Prof. Dr. med. Michel Aguet
It is mainly thanks to technological progress that clin- ical tumour biology and basic research have come closer to one another in the past few years. In add- ition to the genome-wide analysis of transcription patterns, there are a number of methods available today for investigating the relevance of biological processes of tumours, which are predominantly stud- ied with models and systems, in human tumour tis- sue. In future, basic research will probably become increasingly orientated to clinical observations and questions. This scientifically founded convergence will require some structural adaptations in basic re- search. A favourable trend in this respect is that indi- vidual groups of researchers, faced with stagnating or lacking funding, are showing more and more interest in collaborative projects. To support those, of course, additional funds are needed. Precisely to that pur- pose, the NCCR (National Centre of Competence in Research) in Molecular Oncology, tried to provide in- centives. As a result, the NCCR in Molecular Oncol- ogy is now supporting several projects that would not
have received funding if they had applied for individ- ual grants, and in some areas they have already gen- erated substantial synergies. ISREC, too, is prepared to face the challenge of closing the gap between basic and clinically-oriented cancer research.
ISREC will be incorporated into the School of Life Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in 2008. It will benefit from contact with technology-oriented institutes and from prox- imity to the departments of chemistry, mathematics, and information technology. This new environment, in which traditionally innovative research at the high- est academic level is accompanied by the develop- ment of applications, should be beneficial for re- search of a similar nature in the area of biomedicine. The ISREC foundation, which will continue to exist as an independent organisation, will extend support of the more clinically oriented collaborative research that began with the NCCR. Lausanne is a particularly attractive location for this, with its renowned oncol- ogy university hospital and its experimental path- ology department, which focuses strongly on molecu- lar oncology.
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The Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), in Lausanne
ISREC’s mandate is to contribute to the unravelling of the mechanisms of cancer genesis and to thereby provide new paths to therapies and clinical approaches. To achieve this goal, the institute provides researchers conducting research into the molecular causes of cancer genesis with the necessary infrastructure and provides research groups with ideal working conditions. ISREC employs about 200 scientists from 26 different countries. In 2001, ISREC was designated “leading house” of the National Centre of Competence in Research in Molecular Oncology.
The NCCR is a network research programme in molecular cancer research. The programme “particularly aims at establishing new pathways for the translation of progress in basic cancer research into advances in clinical oncology, through an improved interaction between basic researchers and clinical scientists in Switzerland”.
Naturally, there are risks involved in moving ISREC to the EPFL. The coherence of the institute and its pos- itioning and attractiveness as a cancer research centre will depend on how it succeeds in this new environment at complementing cancer-oriented basic research with clinic-oriented projects credibly and with high quality – sometimes also with the aim to spark greater interest on the part of industrial partners.
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Further information:
www.isrec.ch
www.nccr-oncology.ch
Prof. Dr. med. Michel Aguet
Michel Aguet completed his MD at the University of Zurich in 1974. Up to 1993 Aguet was associate professor at the Institute of Molecular Biology at the University of Zurich. In 1994, he moved to Genentech Inc., San Francisco, to head the Molecular Biology Department. In 1996 he was appointed director of ISREC, and in 2005 he became affiliated as a full professor in the newly established School of Life Sciences at EPFL.
Angelillo-Scherrer Anne | KLS 01775-08-2005 | CHF 135,700.–
CHUV, Lausanne
Insights into the role of Gas6 in graft-versus-leukemia effect VERSUS graft-versus-host disease
Beard Peter | OCS 01576-08-2004 | CHF 194,500.–
ISREC, Epalinges
Virus-mediated killing of cancer cells that lack functional p53: an approach to targeting the genetic instability of tumours
Beermann Friedrich | OCS 01500-02-2004 | CHF 243,800.–
ISREC, Epalinges
In vivo screening of candidate genes in melanoma
Carbone Giuseppina | OCS 01513-02-2004 | CHF 174,600.–
IOSI, Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, Bellinzona
Ets-domain transcription factors in prostate cancer
Cerny Andreas | OCS 01479-02-2004 | CHF 106,400.–
Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Sede Civico, Lugano
Preclinical development of liposomally formulated antivirally active small interfering RNA’s (Liforna’s) against Hepatitis C Virus as a novel strategy to combat hepatocellular carcinoma
Citi Sandra | OCS 01390-08-2003 | CHF 281,700.–
Department of Molecular Biology, University of Geneva, Geneva
The role of the tight junction protein cingulin in epithelial morphoge-nesis and differentiation
Dobbelaere Dirk A.E. | OCS 01414-08-2003 | CHF 170,300.–
Institut für Tierpathologie, Molekulare Pathologie, Universität Bern, Bern
A novel role for IKK in centrosome function and cell cycle progression
Donda Alena | OCS 01407-08-2003 | CHF 117,700.–
Biochemistry Institute, University Lausanne, Epalinges
Antibody-CD1d bifunctional molecules for targeting innate immunity to cancer cells
Erb Peter | OCS 01630-02-2005 | CHF 182,000.–
Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Universität Basel, Basel
Inhibition of the development of basal cell carcinoma by modulating apoptosis via the Gli2 pathway
Frei Christian | OCS 01575-08-2004 | CHF 167,000.–
Zoologisches Institut, University of Zurich, Zurich
The function of Drosophila hypoxia-inducible factor (Hif-1) and its transcriptinal targets in cellular growth control
Frese Steffen | OCS 01508-02-2004 | CHF 205,300.–
Department of Clinical Research Laboratory of General Thoracic Surgery, Bern
PG490 (triptolide)-mediated sensitization of non-small cell lung cancer cells to Apo2L/TRAIL-induced apoptosis – in vivo investigation in two different lung cancer mouse models with established tumors
Gönczy Pierre | OCS 01676-02-2005 | CHF 171,100.–
ISREC, Epalinges
Coupling cell polarity and cell division in C. elegans embryos: novel insights into proliferation control mechanisms
Gönczy Pierre | OCS 01495-02-2004 | CHF 291,800.–
ISREC, Epalinges
Cellular and molecular dissection of centrosome duplication in C. elegans: from model organism towards therapeutic opportunities
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Biomedical research