On Tuesday, January 17, 2023 the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Communicable Disease Division (CDD) will change testing to the new Abbott Alinity i instrument for several serological hepatitis, HIV and syphilis assays.

Please read this letter for more information.

As an undergraduate, Nina Desianti became fascinated with diatoms – microscopic single-celled algae with cells walls constructed of silica that live in aquatic environments. Their shapes, their colors, their sizes, and what they can tell us about our environment (past, present and future) – it all captivated Nina’s imagination.

Before joining the WSLH Environmental Toxicology section three years ago, Nina spent several years at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia, which has the second largest diatom collection in the world. One of her research projects with curator Marina Potapova assisting the State of New Jersey on coastline restoration is recounted in this Hakai magazine article – Philadelphia’s Diatom Archive Is a Way, Way, Wayback Machine

In the following Q&A Nina talks more about diatoms, what is was like working with centuries of history at the Academy of Natural Sciences, and how her diatom expertise is now helping Wisconsin’s environment.

When did you first become interested in diatoms and what made you interested in them?

My introduction to diatoms was when I took Protists’ Biology class as an undergraduate at Diponegoro University in Indonesia. I was fascinated by their diversity, their various shapes, and sizes. They look more beautiful under a high magnification microscope, which shows the intricate and striking patterns of their cell walls. Each diatom species has a unique shape and cell wall ornamentations, and it makes you feel that you want to collect and catalog them.

When did you start working with Dr. Potapova? Were you a graduate student at Drexel University? How long did you work as her research assistant?

I joined Dr. Potapova’s lab in 2013 as a graduate student and I worked as a research assistant at her lab for seven years, where I learned more about coastal wetland diatoms, the diatoms that are found in estuarine habitats.

What was it like to work at the Academy of Natural Sciences with the diatom herbarium and centuries of history? How old were the oldest diatoms in the herbarium?

The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia hosted one of the largest diatom herbariums in the world and is equipped with great facilities, a state-of-the-art microscope, and the best library for literature on diatom research. It was a great opportunity to be able to work there. I had access to the special collections – types of specimens of diatoms described hundreds of years ago, with the oldest slide dated back to 1808 – and access to rare books or literature on diatoms. Everything is in one place – it’s the ideal place to study diatoms. Many scientists who study diatoms have visited the Academy of Natural Science and sometimes they spend more time there to study a particular species that they are interested in.

The oldest diatoms in the herbarium would be diatoms described from the Late Miocene to the early Pliocene, millions of years ago. In 1985, Mark Whiting and Hans Schrader studied the deposits of fossil marine diatoms in the Pacific Northwest and described a couple of species of diatoms, and they deposited the diatom type slides at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Do you know if New Jersey has started acting on what you and Dr. Potapova found in your research?

I think New Jersey is continuing its effort in protecting its estuaries and salt marshes, and building partnerships with federal organizations, universities, private organizations, and the communities of the New Jersey coastal areas to work together to help restore, protect, and enhance the water quality and natural resources of the New Jersey estuaries and its watershed. In fact, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection continues to collaborate with our lab on a research project on the reconstruction of past environmental conditions of the New Jersey coastal wetlands using diatoms.

Are there many diatom researchers or is the field pretty small?

There are not a lot of diatom researchers; it’s a pretty small field.

How did you end up here at the WI State Lab of Hygiene? What interested you in working here?

In late 2019, the WI State Lab of Hygiene opened a position for an Environmental Health Specialist in the Environmental Toxicology department and they were looking for someone who can also identify diatoms, besides working in the Environmental Toxicology Lab. I applied for the job because I have experience with diatom analysis, and I am excited to learn more and gain skills in Environmental Toxicology. It is also an opportunity for me to study the diatom flora of Wisconsin.

How are you using diatoms here in Wisconsin? What can diatoms tell us about Wisconsin’s environment?

I collaborate with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to refine the established Diatom Phosphorus Index (DPI), a diatom-based model to estimate nutrient pollution in streams and rivers, particularly phosphorus. DPI employs a statistical technique on a suite of diatom species composition and total phosphorus (TP) datasets collected from streams and rivers across Wisconsin. DPI is an effective way to assess water quality and monitor the phosphorus level in streams and waters since it can tell if there is chronic nutrient pollution.

The implementation of DPI will help us to decide if restoration work is needed in impacted areas. From the pilot study alone, we can detect areas impacted by erosion and high levels of phosphorus based on the diatom community. There is a diatom species composition shift when we compare the diatom community in the Northern Lakes and Forest area to the area where there are more agricultural activities.

Anything else you’d like folks to know about diatoms or your research?

In the process of studying the diatom flora of Wisconsin, my collaborator Gina LaLiberte from WDNR and I established a new combination of diatom species and we published it in a paper last March.

Diatom science is a fertile field; there are more species to be found in our backyard! And don’t forget to thank the diatoms since they produce 20-30% of the air we breathe!

WSLH Newborn Screening Director and UW Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Mei Baker and WSLH Newborn Screening Chemist Dr. Brian Conti were named 1 of 6 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) 2022 Innovation Award nominees.

Mei and Brian developed a pediatric familial hypercholesterolemia screening method that uses dried blood samples (DBS) to directly measure low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).

Approximately 1 in 200-300 people will develop familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a common genetic disorder characterized by elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (aka “bad cholesterol”) and premature cardiovascular disease. Recent findings show that lowering cholesterol levels at a young age helps prevent the buildup of fats and cholesterol in the arteries and decreases cardiovascular events in adulthood.

On December 15th, WARF announced the two award winners. Although Baker and Conti’s project was not selected, the fact that they were among six nominees selected from more than 400 WARF innovation disclosures is a tremendous honor.

As part of our response to the COVID pandemic, WSLH scientists have been performing genomic sequencing to track how the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the virus that causes COVID) changes over time.

As the virus replicates and makes copies of itself, changes in the genome called mutations are introduced. When a virus emerges with one or more new changes it is referred to as a variant of the original virus.

The WSLH launched two genomic dashboards to visually display these virus variants. Data in these dashboards includes genomic sequencing performed at the WSLH, as well as other laboratories and public health partners. Data is made publicly available after review and is compliant with Data-Sharing and Usage agreements.

• SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Dashboard (virus isolated from patient samples)
• SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Genomic Dashboard (virus isolated from wastewater samples to identify which variants are circulating in a community)

The dashboards are part of the WSLH Data Portal, which allows people to explore accessible up to date information made available from public datasets. Data is transformed, linked, and visualized to increase clarity, reveal trends, simplify access, and promote overall information transparency. The plan is for additional dashboards to be added to the data portal in the future.

Dr. Kelsey Florek with the WSLH Communicable Disease Division developed the data portal and the SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Dashboard and collaborated with Dr. Adelaide Roguet with the WSLH Wastewater-Based Epidemiology Team, who created the SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Genomic Dashboard.

WSLH Newborn Screening Director and UW Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Mei Baker received the Everyday Life Saver Award in Newborn Screening at the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) 2022 Newborn Screening Symposium.

APHL’s Everyday Life Saver Award in Newborn Screening highlights the meaningful, ongoing ways the recipient contributes to the morale of their team and/or operations of their program on a daily basis.

Baker also won APHL’s Harry Hannon Laboratory Improvement Award in Newborn Screening in 2014, but said this latest award means so much more.

“This second APHL award holds a very special place in my heart because the nominators are from home,” she said.

 

By Jori Skalitzky, UW–Madison CALS Office of External Relations

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Soil and Forage Analysis Lab, a trusted resource for soil testing services utilized by farmers, gardeners, researchers and others, has moved to a new home — physically and administratively. Formerly housed at the university’s Marshfield Agricultural Research Station in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the lab is now part of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) and located in a WSLH facility in Madison, Wisconsin.

“The Soil and Forage Analysis Lab is a great addition to the State Lab of Hygiene, as we already offer a wide variety of tests related to public and environmental health, primarily focusing on water and air,” says Jamie Schauer, WSLH director and professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UW–Madison. “This addition will serve as an engine to drive research and promote activity in the space of soil, with the big-picture goal of studying and supporting a healthy environment.”

The WSLH, established in 1903, is part of UW­–Madison and serves as the state’s official public, environmental and occupational health laboratory. It provides analytical services, research and development, public health programs, laboratory proficiency testing, and training and education of students and professionals.

The Soil and Forage Analysis Lab offers a suite of soil testing packages, including for farm, lawn and garden, turfgrass and forest soils. It also offers a wide variety of individual tests, quantifying single compounds or nutrients found in soil, forage, manure and plants.

Learn more at – https://news.cals.wisc.edu/2022/12/05/uw-soil-and-forage-analysis-lab-moves-to-wisconsin-state-lab-of-hygiene/

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations due to the observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

The table below lists the hours of operations for our Clinical Specimen Receiving department.

As always, if you have an off-hours emergency, please call the WSLH Emergency Pager at 608-263-3280.

NOTE: The WSLH Environmental Health Division also will be closed on December 26th and January 2nd. For environmental health samples – including water testing samples – it is best to submit your samples as early in the weeks of December 19th and 26th as possible due to the holidays.

 

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene will be closed on Thursday, November 24, 2022 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Our Specimen Receiving departments will observe the following hours of operation for the Thanksgiving holiday:

 

 

 

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations for the Labor Day holiday.

As always, if you have an off-hours emergency, please call the WSLH Emergency Pager at 608-263-3280.

 

On Thursday, September 1, 2022 the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) will begin testing for Mycoplasma genitalium using the Aptima Transcription-Mediated Amplification (TMA) assay. This assay uses nucleic acid probes and TMA for the qualitative detection of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) to aid in the diagnosis of M. genitalium infection. The M. genitalium assay uses the same Aptima collection kits currently used for CT/GC testing and a single specimen can be used for multiple tests. M. genitalium testing is available for patients 14 years and older.

Read the full test announcement