The Newborn Screening Program at the Wadsworth Center has been awarded a two-year Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Screening Improvement Program (SIP) grant titled CF-GENES-II: Improving Genetic Counseling Access for Caregivers of Infants with Cystic Fibrosis Newborn Screen-Positive, Inconclusive Diagnosis in New York State.The Wadsworth Center screens every infant born in New York State for cystic fibrosis (CF). Infants with positive screening results are referred to one of the state’s specialty care centers for diagnostic testing, clinical evaluation, treatment, and follow-up.

Due to limitations in arbovirus testing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Wadsworth Center’s Viral Encephalitis Laboratory, Diagnostic Immunology Laboratory and Arbovirus Laboratory have been under federal contract since April to provide diagnostic testing for patients across the United States.

Dr. George Donati, Deputy Director of the Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry at the Wadsworth Center, recently co-authored a study led by Professor Chelsie Armbruster of SUNY Buffalo.

A new study from the Wadsworth Center and collaborators identifies a protein that regulates cell-to-cell communication in mycobacteria. The paper, titled “WhiB6 Transduces Contact-Dependent Signaling in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Coordinately Induces Both ESX-1 and ESX-4,” has been accepted for publication in the top tier journal, Molecular Microbiology.

Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan, Deputy Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the Wadsworth Center and Professor at the University at Albany, was recognized as an Outstanding Researcher during the university’s annual Research and Education (R&E) Week Awards Ceremony held on Friday, October 31. This year’s R&E Week theme, “Celebrating Research from Innovation to Impact,” highlighted the transformative role of research in improving communities and advancing public health.

Dr. Rajendra Agrawal of the Wadsworth Center was invited to speak at the Ehrenberg–Liljas Symposium on Mechanisms and Milestones in Translation, held at Uppsala University, Sweden, on October 27–28, 2025. The meeting honored the pioneering contributions of Professors Måns Ehrenberg and Anders Liljas, both distinguished ribosome biologists and former members of the Nobel Prize Committee. 

Dr. Abhishek Jain is a newly recruited investigator in the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Environmental Health Sciences, and has been selected to receive The Bioanalysis Rising Star award recognizing the most promising early-career scientists in the field of bioanalysis. The vision of this award is to promote the work of highly talented researchers, offering a springboard to help establish themselves in the exciting world of bioanalysis. This award recognizes Dr. Jain’s overall contributions to the field of bioanalysis over the past 10 years.  

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.