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.

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.