Advanced Research and Diagnostics Laboratory

 

The Advanced Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (ARDL) is a Central Biochemistry Laboratory

that provides the latest technology and clinical laboratory testing services to researchers and other

customers via a 19,000-square-foot customized facility.  Constructed in 2013, the ARDL facility is

recognized worldwide as a front-runner in innovative design and operational excellence.

 

Among ARDL's unique assets:

 High-Volume Immunoassay Testing Platforms
High-Volume Immunoassay Testing Platforms
  • Specimen collection / processing
  • Specimen testing and analysis
  • Quality control / assurance
  • Specimen storage
Mass Spectrometer Center
Mass Spectrometer Center
  • Sample analysis
  • Quantitative proteomics
  • Assay development
  • Assay validation
Biorepository
Biorepository
  • Long-term sample storage
  • Cell cryopreservation
  • DNA sample storage
  • Power back-up protection

ARDL Accreditation

ARDL is fully accredited as a highly complex laboratory by

  • the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA)
  • the College of American Pathologists (CAP)
  • the New York State Department of Health. 

High standards such as these are considered a starting point for ARDL, and a basis for a level of quality unsurpassed in the industry.

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ARDL was key player in GRADE Study

ARDL was key player in GRADE Study

LMP’s Advanced Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (ARDL) was the Central Biochemistry Laboratory for the Glycemic Reduction Approaches in Diabetes:  A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE), a clinical trial conducted from 2013-2021 studying the effectiveness of different treatments for type 2 diabetes.  The NIH press release and the New England Journal of Medicine paper below reflect the consistent and excellent performance of all those working in ARDL. 

ARDL to be NCI-Funded Capacity Building Center for Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet)

MINNEAPOLIS, MN- Oct. 8, 2020 - The University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology has been selected to participate in a new national network dedicated to serological, or antibody, sciences as one of four Capacity Building Centers in the country. As part of the Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet), the team received a five-year, $6.7 million grant to support their part of the network's research effort.

SeroNet is a major component of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) response to the pandemic and is included in an emergency Congressional appropriation of $306 million to the Institute “to develop, validate, improve and implement serological testing and associated technologies.”

“We are looking forward to joining this important effort to help expand our knowledge surrounding immunity to COVID-19,” said Amy Karger, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the department and the principal investigator for the initiative, who leads the University’s Advanced Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, where a majority of the state’s serology work takes place. “We were positioned for this opportunity thanks to the efforts of Dr. Marc Jenkins and his lab in developing an antibody test that has proven to be so reliable.”

Full story here.

ARDL's Mass Spectrometer Center Ramps Up

For more than three decades, scientists in the Advanced Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (ARDL) at the University of Minnesota have conducted large-scale analysis of biological specimens for NIH-sponsored multi-center clinical trials.  The recent expansion of its Mass Spectrometer Center will enable ARDL to bring “gold standard” analysis more fully into its clinical testing operations and help investigators study renal, diabetes, nutritional, cardiovascular and other diagnostic biomarkers.

“Mass spectrometry is increasingly being integrated into clinical laboratories,” said center director Jesse Seegmiller.  According to Seegmiller, most large clinical laboratories are now incorporating mass spectrometry systems in their testing repertoire.”  Mass spectrometry can help “bridge a gap that has existed for clinical trials and various research studies by obtaining results from a mass spectrometry platform to perform analyses not possible using standard clinical analyzer systems.”     One of the most impressive benefits of these systems is the analytical specificity advantages they provide.  This has resulted in the mass spec utility in biomarker standardization efforts.

The capability to perform mass spectrometry testing makes ARDL a more versatile laboratory and offers testing options for trials and studies that can be performed in one laboratory, as opposed to multiple labs sharing samples.  “This helps studies streamline their sample workflows, potentially increasing efficiency in the study and reducing errors associated with sample handling,” Seegmiller said. 

The success of ARDL resides in the quality of the laboratory testing results.  The Mass Spectrometer Center will enable principal investigators and staff to develop improved reference measurement procedures expeditiously.  “Our goal is to accommodate various projects in epidemiology, clinical medicine, and public health,” Seegmiller said.  “We collaborate with other investigators to devise testing options to aid in answering specific scientific questions that ultimately furthers knowledge in disease states, is translated into clinical guidelines, and impacts patient care,” he added. 

ARDL faculty are enthusiastic about the center and excited that the department has invested in it, he said.

ARDL Research Publications

Karger AB, Steffen BTNomura SOGuan W, Garg PK, Szklo M, Budoff MJ, and Tsai MY.  Association between homocysteine and vascular calcification incidence, prevalence, and progression in the MESA cohortJ Am Heart Assoc. 2020 Feb 4;9(3):e013934. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.119.013934. Epub 2020 Jan 30.

Weir NLNomura SOSteffen BT, Guan W, Karger AB, Klein R, Klein BEK, Cotch MF, and Tsai MYAssociations between omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, hyperinsulinemia and incident diabetes by race/ethnicity: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.  Clin Nutr. 2020 Jan 22. pii: S0261-5614(20)30008-X. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2020.01.003.

Cao JNomura SOSteffen BT, Guan W, Remaley AT, Karger AB, Ouyang P, Michos ED, and Tsai MYApolipoprotein B discordance with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in relation to coronary artery calcification in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). J Clin Lipidol. 2019 Nov 29. pii: S1933-2874(19)30354-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jacl.2019.11.005.

Garimella PS, Lee AK, Ambrosius WT, Bhatt U, Cheung AK, Chonchol M, Craven T, Hawfield AT, Jotwani V, Killeen A, Punzi H, Sarnak MJ, Wall BM, Ix JH, Shlipak MG.  Markers of kidney tubule function and risk of cardiovascular disease events and mortality in the SPRINT trial.  Eur Heart J. 2019 Nov 1;40(42):3486-3493. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehz392.

Ginsberg C, Craven TE, Chonchol MB, Cheung AK, Sarnak MJ, Ambrosius WT, Killeen AA, Raphael KL, Bhatt UY, Chen J, Chertow GM, Freedman BI, Oparil S, Papademetriou V, Wall BM, Wright CB, Ix JH, Shlipak MG; SPRINT Research Group. PTH, FGF23, and Intensive Blood Pressure Lowering in Chronic Kidney Disease Participants in SPRINT.  Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2018 Dec 7;13(12):1816-1824. doi: 10.2215/CJN.05390518.

Malhotra R, Craven T, Ambrosius WT, Killeen AA, Haley WE, Cheung AK, Chonchol M, Sarnak M, Parikh CR, Shlipak MG, Ix JH; SPRINT Research Group.  Effects of intensive blood pressure lowering on kidney tubule injury in CKD: A longitudinal subgroup analysis in SPRINT Am J Kidney Dis. 2018 Sep 28. pii: S0272-6386(18)30879-5. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2018.07.015.

Danni Li, Angela Radulescu, Rupendra T. Shrestha, Matthew Root, Amy B. KargerAnthony A. Killeen, James S. Hodges, Shu-Ling Fan, Angela Ferguson, Uttam Garg, Lori J. Sokoll, Lynn A. Burmeister.  Association of biotin ingestion with performance of hormone and nonhormone assays in healthy adults. JAMA 2017.;318(12):1150-1160.doi:10.1001/jama.2017.13705.  https://goo.gl/yeqStZ