Dr. Kimberlee Musser of the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Infectious Diseases was invited to attend the Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Laboratory Network Central Region Laboratory In-Person Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 10-12, as a cross-regional representative of the Northeast AR Laboratory Network. Dr. Musser delivered a presentation and contributed to discussions throughout the meeting, drawing on 10 years of experience supporting the Wadsworth Center’s role in the Northeast Regional AR Laboratory Network. She shared perspectives specific to New York State, including the Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program (NYS CLEP), laboratory-developed tests, and next-generation sequencing.
The meeting convened public health scientists and laboratory directors from the Minnesota Public Health Laboratory, Central Region state laboratories, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Association of Public Health Laboratories. Discussions focused on current challenges, successes, and future directions for the AR Laboratory Network. Key topics included carbapenem-resistant organisms, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii, as well as Candida auris. Participants also discussed challenges in colonization screening, emerging antimicrobial-resistance trends, updated testing guidance, special projects, and strategies to sustain the network’s public health impact.