Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary

Health Research, Inc.'s Wadsworth Center Division has been awarded $480,000 under a Cooperative Agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Research program (CFDA 93.103), effective September 25, 2025, through June 30, 2030. This award supports the continuation of an integrated food defense testing and method development program serving the FDA's Food Emergency Response Network (FERN). The Wadsworth Center will provide radiochemical, microbiological, and chemical testing capabilities, leveraging its position as a world-class public health laboratory and research institute. Key deliverables include microbiology food defense services with isolate sequencing through the center's core sequencing facility and uploads to the GenomeTrakr umbrella project at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, chemistry food defense testing for organic and inorganic toxic chemicals, and radiological food defense screening and quantification of alpha, beta, and gamma emitters in food products.

Building on its established success as an FDA-FERN cooperative agreement laboratory and U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service cooperative agreement laboratory, the Wadsworth Center will continue to function as New York State's laboratory of last resort for microbiology, biodefense, radiochemistry, nuclear counting technologies, and chemical testing for emergency response and preparedness. The award reflects the center's recognized scientific expertise and state-of-the-art analytical capabilities, including advanced mass spectrometry technologies, positioned to support federal food safety and defense initiatives under the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model.