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Inhorn Receives National Award for Lab System Development
Stanley Inhorn, M.D. The Gold Standard award is given to an APHL member who makes significant contributions to the advancement of public health laboratory science and practice. In giving Dr. Inhorn the award, APHL noted his involvement in the early efforts to advance laboratory quality, to establish laboratory standards and to define the services of public health laboratories. In 2002 Dr. Inhorn was co-author of a national publication on the 11 core functions and capabilities of state public health laboratories. From 2004 to 2008, he chaired APHL's Laboratory Systems and Standards Committee. Under his leadership, the committee developed the Laboratory System Improvement Program (L-SIP), which targets improvement of public health laboratory systems by assessing each state's ability to meet those 11 core functions and capabilities. "During my extended career, I have witnessed the transformation of the public health laboratory from a facility that delivered limited services to an institution that provides or assures comprehensive laboratory services to support essential public health services," Inhorn explains. "Public health laboratories are now recognized for their critical roles in emergency response, disease surveillance, and scientific leadership." Dr. Inhorn served as director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene from 1966 to 1980 and was medical director from 1980 until his retirement in 1998. He also served as chair of the UW Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and maintains an Emeritus UW Professorship in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. His background in medicine, laboratory science and public health enabled him to become a national leader in public health laboratory system development. Current WSLH Director Charles Brokopp, Dr. P.H., praises Dr. Inhorn for the tremendous contributions he made to laboratory science and administration while associated with the WSLH. "Dr. Inhorn saw the value of maintaining a public health laboratory as part of the university to take advantage of the scientific and environmental expertise found on campus," Brokopp said. "Over the years, the scope of testing performed in the state public laboratories evolved. Dr. Inhorn's vision for the future of the laboratory helped establish the WSLH as a leading public health laboratory. "Public health labs are now recognized as more than just communicable disease and environmental testing laboratories. Public safety agencies, health departments, environmental agencies and the public rely on the testing performed in the public health laboratory. During the recent H1N1 (swine-origin) influenza outbreak, the state laboratory has been testing hundreds of patient specimens daily while helping to bring other clinical laboratories on line to conduct specialized testing for influenza. It's that kind of collaboration among laboratories in Wisconsin that Stan's work is all about." Attached to the University of Wisconsin-Madison since its founding in 1903, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene provides public, environmental and occupational health laboratory expertise to a wide variety of national, state and local partners. As the state's public, environmental and occupational health laboratory, we help maintain the public health of all Wisconsin's citizens, safeguard the state's environment and educate state residents on public health issues. Staff also serve as members of the UW-Madison faculty. Eleven Core Functions and Capabilities of State Public Health Laboratories
Written By: Jan Klawitter, WSLH Public Affairs & Training Manager
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