One of the projects Ovation Research Network (ORN) labs are actively participating in is the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech Variant Task Force (VTF) by performing variant identification on remnant positive COVID samples. The VTF has published a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology highlighting that known COVID-19 variants can be identified within one to two days using genotyping for a fraction of the cost of next-generation sequencing. Several news outlets, including GenomeWeb, have highlighted this effort. 

Proving the efficacy of a relatively fast, low-cost, high-volume technique is more critical than ever as the omicron subvariants continue to change the landscape of COVID-19. The ROSALIND Tracker for COVID-19’s public dashboard summarizes the team’s ongoing SARS-CoV-2 surveillance data.

This project has been a rewarding experience for the Ovation team and our partner ORN labs.

“We are excited for the opportunity to directly contribute to timely and important research through our participation in the Ovation Research Network. The RADx Tech program is one example of the research initiatives to which we hope to continue contributing in the coming years.”
– Lisa Justesen, COO of Soft Cell Labs

Read the article from GenomeWeb.