Dazzling progress in the fields of genomics, proteomics, structural and chemical biology has remodeled biomedical research. The integration of the phenomenal quantity of information available in coherent models of molecular, cellular and functional biology represents a fundamental challenge for the future. These scientific breakthroughs also open scientific prospects never imagined before. The repercussions will be many, not only in the field of life sciences, but also for the entire basic and engineering sciences (micro and nanotechnologies, bioanalytical chemistry, material sciences, optics, robotics, communication and information systems, etc.). The EPFL owed it to itself to anticipate and prepare its campus for this true scientific revolution. Hence when it underwent a major reorganization in 2002, the EPFL created the School of Life Sciences, betting on functional genomics as a catalyst of transdisciplinary research to attract the best researchers in every discipline.
Biomedical research will increasingly rely on quantitative approaches and high-end technologies, and the future of life sciences lies at the crossroads of biology, hard sciences and engineering. The School of Life Sciences was created on this premise, echoing the thirst for biologically relevant questions amongst EPFL scientists specialized in chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering and other EPFL strongholds. Capitalizing on its initial development in neuroscience (under the auspices of the Brain Mind Institute) and biotechnology (led by the Institute of Bioengineering), the School of Life Sciences has now matured into a four-institutes entity, as 2005 witnessed the joining of ISREC (the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research) and the launching of the Global Health Institute. Cancer and infectious diseases are thus added to mental and neurological disorders as our top biomedical priorities, while in all areas we push for integrated approaches spanning a range of disciplines from functional genomics to high-tech bioengineering.
- The Institute of Bioengineering (IBI) sits at the interface between life sciences and life technologies. With group leaders coming from fields as diverse as biology, medicine, mechanical or chemical engineering, physics or physical chemistry, the IBI addresses questions in basic life sciences as well as their implications for health and disease.
- The Brain Mind Institute (BMI) covers a broad scope from higher brain functions to neurodegenerative diseases, exploring the field of neurosciences from genomics to cognition. Its new effort in the area of neuroprosthetics has instantaneously strengthened bridges between our scientists and specialists from engineering, or computer and communication sciences.
- The Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) brings to our Faculty the traditional fortes of this Institute, which has built its reputation on outstanding cell and developmental biology studies geared towards the understanding of cancer.
- The Global Health Institute is actively recruiting faculty, aiming to build a core of basic scientists working on the major infectious threats of our time, whether at the levels of prevention, diagnostics or therapeutics. The Institute is developing a network of partnerships in Switzerland and in regions of the world most severely afflicted by these problems.