By Mary Carpenter • Photos Provided
The Trudeau Institute may be located in the small Adirondack town of Saranac Lake,
but the impact of the research being done there is worldwide. The scientific mission of the non-profit biomedical research center is to improve human health by combating
21st century global health crises arising from existing and emerging infectious diseases.
The Institute’s origin can be traced back more than 140 years to a time when more people died of Tuberculosis — called Consumption at the time — than any other cause. By the mid-19th century, 70 to 90 percent of the urban population of North America was infected with Tuberculosis, and about 80 percent of those who developed the active disease died of it.
With no cure available, support developed for what was called the “Open Air Treatment” which emphasized fresh air, rest, a good diet, and exercise. In 1884, Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau established the first United States sanitarium, the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium, in Saranac Lake as well as the first American laboratory solely dedicated to Tuberculosis research.
To learn more about the Trudeau Institute and the work it does, I met recently with Dr. William Reiley, the Institute’s 10th president and Director. Reiley grew up in the small town of Alfred, Maine and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Science from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). “In high school I excelled in science and math,” he explained, “but I was unsure about a career path. RIT’s Biotechnology program, with its cross-sectional view and its focus on lab skills, drew me to the program.”
Reiley went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Penn State University at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. A postdoctoral fellowship brought him to the Trudeau Institute in 2006 where he worked with Dr. David Woodland. The two focused on infections such as Tuberculosis as well as influenza viruses. Reiley was challenged by and enjoyed the work so much he opted to stay on at Trudeau as a faculty member when his fellowship ended. And now, 18 years later, he is still there. “I was attracted to the research that was being done here,” he emphasized, “and I loved the area. At that time, my wife and I had a two and a three-year-old. We had both grown up in small towns and we thought this area would be a perfect place to give our children the kind of life we had.”
The legacy of Trudeau’s research on Tuberculosis has, over the years, formed a path for its work on immunology as well as other infectious diseases. Its focus is on the pathogens that impact not only the health of the U.S. population, but global health as well. “Infectious diseases are not just a problem of the developing world. They are very much a problem of the entire world — as COVID showed us,” Reiley emphasized. “Also problematic is the increasing number of pathogens that are crossing species, with diseases being transmitted from cattle, swine and birds to humans.”
He continued, “If I were to ask a large group of people what creature poses the greatest danger to humans’ well-being, I suspect many would suggest sharks, snakes, spiders. None of those would be the correct answer. It is the tiny mosquito. Diseases they can spread are Dengue, Zika, West Nile, Chikungunya, Malaria, Yellow Fever, and more. Any disease that is transmitted through the air or through human contact cannot be isolated to one area. Theses can no longer be considered only regional diseases. Diseases caused by infectious pathogens are going to continue to spread due to global transportation and our changing climate.”
Trudeau Institute continues to work on pathogens that require specialized biosafety and biocontainment capabilities which means it has the infrastructure to study microbes and toxins that can spread serious or fatal infections to humans through the air. Labs that meet the strict guidelines for Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) designation — like the ones at Trudeau — are carefully constructed to protect lab personnel, the environment and the community.
To explain the complexity of the research Trudeau specializes in, Reiley described the approaches that the Institute utilizes to drive improvements for global health. “The first goal is to expand our knowledge of how pathogens cause disease and/or avoid the immune system to cause disease. We then use this information to help guide the identification and development of new, novel therapeutics and vaccines to prevent infection or decrease its transmission. Each approach has its challenges as treating and eliminating a pathogen can be very complicated. An example of this is something called persister bacteria. Persister bacteria are different from multi- or extensive-drug resistant bacteria in that they do not acquire mutations in their genome that results in the bacteria being resistant to the antibiotic being used. Instead, they utilize a survival strategy. What happens is that when the bacteria are in the presence of the antibiotic 99 percent of them will be killed, but one percent will turn on a different set of genes to avoid where the antibiotic compound is targeting, allowing this small number of bacteria to survive without mutation. Therefore, to effectively treat drug resistant infections and persister bacteria, we need to develop new classes of compounds with yet unexploited mechanisms of action. That is where our team is focused.”
I asked Reiley if Trudeau was involved in the research on COVID-19, its vaccines and therapeutics. He smiled and acknowledged, “Oh, yes. My team didn’t sleep much during that time. By February 2020, just before the country shut down in March, we had obtained samples of the virus which had been isolated from patients and we began extensive research on the pathogen, setting up assays and models to test the vaccines and therapeutics as they became available. I spent most days, 10-12 hours, with my colleagues in the BSL-3 facilities in personal protective equipment, i.e. scrubs, gowns, gloves, all with respiratory protection.”
Looking ahead to what the research community can do to develop the next generation of treatment options, Reiley offered, “Working on moving materials from the laboratory bench to the bedside is the Institute’s goal. Scientific research can be a long road, but we need to take special care with emerging and re-emerging pathogens so we do not get caught unprepared. I, like many others, do not want to see another pandemic, so we must be ready for what comes our way.”
Trudeau’s collaborations with medical research universities like SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, federal and government agencies like the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), large nonprofits, biopharma, and biotech companies are a tribute to the importance of its work and the quality of its research teams.
On the subject of the Institute’s staff of 65, Reiley was enthusiastic. Top of mind for him is to address the need for additional dedicated professionals. “Over the next five years, our goal is to double the size of our staff. Big changes are coming! We will soon be ready to release news of new initiatives and we will need the staff to achieve them.”
Trudeau Institute is a 21st century workplace that anticipates the needs of professionals. Family related services include help with temporary housing to allow new hires to become familiar with the area, child care on the Institute’s campus and quality health care nearby. “This area offers an outdoor lifestyle that is very attractive — skiing, biking, hiking. We are in a growth trajectory. Our goal is to move the needle forward and we invite people to join us,” Reiley concluded.
Trudeau Institute
154 Algonquin Drive
Saranac Lake, NY 12983
518 891-3080
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