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Dr. Kirsten St. George, Chief of the Laboratory of Viral Diseases at Wadsworth Center, was recently invited to speak at a technical workshop hosted by the Trust for Science Technology and Research of Puerto Rico, the Brain Trust for Tropical Diseases Research & Prevention, and the CDC Dengue Branch.

For the second year in a row, a Wadsworth Center director has received the Harry Hannon Laboratory Improvement Award in Newborn Screening from the Assocation of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). Joseph Orsini, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the Newborn Screening Program at the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center, received the award at the APHL Newborn Screening and Genetic Testing Symposium in New Orleans. Last year, the award was presented to the Director of the Program, Michele Caggana, Sc.D., FACMG.

New York State Department of Health Press Release October 4, 2017

On August 16, 2017 Wadsworth Center’s Master of Science in Laboratory Sciences (MLS) Program graduates its fourth class. One component of Wadsworth Center’s mission is education. The work of this year’s three graduates links the MLS Program to the Center’s primary mission: public health.

“Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.” -Babe Ruth As any fan or parent who spends countless hours at the field can tell you, it’s baseball season. Just as the baseball stars we watch on TV have put decades of hard work into becoming the best in their field, so too have the Wadsworth Center staff who received national recognition at the annual Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) meeting this June. Their many contributions and exceptional leadership over the years make them all winners.

Members of Wadsworth Center’s Bacteriology Laboratory, along with a guest lecturer from the CDC, provided a 2-day classroom and hands-on workshop in culture, susceptibility and DNA detection of antibiotic resistant bacteria for 12 laboratory professionals from 7 state public health laboratories.

FDA accredits Wadsworth Center as a 3rd party reviewer for selected premarket notifications or 510(k)s, which allows the Center to review, on FDA’s behalf, certain devices that fall under this classification. This accreditation represents the recognition of the expertise acquired by the Center’s staff from reviewing laboratory developed tests as part of New York’s Clinical Laboratory Reference System.

At the recent Clinical Virology Symposium in Savannah, Georgia, Dr. St. George, Chief of the Laboratory of Viral Diseases at the Wadsworth Center, was presented with the 2017 Diagnostic Virology Award. Established in 1985, this international career-achievement award from the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology, acknowledges an individual whose contributions to viral diagnosis have had a major impact on the discipline.

Wadsworth Center Newborn Screening Program Sequences the Gene Responsible for Cystic Fibrosis Good news for new parents: the Wadsworth Center’s Newborn Screening Program has developed a more precise screening tool for cystic fibrosis (CF), alleviating the anxiety that accompanies a false positive test and the need for additional diagnostic testing.

New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center Masters of Laboratory Science students exhibit interactive public health activities during the Albany March for Science at the New York State Capitol on Saturday, April 22, 2017. Celebrated in cities world-wide, the March for Science is a day to promote evidence-based methodology and discovery, and understand the role that science plays in each of our daily lives.

In a November 4 press release, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned that Candida auris had been detected for the first time in the US in four states: New York, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey.

The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and Wadsworth Center’s Master of Science in Laboratory Sciences (MLS) Programs welcomed interested students to their annual open house. Faculty, laboratory staff and program graduates were on hand to meet with prospective students and present posters describing their research studies. Students were given a formal overview of the REU and MLS programs, mingled with faculty, students and researchers, and toured the laboratories.

Dr. Kannan, of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, is recognized as the 2017 recipient of the Lawrence S. Sturman Excellence in Research Award for his profound impact and contribution to the field of biomonitoring and environmental exposure assessment.

Wadsworth Center One of Four Laboratories in the Nation Chosen to Pilot Use of a Web Application and Next Generation Sequencing to Fight HCV TransmissionThe CDC estimates that between 2.7 and 3.9 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C. You might be familiar with the TV announcements that say at least half of those born between 1945 and 1965 don’t know they have HCV, but did you know that HCV infections have risen over 150% in teens and young adults in recent years?

An article published recently in EBioMedicine describes a new multiplex serologic assay developed by Wadsworth Center’s Diagnostic Immunology Laboratory Director, Dr. Susan Wong, in collaboration with Dr. Pei-Yong Shi of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). It is anticipated that this test will soon be approved for use on clinical specimens.

How can scientists, who represent approximately 2.5% of the total workforce, communicate effectively with the rest of us? This was the topic of an interactive workshop held recently at the Wadsworth Center. The American Society of Microbiology’s (ASM) Eastern New York Branch sponsored the event for their undergraduate, graduate and post–doctoral trainee chapter. Among those in attendance were students and post-docs from the Wadsworth Center, Albany Medical College, UAlbany, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and West Point Military Academy.

Pushing the Boundaries of Cryo-Electron MicroscopyWe’ve all left a water bottle in the freezer overnight only to find it bulging the next morning. That’s what water does when it freezes. It expands, right?Not always.Did you know, it is possible to freeze water without it expanding?Water expands when it freezes because ice crystals form. Since ice crystals damage cell structure, two freezing methods that don’t result in crystal formation are used in cryo-electron microscopy:

FERN was formed in response to the anthrax attacks that followed 9/11. It was then and is now a network of local, state and federal laboratories which contributes testing capability and capacity, relieving the burden to other agencies that also test food samples. Over time, the mission of FERN has broadened to include food safety and public health emergency and outbreak testing.Because food could be contaminated, intentionally or not, by many types of agents, there are FERN microbiology, chemical, and radiation laboratories. Wadsworth Center is home to all three.

Former Arbovirus Laboratory Director and ProMED Co-founder Jack Woodall January 13, 1935 – October 24, 2016 Dr. Woodall lived in many countries and worked in even more throughout his lifetime. What follows is by no means a complete list:

For bacteria, sharing genetic information can be critical to survival. It can also make them fitter, better pathogens, and more able to evade the immune system and resist antibiotics. One way bacteria share their genetic information is by a process called conjugation, in which DNA is transferred from a donor to a recipient strain. Incorporation of the donor genetic information into the recipient chromosome can confer novel functions to the resulting transconjugant cells.