Implementing next generation sequencing for rapid diagnostics and public health investigations

Kimberlee Musser, PhD, is the Clinical Director and the Chief of Bacterial Disease for the Wadsworth Center, NYSDOH. She has overseen bacterial public health reference testing, surveillance, and outbreak investigations in NY for more than 25 years following a CDC/APHL Emerging Infectious Diseases postdoctoral fellowship. Her laboratory has developed and validated >100 laboratory-developed tests including real-time PCR assays, MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry, pyrosequencing, and most recently next generation sequencing for clinical and public health testing.

Abstract

The objective of this project is to develop and validate Oxford Nanopore sequencing tests for use on clinical specimens and isolates with improved performance, cost, and efficiency for applications ranging from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) whole genome and targeted sequencing, bacterial identification, and for healthcare associated transmission investigations of antimicrobial resistant and other bacterial pathogens.