The Division of Precision and Computational Diagnostics (PCD) has a dedicated Research and Development (R&D) team which focuses on new clinical test development and revision/improvement of existing assays. The R&D team oversees test development for all four laboratories (Center for Personalized Diagnostics, Cytogenetics, Molecular Pathology, Rittenhouse Molecular Laboratory) within the PCD.
The PCD promotes and supports research efforts of clinical trials as well as academic research. Requests are accepted for numerous indications including, but not limited to, biospecimen acquisition, database mining, and utilization of current clinical assays for both non-routine clinical (e.g. samples associated with clinical trials) and research samples. Request forms are reviewed and approved by the Research Request Committee. Approved requests will be assigned a project lead, who will be the point person for all communication regarding the project.
The Rittenhouse Molecular Laboratory offers high-throughput testing with a focus on infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.
The Molecular Pathology Laboratory specializes in targeted single gene and small panel testing using DNA and/or RNA for a variety of clinical indications in molecular genetics, molecular oncology, identity testing, and molecular virology. Technologies include real-time PCR and reverse transcription PCR, genotyping, methylation analysis, capillary electrophoresis, pyrosequencing, and next generation sequencing.
