Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Biosafety Program: 2023

What to know

The ECHO Biosafety Program addresses challenges in clinical and public health laboratories through the development of a community of practice (CoP). This page contains the ECHO Biosafety session materials from 2023.

Background

This project is an adaptation of the clinician-based ECHO Model™, developed by the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. The ECHO Model™ invites peers to engage in a virtual environment on a frequent, regular basis where they share support, guidance, and feedback. The goal of this project is to use the ECHO Model to improve biosafety in clinical and public health laboratories by increasing the knowledge and skills of the biosafety CoP members to address previously identified biosafety gaps. The objectives of this project are to:

  • Discuss biosafety challenges among clinical and public health laboratory professionals
  • Foster collaborations and sharing of laboratory biosafety expertise
  • Promote the application of best biosafety practices and advance the culture and practice of laboratory safety

The ECHO Biosafety sessions are 60-90 minutes each and occur every month. The CoP members convening at the sessions will share best practices, tools, and resources to address biosafety gaps in clinical and public health laboratories.

For questions, contact DLSbiosafety@cdc.gov.

2023 ECHO Biosafety Sessions

Month

Area of Discussion

Speakers

January 31

Public Health Laboratory Professional Burnout and Effect on Safety

Session Materials

 

 

Anthony Tran, DrPH, MPH, D(ABMM) 

California Department of Public Health

February 28

Risk Assessment in Clinical Laboratories

Session Materials

 

Crystal Fortune, MPH, MLS (ASCP)CM RBP (ABSA)

Montana Laboratory Services Bureau

March 22

Safely Implementing New Diagnostics Platforms Commonly Used in Clinical Laboratories

Session Materials

 

Christina Egan, PhD 

Michael J. Perry, MS, MS Ed. 

New York State Department of Health 

April 25

Decontamination of Laboratory Equipment

Session Materials

 

Shawn G. Gibbs, PhD, MBA, CIH  

School of Public Health, Texas A&M University 

Aurora Le, PhD, MPH, CPH, CSP 

School of Public Health, University of Michigan 

May 30

PPE Use (What, Who, Why, When, and How)

Session Materials

 

Peter C. Iwen, PhD, D(ABMM), F(AAM) 

Nebraska Public Health Laboratory University Nebraska Medical Center 

June 27

Laboratory Acquired Infections

Session Materials

 

Sheldon Campbell, MD, PhD 

David Peaper, PhD 

Yale University School of Medicine

July 18

Biosafety Challenges in Alaska

Session Materials

 

John Laurance  

Alaska State Public Health Laboratories

August 29

Safety Challenges with Specimen Collection, Transport, Accessioning, and Storage

Session Materials

 

Joey Stringer 

Kayle Cirrincione

Dallas County Health and Human Services

September 26

Medical Waste Management

Session Materials

 

Nikki Parrish, PhD 

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

October 31

Quality in Biosafety

Session Materials

 

Jill J. Power, MS, M(ASCP), CMQ/OE(ASQ)

New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories

November 28

Laboratory Professional Vaccine Compliance and Effect on Safety

Session Materials

 

Michael Pentella, PhD, D(ABMM) 

State Hygienic Laboratory,University of Iowa