Centers of Excellence
Large-scale wastewater surveillance can be used to help communities monitor infection dynamics for SARS-CoV-2 and other microbes of concern.
Nanotrap® Microbiome Particles enable a rapid, automated viral and bacterial concentration method, that directly feeds into nucleic acid extraction and analysis, requiring no filtration or centrifugation. Using this method, microbes can be concentrated from 24 wastewater samples in a 40-minute run, offering substantial throughput improvements. This method can enable the processing of over 100 wastewater samples in a day.
Ceres Nanosciences is now identifying 5 new sites to join the 16 existing Centers of Excellence that are running this high-throughput method around the United States.
These new Centers will be selected based on their ability to utilize the additional surveillance capacity to extend services into underserved and underprivileged communities; to employ staff that is knowledgeable of environmental surveillance in wastewater; to implement and manage high-throughput workflows, to integrate their surveillance systems with local, state, Tribal, and Federal public health decision makers; to demonstrate a commitment to participate in the CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System; and an interest in or existing capability to perform variant identification as part of surveillance monitoring. Centers will also be selected to cover a range of geographic locations in order to provide additional information about different populations and water types around the country.
Each Center will receive the materials and on-site training from Ceres necessary to conduct automated, high-throughput wastewater testing for SARS-CoV-2.