APHL sponsors conferences to share developments in various laboratory disciplines in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other partners. The InFORM Conference and the National Conference on Laboratory Aspects of Tuberculosis are held every two years or as funding is available. Other meetings are one-time convocations, for example, to discuss and build consensus around an emerging issue.
For information on upcoming conferences, contact Terry Reamer, CMP, senior specialist, Meetings, terry.reamer@aphl.org.
InFORM Conference
The Integrated Foodborne Outbreak Response and Management (InFORM) Conference brings together laboratorians, epidemiologists and environmental health specialists involved with foodborne and enteric disease outbreak response for four days of updates and discussion. The meeting is jointly sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch and Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch; the Association of Public Health Laboratories; the US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service; and the US Food and Drug Administration.
Nearly 500 attendees from the US and eight other countries attended the most recent InFORM conference in 2015. Participants represented federal, state and local public health, food and environmental regulatory agencies.
InFORM conferences examine surveillance and outbreak detection of enteric diseases, with a focus on those caused by contaminated foods, water and animals. Programs offer combined and discipline-specific sessions as well as a keynote address and poster session.
National Conference on Laboratory Aspects of Tuberculosis
The National Conference on Laboratory Aspects of Tuberculosis, jointly sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, and APHL, examines the latest developments in TB diagnostic technology and service delivery. The conference attracts approximately 200 laboratory scientists, epidemiologists, state TB controllers and other US public health officials who participate in two-and-a-half days of sessions, posters and exhibits.
Optimizing drug susceptibility testing, use of molecular test methods, troubleshooting problems in the TB laboratory and global TB issues are examples of topics considered at past National Conferences. Note that P.A.C.E. credit is offered for this conference.