More than 175 years ago, the medical school faculty was conducting research to understand disease and search for cures. two years ago, Elinor Spring-Mills, PhD, was part of a group charged with studying and compiling Upstate's long history of research in an accessible, easy-to-read fashion. Spring-Mills' work began when she uncovered "an unmarked, shabby binder with a black cover" on a shelf in Weiskotten Hall. "Pieces broke off as I opened the cover and turned the pages," she reports.

The title page of that binder, now reproduced digitally and housed in the archives at Upstate's Health Sciences Library, read "by J. Howard Ferguson, MD, 1968." It contains the history of anatomical study from 1834 to 1967. Spring-Mills and colleagues decided to tackle research and coursework conducted by their department after 1967.

The resulting book -- Cell & Developmental Biology: 1968-2013 -- was published this spring. On its cover is this stylized image of zebrafish embryos from the lab of Jeffrey Amack, PhD. According to Amack, "the zebrafish embryo provides a useful model to investigate development and disease of several organ systems."

More than 30 clinical and basic science departments conduct research at Upstate Medical University.