APHL Annual Meeting 2013

Whole Genome Sequencing in the Public Health Lab: The Nightmare and the Dream

“Because of hype and disappointment… many…have taken a ‘wake me when we arrive’ approach to the field.”—Bowen, et. al., “Public Health Action in Genomics Is Now Needed beyond Newborn Screening,” Public Health Genomics, September 2012

“It’s exciting, but it’s scary, too. What are we gonna get?” — Carlos Saavedra-Matiz, MD, newborn screening DNA laboratory supervisor, Wadsworth Center

Is your laboratory currently using Next Generation Sequencingtechnologies either in-house or with a partner?

If yes, what sort of applications are you exploring?

YES32%

NO68%

Foodborne outbreak investigation53%

Other infectious outbreak investigation

71%

Human genomics 12%