The Navy Force Health Protection Command (FHPC) is establishing a new Core Genomics Laboratory in Florida to enhance pathogen detection and genomic surveillance capabilities for forward-deployed military and public health operations. The Navy laboratory’s mission will be to support Navy Medicine and global Force Health Protection through advanced molecular diagnostics, next-generation sequencing (NGS), and bioinformatics-based threat analysis.
As part of the planning process, the Navy Core Laboratory sought guidance from Dr Leonard Peruski, Director of the Wadsworth Center, on the design and implementation of pathogen-agnostic sequencing strategies that can operate in deployed or resource-limited environments. Drawing on his deep experience in microbial genomics, bioinformatics, and public health preparedness in austere settings, as well as prior experience working with the Naval Medical Research Units (NAMRU) and the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Dr Peruski provided advice on infrastructure development, data management, and operational sustainability.
The discussion emphasized how a genomics-based core laboratory can:
- Serve forward-deployed and expeditionary units by enabling rapid detection and characterization of infectious agents, including unknown or bioengineered pathogens;
- Support Navy Medical Research Units and Environmental Preventive Medicine Units (NEPMUs) through coordinated genomic surveillance and data sharing;
- Leverage portable sequencing platforms such as the Oxford Nanopore MinION for field-deployable pathogen identification and antimicrobial resistance monitoring;
- Enable rapid response to emerging and drug-resistant threats, strengthening both operational readiness and global biosurveillance networks.
With infectious disease surveillance increasingly reliant on genomic sequencing, the new Navy Core Genomics Laboratory represents a critical step toward modernizing military health protection. The Wadsworth Center’s engagement underscores its role as a national resource in applied pathogen genomics and its continuing contributions to public health preparedness.