: US needs an environmental health surveillance system to prevent crises like Flint
• Zimbabwe makes significant strides in the fight against HIV/AIDS
• Inside the public health lab Zika response: ‘It’s the great unknown as to how much longer this will go on’
• Antimicrobial resistance: What is it? Why is it a problem? What is being done to stop it?

Encourage others to consider laboratory careers! Share these stories:

• Lab sciences grad program brought me from the yogurt factory to public health
• Moving from academia to public health: Did I make the right choice?
• From The Lorax to the Laboratory

Celebration ideas:

• Celebrate Lab Week internally with a social event, banners or other decorations.
• Hold an open house for media, elected officials, school groups, staff families and other members of the public. Check out the Milwaukee Health Department Laboratory’s story about their health fair for students.
• Visit local elementary, middle and high schools to talk with students interested in STEM disciplines.
• Write an op-ed piece for local newspapers and/or magazines to highlight the valuable contributions your public health laboratory staff are making in your community, city and/or state.
• Are you the lab director or section manager? Think of fun and meaningful ways to thank your staff for their dedication to public health.

Other great resources:

• National Environmental Laboratory Professionals Week (NELPW) toolkit
• Participate in an APHL training! Get your team together during Lab Week for this webinar: Emerging and Resurging Infectious Diseases: 2017 happening April 27, 2017. And make sure to check out our other great webinars too!