The Safe Drinking Water Act sets stringent standards for the detection of radioactive contaminants in public water systems. A new study from the Wadsworth Center’s Nuclear Chemistry Laboratory explores how these requirements might be exceeded through improved analytical sensitivity.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO PREPARE FOR THIS CHANGE?

Dr. Joseph Orsini, Deputy Director of the Newborn Screening Program at the Wadsworth Center, has been honored with the 2025 George Cunningham Visionary Award in Newborn Screening. This prestigious lifetime achievement award recognizes individuals working in U.S.

The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) held its annual Newborn Screening Symposium from October 5–9 in Providence, Rhode Island, bringing together approximately 570 scientists and healthcare professionals from across the United States and around the world. The symposium addressed a broad range of topics critical to public health newborn screening systems, including enhanced biochemical and molecular screening technologies; methods for detecting new conditions; quality improvement initiatives; strateg

The Wadsworth Center’s Mycology Laboratory has developed an in-house MALDI-TOF MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization - time of flight mass spectrometry) library comprising rare yeast species, which is now one of the contributed databases available through the CDC’s MicrobeNet platform.

The New York State Newborn Screening Program housed at the Wadsworth Center was the first program in the U.S. to implement screening for sickle cell disease in 1975. Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder affecting hemoglobin, the major protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells. The abnormal hemoglobin causes sickle-shaped red blood cells that can break down prematurely and/or block blood flow, leading to anemia, pain, infections, and other severe complications. Sickle cell disease affects more than 100,000 people in the U.S.

Approximately half of all cases of reported infertility in the United States involve malefactor, which is commonly diagnosed via standardized analysis of semen quality parameters that include sperm concentration, motility, and morphology.  

September is designated as Public Health Laboratory Appreciation Month. Wadsworth Center proudly joined the Association of Public Health Laboratories and colleagues nationwide in honoring the vital role these laboratories—and every individual within them—play in protecting public health. 

Read the New York State Department of Health Press Release.

Read the Association of Public Health Laboratories' Blog post spotlighting Wadsworth Center scientist Jean Rock.