Michael Pentella, clinical professor of epidemiology at the UI College of Public Health, has received the 2017 Leadership in Biosafety and Biosecurity Award from the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL).

Pentella was previously the associate director for infectious disease at the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory where he was responsible for bacteriology, virology, serology, parasitology, and mycology and was actively involved with bioterrorism preparedness, antimicrobial resistance and pandemic influenza planning. He was formerly director of the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute in Massachusetts.

The Leadership in Biosafety and Biosecurity Award honors a laboratorian with over 10 years of related service in the field of biosafety and biosecurity in a state and/or local public health laboratory. According to APHL, honorees are recognized leaders both within their home laboratories and on a national level (by serving in leadership roles on national committees and taskforces, for example).

Honorees are also instrumental in providing technical and public presentations and publications, developing/advocating for best practices in biosafety/biosecurity, Identifying and presenting emerging issues in the field, conducting or promoting research that lead to improvements or advancing policy in the field of biosafety/biosecurity.

Award recipients were honored during a ceremony at the 2017 APHL Annual Meeting & Eleventh Government Environmental Laboratory Conference in Providence, RI.