Main Body

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

Science in the Pursuit of Health ^©

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
• Retrospective analysis on infant autopsies
• Mass-tag and microarray analysis
• Cell culture comparison: conventional tube culture vs. RMix and RMix too shell vials
• HSV antiviral susceptibility

Assays Under Development

• Human Metapneumovirus real-time RT-PCR
• Multiplex influenza A and B real-time RT-PCR
• Parainfluenza types 1-4 real-time RT-PCR
• Coronavirus (229E, OC43 and NL63) real-time RT-PCR
• Electron microscopy for unidentifiable viruses in culture
• Bioplex (beaded microarray) respiratory virus screen