News
Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Lab to end COVID testing amid regulatory changes
December 15, 2021 | Scott Hernandez-Jason
After running more than 160,000 tests for COVID-19, the UC Santa Cruz Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory will wind down its support of COVID-19 testing. With widespread COVID-19 testing available and significant changes to the regulatory landscape for emergency testing facilities, Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer said this is the right moment to end the lab’s work in testing for COVID-19 and begin a planned transition to focusing on pediatric cancer genomics. ... Read more.
UCSC’s Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory honored by Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley
UCSC Public Affairs | September 20, 2021
The Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory was established to help the Santa Cruz community by increasing coronavirus testing capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic and providing a quick turn-around of testing results for populations vital to the recovery of Santa Cruz. (Photo by Carolyn Lagattuta)... Read more.
A Community’s Collaborative Approach to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Salud Para La Gente, Watsonville CA presents: A Community's Collaborative Approach to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This presentation was prepared for The California Primary Care Association (CPCA) and the Western Clinicians Network (WCN) 2021 VIRTUAL Region IX Clinical Excellence Conference. Watch
Slugs roll up their sleeves to help make campus a COVID-19 success story
Elisa Smith | March 04, 2021
Low positivity rates, zero on-campus transmission, and fast testing turnaround times have made UC Santa Cruz a leader in efficient coronavirus response compared to its university counterparts. ... Read more.
No ‘variants of concern’ in first Santa Cruz County tests, though bulk of samples show California strain
Mallory Pickett | March 1, 2021 | Lookout Santa Cruz
UCSC has just completed its first sequencing of 84 COVID-19 samples from Santa Cruz County. Similar to the rest of the state, 65% of them show the worrisome — but not alarm-worthy — California strain.. ... Read more.
Covid Testing Program MCD Seminar
February 26, 2021 | 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
Join Genomics Institute affiliate faculty, Jeremy Sanford and Olena Vaske, for an overview of UCSC’s Covid testing program, which aims to strengthen community health with testing and sequencing for new variants to help us exit the pandemic.
UCSC expands testing during surge to support community
"UCSC has become an integral part of how our community responds to COVID-19." With COVID-19 cases surging, the Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory is processing an increasing number of tests to identify COVID-19 infections in the local community. Watch
COVID-19 Testing and Education
While hosting 'How Our Community Came Together' in 2020,' on Jan. 22, 2021, the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County described UCSC and local partner efforts to expand COVIID-19 testing in the community. Watch
Supporting Sequencing Effort in Santa Cruz County
January 28, 2021 | Doug Erickson | Santa Cruz Works
Many attendees expressed interest in donating to Professor David Haussler’s call for funds to support sequencing of virus samples in Santa Cruz County. ... Read more.
A year of generosity
January 25, 2021 | J. D. Hillard | UCSC
In December, thanks to a significant gift from Bud and Rebecca Colligan, the lab found a permanent home. ... Read more.
COVID-19 Mutations and You
January 20, 2021 | J. D. Hillard | UCSC
UCSC, SC County Health, and Salud Para la Gente are working together to sequence the tests. Sequencing test data help us see how the contagion is occurring. ... Read more.
How the Molecular Diagnostics Lab processes COVID-19 tests
Take a virtual lab tour and learn more about the significance of the UC Santa Cruz Molecular Diagnostic Lab (MDL) to our community and how testing works at UC Santa Cruz.
'First line of defense': UCSC’s COVID-19 testing lab ready to relocate, ramp up
December 17, 2020 | Nick Ibarra | Lookout Santa Cruz
The UCSC Molecular Diagnostic Lab is expected to move off the main campus to a Westside Santa Cruz site early in 2021, UCSC announced this week. It will be housed at the Westside Research Park, a renovated office complex purchased by the university in 2004 that also serves as headquarters for UCSC’s Genomics Institute. ... Read more.
UCSC expands COVID-19 testing during surge to support community needs
A gift from Bud and Rebecca Colligan will expand testing capacity and help fund a new, dedicated laboratory space to house the diagnostic lab in the Genomics Institute’s facilities at the Westside Research Park
December 15, 2020 | Tim Stephens | UCSC
... Read more.
Slugs lauded as Hometown Heroes
Chancellor, faculty, staff and alumni honored at Santa Cruz Works event
December 2, 2020 | UCSC | Marc DesJardins
2020 Be the Difference Awards Online Watch Party
October 21, 2020 | The Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County
The Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County and Community Sponsors proudly present the nominees and winners of the 2020 Be the Difference Awards. This 14th annual event celebrates the individuals, groups, and businesses who do the most to transform Santa Cruz County through volunteerism. Enjoy an hour of inspiration and entertainment in their honor. ... Watch here.
UCSC Molecular Diagnostic Lab Honored
Be the Difference award recognizes UCSC’s efforts to provide local testing for coronavirus infections
October 19, 2020 | UCSC | Tim Stephens
The UCSC Molecular Diagnostic Lab will be honored as a 2020 Group Winner in the Be the Difference Awards sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Volunteer Center. ... Read more.
UCSC Ramps Up COVID-19 Testing
October 4, 2020 | TPG Online Daily | Jondi Gumz
By mid-October, UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia “Cindy” Larive expects the lab on campus will be able to handle COVID-19 testing of 1,200 to 1,500 times per week. That’s up from 500 tests a week, she shared with First District Supervisor John Leopold, a 1988 UCSC alumnus, during his Sept. 23 town hall for constituents on Zoom. ... Read more.
University Forums: Community Partnerships in the Time of COVID-19
September 23, 2020 | UCSC Arts, Lectures, & Entertainment
Partnerships formed quickly during this evolving health crisis. Salud Para La Gente, the Santa Cruz Community Foundation, Santa Cruz Community Health, and the UC Santa Cruz Molecular Diagnostic Lab are working jointly to test and treat the most vulnerable in Santa Cruz County. Join us for a conversation with community health leaders as they take us inside the collaborative response to address the pandemic. ... Watch here.
UC Santa Cruz Minute: Part 15 (Inside the Molecular Diagnostic Lab)
August 11, 2020 | UCSC
UC Santa Cruz Minute is a weekly video series connecting you to campus wherever you are. ... Watch here.
COVID-19: UCSC lab teams up with nonprofits to boost testing availability, speed
Lab running up to 400 weekly tests for low-income, vulnerable residents — with potential for further expansion
July 29, 2020 | Santa Cruz Sentinel | Nicholas Ibarra
At first focused on students and staff, the COVID-19 testing lab at UC Santa Cruz has expanded its capacity and is now quickly turning around tests for hundreds of county residents each week. ... Read more.
Tales from a pandemic pop-up lab
July 23, 2020 | UCSC Arts, Lectures, & Entertainment
Soon after the virus spread to California, a four-person team at UC Santa Cruz co-founded the COVID-19 diagnostic testing laboratory, known as the Molecular Diagnostic Lab (MDL). MDL began testing in May, and has tested students, staff, faculty, and community members from federally qualified health centers that serve traditionally underserved populations.The lab's partnership with Santa Cruz Community Health and Salud Para La Gente is serving our most vulnerable residents. ... Watch.
UCSC to receive $1 million grant from county for COVID-19 testing
July 23, 2020 | KSBW8
To provide help to curb ongoing delays with test results. the lab at UC Santa Cruz will receive $1M from the counties federal “cares act” money. This will increase capacity to process tests. The UCSC lab won't actually do the tests, just process them.
Campus, Santa Cruz Community Health unite to test underserved community members
June 4, 2020 | UCSC | Scott Hernandez-Jason
Compelled by values of social justice and equity, UC Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Community Health, a nonprofit primary care provider for low-income patients, are working together to test the area's underserved residents for COVID-19.
As news outlets published stories about celebrities and athletes unnecessarily getting tested for COVID-19, UC Santa Cruz scientists and staff saw an opportunity to provide fast testing for the community's most vulnerable residents ... Read more.
UC Santa Cruz Lab Increases COVID-19 Testing For Santa Cruz County
May 19, 2020 | KAZU | Michelle Loxton
Adequate COVID-19 testing is seen as one of the key requirements needed to contain the coronavirus outbreak. This week, California health officials announced how much testing local counties need to be doing in order to qualify to re-open their communities.
In Santa Cruz County, they should be testing just over 400 people a day. Right now, on average, the county says it’s doing about 167 tests per day. But one newly created lab at UC Santa Cruz is hoping to help the county reach that goal. ... Read more.
A COVID-19 test lab is up and running at UCSC, may soon boost capacity
May 5, 2020 | Santa Cruz Sentinel | Nicholas Ibarra
A new COVID-19 testing lab is up and running at UC Santa Cruz, with its first batch of samples expected to arrive Wednesday.
Initially serving patients of the campus Student Health Center and Santa Cruz Community Health Centers, the diagnostic lab opened Friday.
UCSC hopes to serve more area health centers in the weeks and months ahead, according to campus officials — but which provider could be next in line has yet to be determined. ... Read more.
New Lab Brings COVID-19 Test Processing to UCSC
May 1, 2020 | Thomas Sawano | City on a Hill Press
The UC Santa Cruz Molecular Diagnostic Lab opened its doors on May 1, becoming one of four facilities in Santa Cruz County capable of processing tests for COVID-19.
The lab has the theoretical capacity to process upward of 800 COVID-19 test samples per day, though its initial test volume will be smaller, said Jeremy Sanford, a UCSC professor of molecular, cell and developmental (MCD) biology. ... Read more.
UC Santa Cruz diagnostic lab to begin coronavirus testing May 1
April 27, 2020 | Tim Stephens
In response to the limited availability of testing to determine if someone is infected with the COVID-19 virus, a team of researchers at UC Santa Cruz has established a diagnostic testing lab on campus. Starting May 1, the UCSC Molecular Diagnostic Lab will begin doing coronavirus tests for the UCSC Student Health Center and other medical providers in the local community.
The campus will not be operating a testing site for the general public. The campus lab will work with local medical providers to test patient samples ... Read more.
UCSC researchers are taking on the coronavirus challenge on multiple fronts
April 1, 2020 | Tim Stephens
The UC Santa Cruz campus has been eerily quiet since stay-at-home orders went into effect to limit the spread of the coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. Faculty are adapting to teaching classes online, and research labs have had to shut down much of their work.
Nevertheless, many UCSC researchers are finding ways to apply their expertise to help combat the pandemic. Read more.
UC Santa Cruz, County partner to expand testing capacity through CARES act funding
Aug 9, 2020 | KSBW | Christopher Salas
Santa Cruz County and the University of California at Santa Cruz have announced a partnership to expand the county's COVID-19 coronavirus testing and analysis capacity. ... Read more.
'First line of defense': UCSC’s COVID-19 testing lab ready to relocate, ramp up
December 17, 2020 | Nick Ibarra | Lookout Santa Cruz
The UCSC Molecular Diagnostic Lab is expected to move off the main campus to a Westside Santa Cruz site early in 2021, UCSC announced this week. It will be housed at the Westside Research Park, a renovated office complex purchased by the university in 2004 that also serves as headquarters for UCSC’s Genomics Institute. ... Read more.