Biosurveillance in Action

Biosurveillance and Response

Los Alamos National Laboratory applies interdisciplinary expertise to emerging biological and chemical threats. 

Threat Detection, Characterization, and Advanced Countermeasure Development

With nearly 300 staff members and over 100,000 square feet of laboratory space, our scientists integrate experimental research with computation and AI to advance biosurveillance and enable impactful responses.

Current capabilities and projects include:

• Next-generation genomic sequencing, bioinformatics, analytics tools enhance decision making and response.
• Agent-agnostic surveillance using environmental samples for wastewater, soil, air, animals, and more.
• Sequence-to-genome tools, phylogeny-informed assay validation, and geographic disease analytics.
• Advanced diagnostics and therapeutics development using high-throughput screening to tailor discovery of antibody or antibody-like molecules.
• Decades of experience providing bioinformatics expertise and support to partner labs worldwide 
• Multi-omics expertise and facilities for comprehensive threat characterization.
• Integrated experimental and computational tools to accelerate vaccine development.
• Signature and target discovery for advanced multi-pathogen diagnostics.
• Emerging Threat Laboratory for high-hazard chemistry, threat characterization, and therapeutics research. 
• T-cell response vaccine development.
• Structural and computational studies to identify drug targets. 
• Experience operating an on-site FDA-CLIA registered COVID-19 diagnostic testing facility for LANL personnel and LANL subcontractor  personnel.
• Predictive Modeling and Decision Support

Predictive Modeling and Decision Support

Our expertise in computation and modeling combines Los Alamos capabilities and key partnerships to develop, validate, and operationalize modeling and AI to combat emerging threats.

Current capabilities and projects include:

• Testing and diagnostic sensitivity evaluation and decision support analysis.
• Extensive experience providing situational awareness, predictive modeling, and visualization to government entities to support decision making.
• Bioinformatics-based modeling to track the diversity and evolution of pathogens.
• Integrated epidemiological and Earth-system modeling to predict disease spread by vectors (mosquitoes, ticks, etc.), risk and the impact of mitigation efforts on potential epidemics.
• Computational modeling to evaluate hospital/healthcare surge capacity and healthcare supply chains.