Laboratory Response Network

New York State LRN

(518) 457-9795
(518) 473-1326
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The Laboratory Response Network (LRN) is a consortium of local, state and federal public health, clinical, food testing, veterinary, and environmental testing laboratories intended to provide a coordinated and immediate response to biological and chemical terrorism, emerging infectious diseases, and other public health emergencies.

Drs. Jill Taylor, Jon Wolpaw, and Commissioner Howard Zucker cut the ribbon.

National Center for Adaptive Neurotechnologies (NCAN) Open House

Commissioner of Health, Dr. Howard Zucker reflected that Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology frees those who, like Stephen Hawking, are locked-in by allowing the silent to speak and the immobile to move. It aids those with injury, illness and stroke by taking advantage of lifelong brain plasticity that not long ago we didn’t realize existed. With the use of hardware and software, thoughts can control a keyboard enabling the user to text, email or move a wheelchair.
Colorized SEM Legionella. Photo credit: Janice Haney Carr; Content: CDC/Margaret Williams, Claressa Lucas, Tatiana Travis

Wadsworth Center’s Bacteriology Laboratory Plays a Pivotal Role in New York City's Legionella Outbreak

The Wadsworth Center’s Bacteriology Laboratory played a pivotal role in the recent Legionella outbreak in New York City. The classical approach to Legionella testing is culture, but, as Legionella are slow growing and fastidious organisms and the water samples are usually heavily contaminated with other bacteria, obtaining results can take a long time, delaying the required public health response. In order to support more rapid decision making, Dr.
Newborn Screening Program

Newborn Screening Program Pilot Study: Hurler Syndrome

The New York State Newborn Screening Program screens all infants born in the state for 47 different diseases. In addition, the program is currently performing a pilot study with Dr. Melissa Wasserstein (pictured left), from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, to screen for four additional diseases that are lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs). Four New York City hospitals are participating and approximately 500 infants are being tested weekly in the pilot study.  The newest disorder to be tested is called Hurler syndrome.
Dr. Anil Ojha

Dr. Anil Ojha - Turning the Tide on Tuberculosis

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 2 million people are infected and 23,000 people die annually from drug resistant bacteria in the United States alone. Drug resistant tuberculosis in particular is described by CDC as a Serious Threat. For these reasons, bacterial drug resistance is a primary research focus for the Wadsworth Center.
NYS Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, Wadsworth Director Dr. Jill Taylor and Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul Visits Wadsworth Center's David Axelrod Institute for Public Health

On Monday June 15th the Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Kathy Hochul, visited the David Axelrod Institute. She had specifically asked to learn more about our preparedness and biodefense activities, so the first stop was a tour of the Biodefense Laboratory. Dr. Christina Egan described the laboratory’s capabilities to detect agents-of-concern in white powders, as well as other environmental samples, and the major push in the development and evaluation of new technologies since the anthrax attacks of 2001.
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