The Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program (CLEP), part of the Wadsworth Center, regulates clinical laboratories that perform testing on specimens originating in New York State. This oversight applies to independent laboratories, hospitals performing clinical testing, and certain physician practices.  As part of its mission, CLEP provides guidance to regulated laboratories and other stakeholders on regulatory requirements and best practices.

Wastewater-based epidemiology provides a noninvasive, objective way to estimate community-level drug consumption and validate patterns of drug use. Mapping local patterns can help identify high-risk populations, geographic hotspots, and emerging behavioral trends, supporting targeted, evidence-based, and culturally relevant public health interventions. Although widely used in European cities, wastewater surveillance can be especially valuable in rural areas, where access to drug rehabilitation and other services may be limited.

Dr. Kimberlee Musser, Deputy Director of the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Infectious Diseases, was invited to participate in a World Health Organization technical consultation on tuberculosis diagnostics in Geneva, Switzerland, in October 2026. The consultation brought together global experts in tuberculosis diagnostics to exchange knowledge and inform discussions on testing approaches. Dr. Musser delivered a presentation and contributed her expertise to the meeting.

On October 26, 2026, Kiran Mall of the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Scientific Cores brought the world of the public health laboratory to life for students at Saint Gregory’s School.  The classroom was filled with excitement as students took on the role of scientists: designing an experiment, writing standard operating procedures, and carrying out their work to create pop-resistant bubbles.  

Dr. Patrick Parsons, Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences (DEHS) and Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan, Deputy Director of DEHS, attended the 2026 International Society of Exposure Science (ISES) annual meeting, in Vancouver, Canada, October 4-8, 2026. 

Dr. Patrick Parsons, director of the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Environmental Health Sciences, presented the annual Dr. John Rosen Memorial Lecture at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York City on October 14, 2026. The annual memorial lecture marks the beginning of International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, observed October 18-24, 2026.

On October 22, 2026, staff from the Wadsworth Center’s Nuclear Chemistry Laboratory met with colleagues from Ontario, Canada’s Radiation Protection Services Laboratory, a provincial laboratory operated by the Government of Ontario, to establish a relationship between similar programs.

The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Annual Newborn Screening Symposium was held October 11-15 in New Orleans, Louisiana. An estimated 500 scientists and health care professionals from across the United States and other countries attended the symposium. The meeting addressed state, national, and international newborn screening, genetic testing, and policy issues central to public health newborn screening systems.

On October 15, Dr. Joseph Wade, Associate Director for Research and Technology at the Wadsworth Center, organized a half-day retreat for scientists leading independent public health research programs. Held at the University at Albany, 52 participants, including three senior staff members from Health Research, Inc., attended.

Dr. Soneya Majumdar, a postdoctoral fellow in the Agrawal Laboratory at the Wadsworth Center, presented her research at the Life Sciences Research Symposium held at the University at Albany on October 13, 2026.  

Universal newborn screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been mandatory in New York State since 1997. The goal of screening is to prevent mother-to-child transmission by using approaches including antiretroviral therapy in the newborn and lactating mother. Screening is performed at the Wadsworth Center using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that detects maternal antibodies in dried blood spots from newborns. Newborns who screen positive are referred to an infectious disease specialist for follow-up.

Wadsworth Center Deputy Director Dr. James Chithalen presented the 36th Leonard A. Ford Lectureship at Minnesota State University Mankato.  The lectureship is supported by Barbara Olson and Joyce Anderson in honor of their father, Leonard A.

Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan of the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Environmental Health Sciences presented at the Overdose to Action in States Biosurveillance Technical Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.  Fatal and nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses have increased in New York State since 2010. The New York State Department of Health uses multiple data sources – including mortality, emergency department, hospitalization, and emergency medical services data – to monitor overdose trends and support prevention efforts.

The Community. Advancement. Recruitment. Engagement. (CARE) Steering Committee recently completed its second year of bringing staff from across the Wadsworth Center together to develop and execute initiatives that strengthen the laboratory's workforce.The Steering Committee began with 23 staff representing areas across the Center and has continued to grow, with 25 members participating in its second year. The committee's activities have focused on all aspects of the central CARE mission: Build community, advance careers, promote recruitments, and engage people.

Dr. Sudha Chaturvedi, Director of the Mycology Laboratory at the Wadsworth Center, has been selected by the American Academy of Microbiology as the 2027 recipient of the Elizabeth O. King Award. This prestigious honor recognizes researchers who have made significant contributions to public health and to the discovery of new pathogens. Dr. Chaturvedi is being recognized for her innovative research in fungal diagnostics, genomics, drug resistance, and pathogenesis. 

Dr. Jordan Holl, an Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Fellow conducting original research under the mentorship of Dr. Anil Ojha in the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Genetics, presented his work during APHL’s Fellowship & Internship Project Presentation Webinar Series on September 17, 2026.  Jordan’s  Dr.

Wadsworth Center scientists Drs. Rajendra K. Agrawal, Nilesh K. Banavali, and Soneya Majumdar presented research at the 20th Translational Control meeting, held September 1-5 at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) invited Dr. Patrick Parsons, Director of the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Environmental Health Sciences, to participate in its Expert Consultation on Prevention, Clinical Management and Surveillance of Lead Exposure in the WHO South-East Asia Region. The meeting took place August 11-13, 2026, in Kathmandu, Nepal. 

The New York State Department of Health Wadsworth Center Biodefense Laboratory received two national awards at the 2026 Laboratory Response Network for Biological Threats Preparedness (LRN-B) Technical Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, on September 3. The awards were presented by the Association of Public Health Laboratories and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for significant contributions to national biological-threat preparedness and response.

Subpart 58-1 of Title 10 of the New York State Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) was amended, and new Subpart 58-6 was adopted on September 2, 2026.