New York grants millions to expand veterinary diagnostic laboratory

Diego Diel, DVM, MS, PhD (right), director of the Virology Laboratory, led a tour for attendees before the event (Image courtesy of Cornell University)

During a ceremony at Cornell University, lawmakers in New York announced that $19.5 million in capital funding was granted to the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (NYSVDL). The laboratory, located at the university, will use the money to expand the building to help manage its increasing caseload.

According to the release, this event took place within the current Animal Health Diagnostics Center (AHDC) facility, which was built in 2010, and this new expansion will add 26,000 square feet.¹ The additional space will contain additional laboratories, offices, workstations, training and conference laboratories, and space for material storage and preparations. This expansion will also help support workforce development for the laboratory to train highly qualified diagnosticians. Currently, planning for groundbreaking and construction is officially underway.

“We have put our nation’s best minds in the service of our communities, our economies and our societies,” said Michael Kotlikoff, VMD, PhD, interim president of Cornell University, in the release,¹ where he also mentioned the important roles AHDC and NYSVDL played during the COVID-19 pandemic, testing more than 2 million human samples.²

“This extraordinary partnership between the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and Cornell provides outstanding guidelines and services that benefit the citizens of the state,” he continued.

AHDC and NYSVDL has seen a submission load increase of 90% since the building open its doors in 2010 and processed over 3600,000 accessions in the last 12 months alone, leading to millions of diagnostics tests from veterinary professionals across the world. The laboratories range from anatomic pathology and virology to molecular diagnostics and toxicology. AHDC and NYSVDL also has programs for quality milk production as well as avian and wildlife health.

Around one-quarter of the operational budget for the organization is funded by an already existing contract with the Department of Agriculture and Markets with additional funding from the state’s Department of Environmental Conversation contract for wildlife health. Funding also comes from the USDA Veterinary Services to help the laboratories support high consequence disease surveillance, response, and mitigation activities.

The AHDC and NYSVDL is also a National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility/National Animal Health Laboratory Network liaison laboratory for the Northeast.¹

“The lab plays a key role in protecting public health by conducting robust pathogenic testing on both animals, and during times of great need, human populations to monitor outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus,” expressed Assembly member Anna Kelles (D-125th District).¹

“Given the growing prevalence of viral outbreaks in wildlife and the occurrence of viral mutations leading to the transfer of diseases across animal species and to human populations, this expansion of a world-class viral research laboratory could not be more timely,” she concluded.

References

1. Greaver Cordova M. NYS grants veterinary diagnostic lab $19.5M for building expansion. Cornell Chronicle. Published July 30, 2024. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/07/nys-grants-veterinary-diagnostic-lab-195m-building-expansion
2. McCafferty C. Study finds veterinary diagnostic laboratories played crucial roles in COVID-19 response. dvm360.com. Published July 23, 2024. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://www.dvm360.com/view/study-finds-veterinary-diagnostic-laboratories-played-crucial-roles-in-covid-19-response