Wadsworth Center

Motto| Science in the pursuit of health

|

Established| 1901
Research type| Public health
Director| (Vacant)
Faculty| 100
Staff| 1000
Address| Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509
Location| Albany, New York
[ ⚑ ] 42°38′56″N 73°45′36″W﻿ / ﻿42.648877°N 73.760037°W﻿ / 42.648877; -73.760037

ZIP Code

| 12201-0509

Operating agency

| New York State Department of Health
Website| www.wadsworth.org

The Wadsworth Center, located in Albany, New York, is the research-intensive public health laboratory of the New York State Department of Health.[1]

## History

The Wadsworth Center, originally the New York State's Antitoxin Laboratory, was established in 1901. Its mission was to standardize and manufacture antitoxin, which was for the treatment of communicable diseases such as diphtheria and anthrax. In 1914, the Antitoxin Laboratory was designated the Division of Laboratories and Research. At the same time, Augustus B. Wadsworth was named director and he served until 1945.[2]

In 1974, Enzo Paoletti joined the Wadsworth Center and with Dennis Panicali devised a strategy to produce DNA vaccines by using genetic engineering to transform ordinary smallpox vaccine into vaccines that may be able to prevent other diseases.[3] In four seminal papers they provided the technology and proof of principle to construct vaccines using genetically engineered poxviruses, altering the DNA of cowpox virus by inserting a gene from other viruses, namely Herpes simplex virus, hepatitis B and influenza.[4][5][6][7]

## Today

The Wadsworth Center has over 100 principal investigators and more than 1,000 staff in four locations, the Biggs Laboratory (at the Empire State Plaza), the David Axelrod Institute (on New Scotland Avenue), the Center for Medical Science, and, in nearby Guilderland, New York, the Griffin Laboratory.[8][9] Scientists at the Wadsworth Center study public health issues, such as drug resistance to emerging infections, environmental exposures, and basic biological processes that contribute to human health and disease. Additionally, as the state's public health reference laboratory, the Wadsworth Center is responsible for responding to public health threats, developing methods to detect microbes and genetic disorders, measuring and analyzing environmental chemicals, and licensing clinical and environmental laboratories. In conjunction with the University at Albany, SUNY, the Wadsworth Center has training programs for undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral fellows.

## Notes and references

1. ↑ Wadsworth Center. "Mission - Wadsworth Center, NYS Department of Health". http://www.wadsworth.org/docs/mission.shtml. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
2. ↑ Wadsworth Center. "History of Wadsworth Center". http://www.wadsworth.org/docs/history.shtml. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
3. ↑ "Comparison of the growth of virulent and attenuated strains of Candida albicans in the kidneys of normal and cortison-treated mice by chitin assay". Mycopathologia 67 (3): 173–7. July 1979. doi:10.1007/bf00470753. PMID 384256.
4. ↑ "Molecular genetics of vaccinia virus: demonstration of marker rescue". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 79 (5): 1593–6. March 1982. doi:10.1073/pnas.79.5.1593. PMID 6951197. Bibcode: 1982PNAS...79.1593N.
5. ↑ "Construction of poxviruses as cloning vectors: insertion of the thymidine kinase gene from herpes simplex virus into the DNA of infectious vaccinia virus". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 79 (16): 4927–31. August 1982. doi:10.1073/pnas.79.16.4927. PMID 6289324. Bibcode: 1982PNAS...79.4927P.
6. ↑ "Construction of live vaccines by using genetically engineered poxviruses: biological activity of recombinant vaccinia virus expressing influenza virus hemagglutinin". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 80 (17): 5364–8. September 1983. doi:10.1073/pnas.80.17.5364. PMID 6310573. Bibcode: 1983PNAS...80.5364P.
7. ↑ "Construction of live vaccines using genetically engineered poxviruses: biological activity of vaccinia virus recombinants expressing the hepatitis B virus surface antigen and the herpes simplex virus glycoprotein D". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 81 (1): 193–7. January 1984. doi:10.1073/pnas.81.1.193. PMID 6320164. Bibcode: 1984PNAS...81..193P.
8. ↑ Wadsworth Center. "By the Numbers - Wadsworth Center, NYS Department of Health". http://www.wadsworth.org/docs/numbers.shtml. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
9. ↑ Wadsworth Center. "Contact Information - Phone Numbers and Mailing Addresses - Wadsworth Center, NYS Department of Health". http://www.wadsworth.org/wcinfo.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-15.

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