Reflecting Back on University at Albany’s Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics
Nothing may be more important to today’s generation in healthcare than finding a cure for cancer. This has been no easy feat, even with the dramatic advancements in technology and learning over the past few decades. The University at Albany has always been one of the leaders in several key areas of cancer research working towards this goal. The central mission of the University at Albany Cancer Research Center is to conduct research and provide training related to understanding the genetic and environmental causes of cancer. The basic research mission is focused on the underlying biology associated with tumor initiation and progression, and the development and evaluation of chemopreventive regimens and therapeutic approaches for common cancers. To this end, the Cancer Research Center houses fully staffed, comprehensive, state of the art research facilities. The Cancer Research Center is unique among academic cancer research centers in North America in that it has strong ties to a school of public health. Faculty at the Cancer Research Center are dedicated to providing a collaborative research environment within the University at Albany School of Public Health and its affiliated Wadsworth Research Laboratories of the New York State Department of Health to foster the training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in cancer biology.
Built in 2004, the Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics, located just outside Albany in Rensselaer, New York, was constructed to be as provocative as the work done by the world’s most brilliant minds. The architects entrusted with this design were Einhorn Yaffee Prescott (EYP). Gen*NY*Sis was the flagship of the University’s bioscience park and a research destination. The facility was planned around a double-loaded corridor with flexible, adaptable labs on either side, with support labs throughout the floor and “neighborhoods” of offices to foster a shared sense of purpose. The team knew that natural light would be critical to the design scheme, not only being conducive to providing a productive and creative environment but also in helping to reduce mental fatigue on scientists using the technology needed for the research. When they looked to make an impressive transparent lobby entry to this high-tech research facility, the logical choice was to trust the in-state expertise of W&W Glass.
Working with installers at Patriot Glass, W&W engineered and supplied a large Pilkington Planar™ system for the lobby entrance wall made of clear insulated laminated glass units. The structural glass fins were comprised of clear 3/4″ monolithic tempered glass connected to face glass with Pilkington Planar™ 905 series hardware fittings. The end result was a stylish, open look with high functionality and great views out on the city.
The Center included specialized spaces developed for Taconic, a global leader in transgenic mouse models, as well as related services for biomedical research, including a laser capture microdissection (LCM) facility, transgenics core laboratory, and microarray facility. Significant public space accommodates fundraising, scientific symposia, and industry assemblies.
For more information on all the projects completed and underway by the W&W Glass professionals, go to www.wwglass.com and look under the portfolio section.
W&W Glass LLC is a family owned business with a 70-year history in the metal and glass industry, one of the largest metal and glass companies in the New York metropolitan area and the largest supplier of structural glass systems in the country. We have over two decades of experience in the design and installation of various building enclosure systems, including stick-built curtain walls, pre-glazed unitized curtain walls, Pilkington Planar™ structural glass facades, and custom metal and glass enclosure systems. We install all of our work with our own dedicated union labor force. W&W is consistently the largest employer of glaziers in the NY metropolitan area.
