Extraction Matters: Enhanced Rabies RNA Recovery Using the Maxwell® RSC Extraction Platform
Lance Noll, PhD, MS
Clinical Assistant Professor, Kansas State University Section Head of Molecular Service Laboratory & Foreign Animal Disease/Outbreak, Kansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Biosketch:
Dr. Lance Noll is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine & Pathobiology at Kansas State University and serves as Section Head of both the Molecular Diagnostic Service Laboratory and the Foreign Animal Disease/Outbreak Section at the Kansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KVDL). In these roles, he oversees high-throughput molecular diagnostic testing, surveillance programs, and outbreak response activities for diseases of veterinary and public health importance.
Dr. Noll has nearly 20 years of experience in molecular diagnostics, including real-time PCR assay development, validation, and implementation in both research and clinical diagnostic settings. His work has contributed to the development of diagnostic assays for bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens and supports national animal health surveillance efforts through KVDL's participation as a Level 1 laboratory in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN).
Prior to his current position, Dr. Noll served as a Senior Scientist in KVDL's Molecular Research and Development Section and later as Section Head and CLIA Technical Supervisor for Kansas State University's public health molecular laboratory during the COVID-19 pandemic. His research interests include molecular diagnostics, pathogen genomics, emerging and transboundary animal diseases, and laboratory preparedness. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has contributed to numerous USDA- and FDA-funded projects focused on animal health, disease surveillance, and diagnostic innovation.
Presentation Abstract:
Rabies remains one of the world's most important zoonotic diseases, causing an estimated 70,000 human deaths annually. Expansion of molecular diagnostics offers opportunities to improve surveillance and testing capacity; however, specimen handling and biosafety requirements remain significant barriers, particularly in resource-limited settings. PrimeStore® Molecular Transport Medium (PS-MTM) has been developed to inactivate pathogens while preserving nucleic acids for downstream molecular testing. In addition to safe specimen transport, optimal nucleic acid extraction is critical for maximizing diagnostic sensitivity.
The objective of this study was to compare the performance of the Maxwell® RSC Pathogen Total Nucleic Acid Kit and the MagMAX™ Viral RNA Isolation Kit for detection of rabies virus RNA in PS-MTM-treated brain tissue samples. A 10% rabies-negative canine brain homogenate was inoculated with a laboratory adapted CVS-11 rabies virus (106 focus-forming units-FFU/ml) and incubated with either PS-MTM or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) control at sample-to-medium ratios of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 for contact times of either 3, 15 or 60 minutes. Virus inactivation was evaluated using BHK-21 cell culture infectivity assays, while RNA extracted using both platforms was tested using a rabies virus qRT-PCR assay.
PS-MTM treatment resulted in complete loss of detectable infectivity under all conditions evaluated, with no infectious virus detected following a minimum contact time of three minutes at sample-to-PS-MTM ratios as low as 1:1. In contrast, all PBS-treated controls remained infectious throughout the study. Rabies virus RNA remained stable and readily detectable after PS-MTM treatment. Comparison of extraction methods demonstrated consistently earlier amplification from Maxwell®-extracted samples, with mean Ct values approximately 2–3 cycles lower than those obtained using MagMAX™ extraction. This performance advantage was observed across all treatment conditions and suggests improved analytical sensitivity for detection of low-abundance viral targets.
These findings demonstrate that PS-MTM rapidly and effectively inactivates rabies virus while preserving RNA for downstream molecular testing. The PBS-treated controls remained infectious,
confirming that virus inactivation was due to PS-MTM treatment. When the two extraction methods were compared, the Maxwell® RSC platform consistently produced earlier qRT-PCR amplification, with Ct values approximately 2–3 cycles lower than MagMAX™. Together, these results suggest that combining PS-MTM with Maxwell® extraction provides a safe and effective workflow for rabies testing while improving detection of samples with low amounts of viral RNA.
Application of the Viability PCR Method for on Farm Virus Surveillance Dr. Declan Schroeder
Professor of Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine University of Minnesota
Biosketch:
I was first appointed in February 2018 as an Associate Professor of Virology and then promoted with tenure to Full Professor in May 2024 in the Veterinary Population Medicine Department in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. I also held a Chair in Viral Metagenomics (2017-2022) in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading, UK. Before that, I held the positions of Director of the MBA Culture Collection (2014-2018) and Senior Research Fellow in Viral and Molecular Ecology (2001-2018) at the Marine Biological Association of the UK. I am proud of my accomplishments as a PI, which is based on my high impact contributions to One Health and the opportunity to make a difference in helping our global food system become more sustainable. My team’s overarching research objectives are to develop molecular-based research approaches and tools, rooted in both the Life Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, to provide a mechanistic understanding as how to best intervene or mitigate the negative impact that viruses may have on food animals, wild-life and associated organisms in the modern food system. My research is focused on (1) the role of viral diversity (quasi-species) as it relates to seaweed production, bee pollination services, and swine or cattle production; and (2) establishing best detection and surveillance practices for viral pathogens responsible for significant losses to important wild-life, pollinator and agricultural species.
Presentation Abstract:
The viability PCR methodology utilizes viability chemistries prior to nucleic acid extraction for setting up PCR (for DNA viruses) or RT-PCR (for RNA viruses) to evaluate the integrity of the virus particles in the starting sample. If intact, the virus is considered “viable” and thus retains the potential to cause disease or be infectious. These chemistries are membrane and capsid-impermeable compounds that selectively penetrate virions that are compromised or damaged and are thereby considered dead or non-viable. One such viable chemistry produced by Promega has the added benefit of not requiring expensive equipment to perform the assay and can be performed on the farm (for animal pathogen screening) with relative ease. Here I will present results from a trial that sought to demonstrate how such a field surveillance program could be established and whether it can be used with a transport medium such as the PrimeStore MTM (supplied by Longhorn) to enable accurate and reproducible information on the disease status during an outbreak.
Bioluminescent Immunoassay Applications Featuring Lumit Flex Val Ressler, PhD Senior Research Scientist, Clinical Technologies Group Promega Corporation
Biosketch:
Dr. Val Ressler is a Senior Research Scientist in Promega's Clinical Technologies Group, developing and optimizing assay platforms for clinical applications. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT, where her dissertation focused on protein post-translational modifications and their effects on cellular structure, stability, and uptake.
Since joining Promega in 2019, Dr. Ressler specializes in assay development, optimization, and validation. Early in her tenure, she worked on novel protease technologies before becoming a key technical expert in the Lumit Flex platform. Her work spans multiple therapeutic and clinical areas, with a particular focus on human and veterinary infectious diseases. Dr. Ressler contributed to development of Lumit Flex assays targeting critical animal health needs, including feline leukemia virus (FeLV), African swine fever virus (ASFV), and leptospira.
During the pandemic, she contributed to rapid development efforts supporting public health priorities. She now leads clinical assay development services (CADS), working directly with customers to understand their needs and provide technical expertise. Dr. Ressler thrives on collaborative problem-solving, engaging in open discussion and troubleshooting to deliver validated solutions that work.
As a subject matter expert in Lumit Flex assay development, she brings both technical depth and a practical, customer-focused approach to veterinary and clinical applications.
Presentation Abstract:
Rapid infectious disease detection is critical for One Health strategies, yet veterinary diagnostics often face challenges: long turnaround times, complex workflows, and limited field deployment options. We leveraged bioluminescent technology to develop a sensitive, rapid immunoassay platform that delivers results in as little as 15 minutes without washing steps, ideal for diverse veterinary applications across multiple species.
This platform has been successfully adapted for detection of high-priority pathogens including Influenza A (H5N1), African Swine Fever, Feline Leukemia, Monkeypox, SARS-CoV-2, and Leptospira across clinical samples, from nasal swabs and saliva to serum and plasma, and across species such as cattle, sheep, goats, cats, pigs, and dogs. Assays demonstrate excellent sensitivity with up to four orders of linear dynamic range, enabling confident pathogen detection using simple instrumentation.
This streamlined, field-ready approach removes barriers to rapid, decentralized testing while maintaining the sensitivity and reproducibility that veterinary practitioners demand. Whether for outbreak response, herd health screening, or individual animal diagnostics, this technology potentially addresses the speed and flexibility requirements of modern veterinary medicine.
Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Sample Preparation Dr. Michael M. Rosenblatt
Group Leader Mass Spec Reagents and Sr Scientist, Promega Corporation
Biosketch:
Dr. Michael M. Rosenblatt received his B.Sc (Cum Laude) in chemistry from Towson University and PhD (Chemistry) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For his graduate work, he primarily focused on the biophysical characterization of de novo designed heme proteins. He then did his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania (laboratory of Bill DeGrado) on the de novo design of metallo-proteins, and was the recipient of an NRSA from the NIH. In 2003, he was the founding director of the Proteomics Core Facility at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2007, he joined Thermo Fisher Scientific (Pierce) as a Senior Scientist in the newly formed MS Reagent Research and Development team. In 2011, Dr. Rosenblatt assumed the role of Group Leader(MS Reagents) in R&D at Promega Corporation. In this role, he has overseen the development of multiple new enzymes (Proteases and Glycosidases), Mass Spec Reference materials, as well as workflow solutions using magnetic beads for enrichment and desalting. He is also the primary operator of the Thermo and Bruker Mass Spectrometers within Promega RnD and helps to support the needs of internal Promega RnD projects. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, cycling, cooking, playing the guitar/keyboard, and most importantly spending time with his family.
Presentation Abstract:
To be forth coming.