What do CDC CSPs Offer?

At a glance

  • Our clinical reference laboratories maintain highly accurate, specific reference measurement procedures for chronic disease biomarkers.
  • We offer a variety of services to help laboratories and organizations improve testing quality and reliability.
Decorative image: performance is improving

Our services

CDC Clinical Standardization Programs
CDC Clinical Standardization Programs

Reference laboratory services

Our clinical reference laboratories continuously manage 10 highly accurate, specific reference measurement procedures for chronic disease biomarkers. We are developing new reference methods for high-priority biomarkers. Through these reference measurement procedures, we help laboratories and organizations with the following:

  • Assigning reference values to calibration and other reference materials
  • Developing reference materials
  • Conducting studies to assess the quality of reference materials
  • Developing new and improving existing laboratory methods
  • Establishing reference laboratory capacities globally

CDC CSP reference measurements‎

Total cholesterol
Total glycerides
HDL-cholesterol
LDL-cholesterol
Testosterone*
Estradiol*
25-OH-vitamin D2* and 25-OH-vitamin D3*
Free thyroxine*
Glucose*

*We are the only laboratory in the United States that is continuously managing these reference measurement procedures.

Certification and monitoring programs

Certification programs

CDC assesses the analytical performance of new and established laboratory tests in patient care, public health, and clinical research globally.

We help laboratories and test manufacturers by:

  • Offering certification programs for chronic disease biomarkers
  • Performing focused interlaboratory comparison studies for biomarkers of high clinical interest
  • Conducting performance assessment studies of testing devices in laboratories
  • Providing single-donor materials with reference information for clinical laboratory self-assessment.

Monitoring programs

We provide critical data by monitoring the accuracy and precision of laboratory tests used in patient care and research by:

  • Administering accuracy-based monitoring programs
  • Supporting external quality assurance–proficiency testing program providers
  • Helping researchers and public health officials in monitoring laboratories that do clinical and epidemiological studies.

Quality control and orientation materials

CDC CSPs offer quality-control study materials and sample sets for more detailed method verification and characterization for total 25-hydroxyvitamin D, total testosterone, and estradiol. We also offer measurement data on additional steroid hormone levels (17α-hydroxyprogesterone, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone [17-OHP], androstenedione, progesterone, testosterone, estrone, 17β-estradiol, estrone sulfate, and dehydroepiandrosterone) and 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. Customization is available on request.

New reference methods, programs, and focus areas

  • Parathyroid hormones
  • Lipoprotein(a)
  • Free, unbound testosterone
  • Point-of-care testing devices

For more information on new activities, email: standardization@cdc.gov.

Outreach, capacity building, and education

CDC CSPs share knowledge and expertise with public and private groups to build laboratory capacity, educate them about the status of analytical performance of biomarker testing, and convey the importance of accurate and reliable laboratory tests in patient care and public health.