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Fellowship Showcase: Highlights from the 2021-2022 Wadsworth Center Fellows

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Wadsworth Center is committed to the continuing education of the next generation of public health laboratorians. In partnership with the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Wadsworth Center has offered full-time, working fellowships to graduate and post-graduate scientists for more than 25 years. These fellowships continue the career training for the participants while supporting public health initiatives and workforce capacity at Wadsworth Center. Fellows are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities for diagnostic, investigative, and leadership careers in public health. After completion of their fellowship, many continue working at Wadsworth Center as Research Scientists, while others continue their careers at other public health laboratories or in healthcare, industry, or academia.  

Wadsworth Center is a comprehensive and dynamic scientific community that merges clinical and environmental public health testing with fundamental, applied, and translational research. A public health laboratory leader for over 100 years, Wadsworth Center remains on the forefront of bioinformatics; genomics; emerging infectious disease surveillance; environmental monitoring for microbiological, chemical, and radiological toxicants; human biomonitoring for trace elements, pesticides, and industrial chemicals; and emergency response to chemical and microbiological threats. Fellows can be involved in projects ranging from development and implementation of new assays, outbreak investigation, and research at the bench addressing questions of basic science. Fellows are members of the general scientific community at Wadsworth Center and participate in the same educational and training opportunities offered to other staff. They also meet regularly as a fellowship group for trainings on all aspects of the laboratory including safety, quality assurance, management and leadership, plus fundamental business operations.   

The 2021-2022 cohort at Wadsworth Center consists of six fellows supported through two fellowship programs. The APHL/CDC fellowship program supports fellows for one year with the option to extend to a second year depending on the availability of funding. The Wadsworth Center Fellowship Program is a full-time, two-year (post-doctoral), or one-year (post-baccalaureate or post-master’s level) program. Fellows follow a core curriculum covering general, cross-cutting, and specialized competencies for Public Health Laboratory Professionals in addition to developing hands-on experience in a particular focus area such as Infectious Diseases or Bioinformatics.

Fellows 2022

Left to right:  Kate DeRosa, Shannon Murphy, Nora Cleary, Grace Freeman-Gallant, Jasleen Kaur, and Nathalie Colon-Torres