Department of Pathology

The University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford began using the SalivaDirect testing method for COVID-19 this past Monday. On Tuesday, Sacred Heart University (Fairfield) also rolled out the testing. With rising concerns of possible outbreaks, the both universities aim to increase the number of students tested and with more rapid results,.

read full Hartford Courant news article here

Sacred Heart University is now working with Yale to begin saliva-based COVID-19 testing beginning this week. The testing method SalivaDirectTM will be used. The method, less invasive and less expensive than nasal-swab testing, was developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH). Clinical validation was performed in collaboration between YSPH, Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale Pathology Labs (YPL). YPL is the first lab to offer SalivaDirectTM to the public, and Sacred Heart is among the first educational institutions to adopt SalivaDirectTM testing. "YPL’s Outreach Program is committed to bringing these standards of excellence to local communities and beyond,” says Angelique W. Levi, M.D., YPL Outreach director and associate professor of pathology.

read full news article here

Yale has designated three independent laboratories to perform the university-developed SalivaDirect™ COVID-19 test. Along with Yale Pathology Labs — the first to offer the test — Access Medical Laboratories, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), and Mirimus, Inc., represent the initial wave of providers for the innovative testing method. They will make SalivaDirect™ available to people in Florida, Minnesota and New York by late September.

see more: Yale News Article

Quick and affordable saliva-based COVID-19 test developed by Yale scientists receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization

The Pathology Clinical Molecular Diagnostic Lab, Directed by Dr. Pei Hui, has been authorized by FDA to test Covid-19 using saliva specimen as part of the FDA EUA, Led by Nate Grubaugh and Anne Wyllie from Yale School of Public Health. This lab would be the first laboratory to offer this test in the coming days. Congratulations to Dr. Pei Hui's leadership for this great achievement and thank the entire team for their efforts and contributions! This success represents an example of how our pathology clinical laboratory can closely collaborate with basic scientists to rapidly bring research to clinical diagnosis.

15M NIDA Grant Awarded to Serena Spudich, Mark Gerstein, and Yuval Kluger

Principal Investigators Dr. Serena Spudich, MD, MA (Neurology), Dr. Mark Gerstein, PhD (Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry), and Dr. Yuval Kluger, PhD (Pathology) were recently awarded a $15 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to establish a Data Center to coordinate, analyze, and make accessible single-cell and other molecular data sets generated by Single-Cell Opioid Responses in the Context of HIV (SCORCH) and other NIDA-funded HIV and substance use disorder projects. The grant will commence on August 1st, 2020 with a project period of five years. This prestigious award is for a multi-disciplinary proposal and will involve Principal Investigators and key personnel: Drs. Ya-Chi Ho, MD, PhD, MMS (Microbial Pathogenesis), Anita Huttner, MD (Pathology), Nenad Sestan, MD, PhD (Neuroscience), and Le Zhang, PhD (Neurology). According to the project narrative:

Opioid use disorder (OUD) and HIV infection can affect cognition and behavior both independently and in combination, but knowledge is limited regarding how brain cells and circuits are altered in association with these conditions. Furthermore, HIV can persist in the brain long term, though the precise cellular locations of HIV infection and whether this infection is worsened by coexistent OUD and HIV are also unknown. The work proposed in this application will help determine which cells and which areas of the brain are involved in these conditions separately and together, thus improving our understanding of the brain effects of OUD and HIV.