Institutions
Biotechnology Core Facility Branch (BCFB)
BCFB is a collection of laboratories which encompass key biotechnology areas: Genomic Sequencing, Proteomics/Protein Chemistry, Scientific Computing/Bioinformatics, DNA synthesis, Peptide Synthesis, and Molecular Assays Development.
Qualified candidates can select the lab that most closely aligns with their training needs. All labs are located on the CDC’s main campus in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.
Lesley McGee, PhD
Streptococcus Laboratory
CDC’s Streptococcus Laboratory provides support for active population-based surveillance for invasive streptococcal disease, primarily caused by groups A and B streptococci and Streptococcus pneumoniae.
It supports state and local health departments in the United States to characterize streptococcal isolates and is active in many international collaborations. The laboratory is a reference center for the identification and characterization of streptococci and other Gram-positive catalase-negative cocci.
Areas of focus include training in streptococcal and pneumococcal serology, antibiotic susceptibility testing, and DNA sequence-based strain surveillance. Relevant lab equipment includes 2 Luminex instruments, 8 real-time PCR instruments, dozens of PCR thermocyclers, 5 Sensititre instruments for antibiotic susceptibility testing, 3 DNA extractor robots, and 2 DNA sequencers.
More information can be found on the lab’s homepage here: https://www.cdc.gov/streplab/index.html
Henju Marjuki, PhD
Bacterial Meningitis Laboratory
The Bacterial Meningitis Laboratory (BML) team has a spectrum of expertise and skills in bacteriology, bioinformatics, and data management and analysis.
The Bacterial Meningitis Laboratory, led by Dr. Marjuki, works primarily on two key pathogens: N. meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae. The Lab serves health departments throughout the United States in the characterization of these two organisms for surveillance, outbreak support, and other public health concerns. The lab is also very active in laboratory capacity building and quality control in LMIC’s as the WHO Collaborating Center for Meningitis. The lab conducts public health genomic epidemiologic research to identify bacterial characteristics and to investigate outbreaks.
More information can be found on the lab’s homepage here: https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/laboratory.html
Maria Tondella, PhD
Pertussis and Diphtheria Laboratory
The Pertussis and Diphtheria Laboratory (PDL) provides laboratory support to state and local health departments, as well as international collaborators, for pertussis/diphtheria diagnostics and surveillance, respiratory outbreak investigations, molecular epidemiology of currently circulating strains, diagnostic test development, and vaccine efficacy studies.
PDL provides technical transfer and assistance of pertussis/diphtheria diagnostic techniques throughout Latin America, and in various countries, including India, South Africa, and Haiti.
PDL maintains a large (6000+) collection of Bordetella and Corynebacterium spp. isolates from which ground breaking research has been conducted in Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) initiatives in collaboration with the CDC BCFB, such as whole genome sequencing, molecular typing, toxigenicity and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, screening of vaccine immunogenes production, and transcriptomics. Platforms are available for PCR, Sanger, Illumina and PacBio sequencing, automated DNA extraction and library preparation, ELISAs, and immunoassays.
More information can be found on the lab’s homepage here: https://www.cdc.gov/diphtheria/laboratory.html
Jonas Winchell, PhD
Pneumonia Response and Surveillance Laboratory
The Pneumonia Response and Surveillance Laboratory (PRSL) provides laboratory support in response to unexplained respiratory outbreaks for state and local health departments, as well as international sites.
PRSL is also the main molecular diagnostic lab at CDC for multipathogen assay development and support lab for studies on a variety of syndromes, including meningitis, acute febrile illness, enteric diseases, respiratory illness, sepsis, and neonatal specific pathogens. They train and support collaborators all over the globe, both for specific studies and surveillance projects.
PRSL is also advancing diagnostics as part of the Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) initiative at CDC by developing culture independent diagnostic testing procedures for Legionella, next-generation targeted re-sequencing approaches, and they are implementing bioinformatics analyses for use in field settings.
PRSL is located within the CDC’s Respiratory Diseases Branch in the Division of Bacterial Diseases. You can visit the Division’s homepage here: https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/dbd.html
Ana Litvintseva, PhD
Mycotic Disease Branch Laboratory
The Fungal Research Team (FRT) Laboratory provides laboratory support to the rest of the Mycotic Diseases Branch, state and local health departments, as well as international collaborators for mycotic diseases diagnostics and surveillance, molecular epidemiology of fungal infections, diagnostic test development, and outbreak investigations.
FRT performs ground-breaking research as part of the AMD initiative at CDC, in collaboration with the BCFB, Broad Institute, and the Translational Genomics Institute. It has pioneered whole genome sequencing, molecular typing of pathogenic fungi and human and environmental mycobiome studies. FRT has been involved in several outbreak investigations throughout the US and abroad, has research collaborations with universities, government entities, and industrial partners.
The fungal pathogens studied at FRT include Candida auris, Candida glabrata, Cryptococcus neoformans, Aspergillus fumigatus, Coccidioides spp., Histoplasma capsulatum and other fungi. Platforms are available for PCR, Sanger, Illumina and PacBio sequencing, automated DNA extraction and library preparation, ELISAs, and immunoassays. FRT has BSL3 facilities and conducts research on BSL3 fungi.
More information can be found on the Branch’s homepage here: https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/cdc-and-fungal.html