Reagent and Diagnostic Services Branch (RDSB)

The Reagent and Diagnostic Services Branch (RDSB) provides a variety of services to support the research, testing and surveillance of infectious diseases. RDSB offers expertise in regulatory compliant diagnostic kits, high quality laboratory reagents, and monoclonal and polyclonal antibody production. RDSB also provides pre-analytical specimen accessioning and processing, shipping and export services, clinical testing services for outbreak support, assay validation, and laboratory water quality testing.

Reagent and Diagnostic Services Branch Activities

• Receive and distribute specimens sent to CDC for reference and diagnostic testing to the appropriate CDC laboratories, report test results to state public health laboratories and other partners
• Maintain laboratory water treatment systems to ensure quality of CDC reagent grade laboratory water
• Provide CDC labs with cell cultures, buffers, stains, dyes, and other reagents as well as microbiological and cell culture media for the growth, isolation, and selection of a wide variety of organisms for diagnostic  research purposes, outbreak response and surveillance activities
• Provide collaborative development and production of novel  monoclonal antibodies and antibody purification and conjugation needed for assay development
• Develop, produce, and distribute mission-critical regulatory compliant diagnostic test kits during disease outbreaks and for support of the Laboratory Response Network
• Maintain CDC’s Biological Reference Reagent Inventory
• Package and ship infectious substances and other materials, ensuring compliance with all transport regulations
• Manage all CDC exports  and serve  as CDC liaison with Department of Commerce for export related issues