Charles Brokopp chosen to lead State Hygiene Laboratory

Charles D. Brokopp, currently a leader with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, has been named the new director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, where he started his career nearly 30 years ago. He will begin on Nov. 6, 2006.

Brokopp, a native of Lancaster, has since 2004 been the director of the Division of Select Agents and Toxins, which is part of the CDC’s Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response. The division registers nearly 400 academic, governmental and private entities that possess, use or transfer biological agents.

Prior to that job, Brokopp compiled more than 16 years experience directing state public health and environmental laboratories, similar in scope to Wisconsin’s hygiene lab, in Idaho, Oregon and Utah. Brokopp launched his public health career in Wisconsin in 1972 as a lab consultant for the hygiene lab, 465 Henry Mall.

“We’re very pleased to bring Charles Brokopp back to Wisconsin, where he will provide us with more than three decades of experience from high-level public health arenas,” says Darrell Bazzell, vice chancellor for administration, who oversaw the search for the position. “This is an important position for Wisconsin citizens and his expertise on managing both well-known and emerging public health threats will be of great benefit to the state.”

The state hygiene lab is responsible for monitoring the public health of Wisconsin citizens, safeguarding the state’s environmental well-being and educating citizens on public health issues. The lab has in recent years monitored the emergence of new pathogens such as hanta virus, new strains of avian influenza and other public health threats.

“The Wisconsin state hygiene lab has always been one of the more progressive and creative public laboratories, and one that has established effective partnerships across Wisconsin,” Brokopp says. He notes that the lab works closely with agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Agriculture, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and others.

The lab, established in 1903 as part of UW–Madison, has a staff of roughly 350 people and a budget of nearly $37 million. Many staff members of the laboratory are also UW–Madison faculty.

Brokopp earned a master’s and doctorate in public health, in 1975 and 1977 respectively, from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He also received a bachelor’s degree in 1971 from UW-Platteville.

He will succeed Ronald Laessig, who directed the hygiene lab since 1980. His salary will be $160,000.