The Bassett Research Institute:

- responds to the health priorities of the central New York;

-stimulates and supports clinicians in academic, intellectual, and clinical improvement endeavors;

- performs these activities in a way that is both measurable and sustainable.

Activities at the Bassett Research Institute range from basic science efforts to explain mechanisms of diabetes to community education efforts aimed at dental disease in school children.  The unifying theme is that all of this work helps to address the health problems challenging the central New York population that Bassett serves. 

Underpinning these efforts are the investigations embedded in the Upstate Health and Wellness Survey. This survey of over 11,000 families continues the Research Institute's twenty year trending of health issues across the Bassett region. Additionally the survey addresses specific hypotheses involving: weight gain / maintenance in adults; child exercise and obesity; aging and access to health care.  This study is done in partnership with county public health officers and other regional health resources.  Data from this work combined with existing regional data on behavioral risks in both adults and youth provide Bassett investigators with a clear view of the health challenges and priorities for our region.

In Delaware, Otsego, Montgomery and Schoharie counties the Research Institute's Rural Health Education Network is in schools and workplaces to enhance understanding of factors that contribute to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other community health challenges.  Other Research Institute efforts in these counties use policy and other interventions to reduce access to tobacco products.  Systematic community screening for cardiac disease and related risk factors is ongoing.  Collaborations with investigators at Cornell University and other institutions are investigating the impact of interventions aimed at smoking and weight gain related to pregnancy and the post-partum period.

Research Institute scientists are investigating a number of clinical conditions.  In the areas of obesity and diabetes this ranges from basic mechanisms of insulin signaling in various physiologic environments to modes of intervention in rural clinic sites.  The metabolic implications of weight loss surgical procedures are being studied.  Clinician scientists are interested in the most effective ways to screen for cancer in rural settings.  Bassett house officers have received national recognition for their research projects funded through the E. Donnal Thomas resident research program.

Other resources within the Bassett system contribute significantly to Research Institute efforts.  Bassett's network of school-based clinics provides opportunities for data gathering and systematic interventions among school children across the region.  The Mithoefer Center for Rural Surgery has pioneered efforts to define and address the coming crisis related to access to surgical care in rural areas.  The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health has earned an international reputation for the excellence of its research and interventions relating to traditional family farms, migrant farmworker populations and rural non-agricultural worksites.

We welcome your inquiries about Bassett's Research Institute. Please call 1-800-BASSETT or (607) 547-3048, or email us at research.institute@bassett.org.

Bassett Healthcare
The Research Institute