The American Public Health Association (APHA) will be holding their annual conference, APHA 2025, in Washington, DC this November. The annual meeting and expo convenes about 12,000 public health professionals and partners from around the world. The 2025 theme is Making the Public’s Health a National Priority.

Join the Public Health Foundation (PHF) at APHA 2025!

PHF will be presenting the following conference sessions: 

The Role of Academic Health Department Partnerships in Responding to Community Needs (Session 2041)

Sunday, November 2, 2025 from 2:30-4pm EDT

Ron Bialek, MPP, Kathleen Amos, MLIS and Mayela Arana, MPH

Partnerships between health departments and academic institutions – academic health department (AHD) partnerships – have long helped to bridge the gap between public health practice and academic public health and are playing a critical role in strengthening our collective response and resilience. AHD partnerships have been instrumental in enhancing the capacity of health departments, educating and training the current and future public health workforce, advancing community-based research, improving performance and supporting accreditation, and providing services to the community. Among other benefits, AHD partnerships help prepare students for careers in health departments, create a pipeline into governmental public health, support recruitment and retention, enhance continuing education, encourage research that is relevant to the local community, and expand organizational capacity. This session will highlight how these comprehensive academic-practice partnerships work together in crisis response and provision of essential services. Of particular focus, this session will showcase how health departments have benefited from partnerships with local academic institutions to provide resources where they are needed, when they are needed. Lessons learned will be discussed, along with tips for developing and sustaining vibrant AHD partnerships. Presenters will also share a new AHD toolkit with resources and tools that can help with developing, formalizing, and expanding AHD partnerships.

Public Health Core Competencies: What’s Working, What’s Not, and What Can Be Improved (Session 2055)

Sunday, November 2, 2025 from 4:30-6pm EDT

Ron Bialek, MPP and Kathleen Amos, MLIS

The Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice wants to hear from you. This listening session is an opportunity to share how your organization is using the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) – what’s working, what’s not, and what could be improved. Your input will inform future Core Competencies resources and tools development as well as lay important groundwork for future revisions to the Core Competencies. Join this session for an open discussion on the Core Competencies, hear from colleagues using the Core Competencies, and learn about resources and tools available to help organizations integrate the Core Competencies into workforce development efforts. Tips for getting started with using the Core Competencies and opportunities for additional guidance and assistance also will be shared