Campus & Beyond Baker Institute Marks 75 Years of Helping Save Animals’ Lives Stories You May Like Alum and Former Law School Dean Named President of Georgetown Bagels Over Berkeley: Alum Engineers a Noshing Empire Crossword Legend Is Still Puzzling For three-quarters of a century, its researchers have battled diseases, developed vaccines, mapped genomes, and more Editor's note: Thanks to the Baker Institute for sharing information from its anniversary timeline. By Beth Saulnier For 75 years, Cornell’s Baker Institute for Animal Health has made key advances that have contributed to the wellbeing of dogs, cows, horses, and other species—including humans. Attendees at the Institute’s dedication in 1951. Located near campus on Ithaca’s Snyder Hill, the facility was founded in 1950 as the Veterinary Virus Research Institute. Twenty-five years later—after the passing of its founding director, veterinarian and virologist James “Drew” Baker, PhD ’38, DVM ’40—it was renamed in his memory. In honor of its 75th birthday, here’s a sampling of the institute’s groundbreaking discoveries—including many by Big Red alumni: First Vet Tissue-Culture Lab Five years after the institute’s founding, it became home to the world’s first tissue-culture laboratory established for veterinary use. That allowed researchers to cultivate a host-specific organism like infectious hepatitis without infecting dogs—and to weaken live viruses in culture over time, greatly improving vaccine safety and predictability. Founding director James “Drew” Baker. A Cutting-Edge Vaccine In the 1960s, researchers developed a vaccine that immunizes dogs against both distemper and infectious hepatitis—the first dual-virus vaccine for animals ever created. Diagnostic Tests to Help Dog Breeders Also in the ’60s, the institute discovered ways to test for infectious diseases that cause fertility problems in canines—including work by Leland “Skip” Carmichael, PhD ’59, who created a way to detect the Brucella bacterium, which causes pregnancy loss. The ‘Coggins’ Test Leroy Coggins, PhD ’62 (left), and colleagues with an equine patient. Named for the scientist (Leroy Coggins, PhD ’62) who invented it in 1972, the test detects equine infectious anemia, and has been instrumental in controlling the deadly disease. Battling Canine Parvo Stories You May Like Alum and Former Law School Dean Named President of Georgetown Bagels Over Berkeley: Alum Engineers a Noshing Empire Viral samples from the 1970s and ’80s. Millions of animal lives have been saved thanks to the Baker researchers who quickly responded to the 1978 outbreak of a mysterious disease causing vomiting, severe diarrhea, and death in dogs worldwide. They not only created a diagnostic test for the culprit—which would become known as canine parvovirus—but developed the now-standard vaccine. Studying the Dog Genome By mapping inherited diseases in purebreds, Baker scientists pioneered the field of canine genetics. In 1997, they published the first linkage map of the dog genome in the journal Genomics—offering a framework for identifying disease-causing mutations, not only in canines but in humans. Reversing Canine (and Human!) Blindness In the early 2000s, Baker researchers were awarded a patent for a DNA-based test for a canine condition called congenital stationary night blindness—and went on to develop the first gene therapy technique to reverse it. More than a decade later, the FDA approved a therapy, based on that early work, to treat a rare form of human blindness. Equine Genome Sequencing Genetics pioneer Doug Antczak ’69 with Twilight. A mare named Twilight—who was bred, born, and raised at Cornell’s McConville Barn—was the first horse to have its whole genome sequenced. After a decade of work led by Doug Antczak ’69, her 2.7 billion base pair genome was fully sequenced in the mid-2000s, serving as a worldwide resource. Decoding Canine Hip Dysplasia Hip dysplasia seen on an x-ray. Biochemist George Lust, PhD ’64, was recruited to the faculty to study the degenerative condition, which causes untold suffering in dogs. He spent decades researching the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to it—and in 2007, his lab discovered the first markers enabling a genetic test for it. Breakthroughs in Assisted Reproduction Rachel PhilipsonResearcher Jacque Nelson-Harrington ’02 at work in the lab of Prof. Alex Travis (center) in 2020. The offspring of a beagle mother and Lab father, Klondike was the first puppy in the Western Hemisphere to be born from a frozen embryo—a breakthrough that aids threatened canine species, including some wolves. In 2015, two years after Klondike’s arrival, the institute welcomed the first puppies ever born through IVF. (Top: A puppy born through IVF. All images provided, unless otherwise indicated.) Published December 22, 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Cornelliana Remembering Anna Comstock, Cornell’s First Female Professor Campus & Beyond Institute of Politics and Global Affairs Wrestles with Today’s Thorniest Issues Quizzes & Puzzles September / October ’25 Trivia Roundup