New Jersey Public Health and Environmental Laboratory Receives Gold Standard Award From Association of Public Health Laboratories

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - May 23, 2012) - The New Jersey Public Health and Environmental Laboratory (NJPEL) was awarded the Association of Public Health Laboratories' (APHL) 2012 Gold Standard Award for Public Health Laboratory Excellence Award. The award was presented at a ceremony on Tuesday, May 22, during APHL's Annual Meeting and 6th Government Environmental Laboratory Conference in Seattle, Washington.

The NJPEL recently instituted a number of technical advancements to improve delivery of public health services to state residents. These included:

• Transitioning local health departments from skin to QuantiFERON testing for tuberculosis (TB) exposure. The change makes efficient use of limited resources, because with QuantiFERON testing only one clinic visit is needed to evaluate persons exposed to TB.
• Implementing Perkin Elmer Genetics' Genetic Screening Processors (GSPs) -- the first state to do so -- in the laboratory's Newborn Screening section.
• Evaluating the new Panthera puncher for dried blood spots used in newborn screening. Again, the state was the first to evaluate this instrument.
• Adding an expansive panel of tests for respiratory virus detection.
• Developing a laboratory method for isotope analysis of uranium in water.

"New Jersey's public health and environmental laboratory are innovators in laboratory science and practice. State residents are healthier thanks to the dedication, hard work and ingenuity of its remarkable staff," said Scott Becker, APHL executive director.