Virus Reference and Surveillance Laboratory (VRSL)

"We must remain devoted to the canons of science that are so much a part of the practice of medicine and the practice of the allied arts. To do otherwise would be to build public policy on quicksand."

David Axelrod, M.D.
New York State Health Commissioner 1979-1991

Wadsworth Center, the most comprehensive state health laboratory in the country, is dedicated to science in the pursuit of health. It fulfills its mission of protecting and promoting the health of New Yorkers through analysis, research and education.

Research Projects

Trials and Studies

• Influenza genome sequencing project, evolution and diversity in influenza
• Detection of respiratory viruses in household transmission study
• Analysis of fatal adenovirus cases

Assays Under Development

• Molecular assays for WuKi viruses
• Multiplex influenza A and B real-time RT-PCR
• Genotypic and phenotypic assays for antiviral susceptibility in influenza and herpes simplex viruses