The Wadsworth Center Master of Science in Laboratory Sciences Program combines lecture-based coursework with direct laboratory training. In this two-year program, students gain hands-on experience in areas such as public health investigation, infectious disease, environmental assessment, and genetic testing, with specific emphasis on the activities of a public health laboratory. Students graduating from this program will be proficient in conducting laboratory analysis with cutting-edge tools and technology, investigating complex public health questions and responding to everyday challenges in public health. The program is housed at the Wadsworth Center, one of the largest and most comprehensive public health laboratories in the United States. Scientists at the Wadsworth Center study public health issues, from antimicrobial resistance to emerging infections and environmental exposures. As New York State's public health reference laboratory, Wadsworth Center also responds to public health threats, develops advanced methods to detect microbial agents and genetic disorders, and analyzes and identifies environmental chemicals in water, soil, and air. Investigators explore the basic biological processes that contribute to human health and disease, and employ modern methods, such as next generation sequencing, and use state-of-the-art technologies. The Center also operates the most extensive laboratory licensure program for clinical and environmental laboratories, and blood and tissue banks.