It's not every day (surely) that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) gets startling briefings on the state of woodchuck health.

But when she does -- as she did during her Friday, March 3, visit to Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine -- she pays attention.

Clinton was at Cornell to attend an evening meeting of the Democratic Rural Conference of New York State in Statler Hall. But she spent the afternoon at Cornell's Schurman Hall, where she heard from Vet College faculty about the animal-human interface of disease; ways to prevent or mitigate a pandemic or other potential public health crisis; and leading research on those topics at Cornell.

Clinton has visited Cornell several times, but this was her first stop at the Vet College. "I've been trying to get here for a couple of years," she told her audience in Schurman Hall. "I have a very high regard for the work you do here."

Edward Dubovi, director of virology at the college's diagnostic lab, began the meeting by summarizing Cornell's research, education and outreach work toward preventing an outbreak of avian influenza. Gary Whittaker, associate professor of microbiology and immunology and Cornell's primary researcher on avian influenza, discussed the efforts and hurdles involved with creating vaccines and antiviral medications.

"Will [avian flu] be the cause of the next pandemic? It's hard to say," Whittaker said. "The virus is very unpredictable. The more we can find out, the better we'll be prepared.

"Cornell is well set up to do wide-reaching, big science," he said. "That's where we can play a big role."

In a second meeting, Clinton heard (via videoconference) how researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute are collaborating with Cornell scientists to study cancers and cancer treatments. By investigating naturally occurring cancers in such animals as woodchucks, chickens and cats, she learned, researchers are making new discoveries about cancer in humans.

Rodney Page, chair of clinical sciences at the Vet College and director of Cornell's Sprecher Institute for Comparative Cancer Research, said Cornell is one of only two universities to have a vet school working closely with a cancer center. "Our pets live in our environments," he said. "This whole concept that environment influences cancer doesn't apply only to ourselves."

Cornell President Hunter Rawlings said such cooperation across disciplines is a valuable trend. "[Researchers] are all coming together to do this stuff," he told Clinton. "You don't have provosts pushing them to do these things; they need each other."

At a later press conference, Clinton thanked Rawlings and the participating researchers: "Vet colleges are moving into the lead in cancer research," she said. "There's a lot that we can learn."

Clinton said she was particularly impressed by the interdisciplinary collaboration at Cornell. And she had harsh words for the Bush administration's approach to public health.

"The administration's message seems to be, local communities, get prepared to take care of yourselves," she said. "I think that is irresponsible. Somebody needs to be in charge. We have a long way to go before we can say we're prepared.

"I am incredibly impressed with the work that is occurring ... with the potential for breakthroughs in public health," she added. "A land-grant university like Cornell is essential to our quality of life. Cornell is one of our world leaders. The work being done here is essential."