Motto | Science in the pursuit of health |
---|---|
Established | 1901 |
Research type | Public health |
Director | Jill Taylor, Ph.D. |
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 |
12201-0509 | |
Operating agency
|
New York State Department of Health |
Website | www |
The Wadsworth Center, located in Albany, New York, is the research-intensive public health laboratory of the New York State Department of Health. The Wadsworth Center is dedicated to science in the pursuit of health.
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.
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. 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.
The center developed an avenue to train the public health laboratory workforce of tomorrow - The Wadsworth Center Master of Science in Laboratory Science program. This program is slated to have students enrolled in September 2012 and to begin accepting applications in early 2012.