The Wadsworth Center, in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Health and Syracuse University, hosted a Wastewater Surveillance Summit on October 23. The event brought together experts from public health, academia, and research organizations to discuss innovations, share experiences, and explore future directions in wastewater-based surveillance. 

Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan from the Division of Environmental Health Sciences (DEHS) at the Wadsworth Center, has been invited to serve on the Overdose Biosurveillance Task Force (OBTF), an advisory group charged by the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Board of Directors to provide subject matter expertise and input into the creation, dissemination, and promotion of resources for public health laboratories developing and conducting overdose biosurveillance programs in response to the evolving overdose epidemic. 

Fatal drug poisoning (“overdose”) is a growing public health crisis in the United States. According to the United States National Vital Statistics System, 105,007 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2023. Whereas opioids (including prescription opioids, heroin, fentanyl and analogs) were the leading cause of overdose deaths, the pharmacological composition of drugs has evolved into a “polysubstance death” crisis.  

Dr. Denise Kay, Director of the New York State Newborn Screening Program at the Wadsworth Center, was invited to present at the 2025 North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, held October 22–25 in Seattle, Washington.

Click here for the October 2025 revision to the remote activities policy.

Click here for application and information about the program. Association of Public Health Laboratories 2026 Internship Flyer

The Wadsworth Center’s Mycobacteriology Laboratory was contacted by the Texas Department of State Health Services to perform drug susceptibility testing for a transplant recipient previously treated for pre-extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis beginning in 2022. After nine months of therapy, the patient was initially deemed cured following a treatment regimen consisting of bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid (BPaL)—currently the standard for managing multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB).

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.

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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.