The Wadsworth Center, located in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, is the research-intensive public health laboratory of the

New York State Department of Health The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) is the department of the New York state government responsible for public health. It is headed by Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett, who was appointed by Governor Hochul and confirmed by the S ...

History

The Wadsworth Center, originally the New York State's Antitoxin Laboratory, was established in 1901. Its mission was to standardize and manufacture

antitoxin An antitoxin is an antibody with the ability to neutralize a specific toxin. Antitoxins are produced by certain animals, plants, and bacterium, bacteria in response to toxin exposure. Although they are most effective in neutralizing toxins, the ...

, 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 Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

was named director and he served until 1945. In 1974,

Enzo Paoletti Enzo Paoletti (May 22, 1943 – January 17, 2018) was an Italian-American virologist who developed the technology to express foreign antigens in vaccinia and other poxviruses. This advance led to the development of vaccines against multiple dise ...

joined the Wadsworth Center and with Dennis Panicali devised a strategy to produce

DNA vaccine A DNA vaccine is a type of vaccine that transfects a specific antigen-coding DNA sequence into the cells of an organism as a mechanism to induce an immune response. DNA vaccines work by injecting genetically engineered plasmid containing the ...

s by using genetic engineering to transform ordinary

smallpox vaccine The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox ...

into vaccines that may be able to prevent other diseases. In four seminal papers they provided the technology and proof of principle to construct vaccines using genetically engineered

poxviruses ''Poxviridae'' is a family of double-stranded DNA viruses. Vertebrates and arthropods serve as natural hosts. There are currently 83 species in this family, divided among 22 genera, which are divided into two subfamilies. Diseases associated wit ...

, altering the DNA of

cowpox Cowpox is an infectious disease caused by the ''cowpox virus'' (CPXV). It presents with large blisters in the skin, a fever and swollen glands, historically typically following contact with an infected cow, though in the last several decades more ...

virus by inserting a gene from other viruses, namely

Herpes simplex virus Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2), also known by their taxonomical names ''Human alphaherpesvirus 1'' and '' Human alphaherpesvirus 2'', are two members of the human ''Herpesviridae'' family, a set of viruses that produce viral inf ...

hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. Fo ...

and

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

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 Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza (known commonly as the Empire State Plaza, and also as the South Mall) is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York. The complex was built between 1965 a ...

), the David Axelrod Institute (on New Scotland Avenue), the Center for Medical Science, and, in nearby

Guilderland, New York Guilderland is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 2020 census, the town had a population of 36,848. The town is named for the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. The town of Guilderland is on the central-northwest borde ...

, the Griffin Laboratory. 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 State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

, the Wadsworth Center has training programs for undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral fellows.

Notes and references

{{authority control Research institutes in New York (state) Organizations based in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Albany, New York New York State Department of Health