EBI fosters a rich interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial environment. Our research team combines an excitement in basic discovery with a disciplined, practical interest in how their discoveries can benefit human health and create new businesses. This unusual combination is key to our continued success.
EBI has a long history of interdisciplinary collaboration. Our founding scientists were specialists in chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology. Their unusual ability to combine techniques and knowledge from different disciplines established EBI's reputation for meaningful discovery.
Globally, work that crosses traditional academic boundaries has helped spawn the latest biomedical revolution. In many cases, the current approach to identifying novel compounds for treating disease is entirely interdisciplinary. From molecular target identification through drug design and delivery, each step of the process may involve a wide range of experts: molecular biologists, cell biologists, geneticists, organic chemists, computational chemists, biophysicists, immunologists, physiologists, engineers and others.
Such interdisciplinary efforts will continue to fuel biomedicine. EBI's commitment to a collaborative and systems-based model aligns the institute with the present and future of scientific investigation.
At EBI, we use state-of-the-art science to pursue new basic knowledge and to broaden understanding of health and illness -- but we also want to see our ideas put to use. In other words, we want to see the information and solutions that we generate become new, useful biomedical products that improve people's lives.
EBI's early leaders recognized the potential of entrepreneurism
coupled with science-- long before most academic environments
embraced the concept. We at EBI believe it is a natural
and logical evolution of what has always been the hallmark
of academia -- ideas, innovation, creativity, generation
of new knowledge -- to participate in the knowledge-based
economy of today. Almost overnight, the academy has
been transformed from an "ivory tower" isolated from
economic progress to the center of many technological
advances.
In evolving the institute's approach to scientific investigation, we have become a larger, more broadly based research entity whose focus is biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics. To achieve this end, we've selected a group of research themes which our investigators pursue both individually, in collaboration with one another and in conjunction with other academic and corporate partners.
These research areas include:
- Growth disorders
- Diabetes, obesity and related cardiovascular complications
- Autoimmune/inflammatory diseases
- Aging
- Infectious diseases
- Cancer
Advances in technology allow for increased sophistication in the research questions one can ask. Individual technologies can be thought of as 'tool kits' that can be used to address questions of interest. As we have grown and evolved, EBI's tool kits also have changed and evolved with developments in the field. Our current mix of these research tools serves many different disciplines and areas of faculty interest.
EBI's on-site capacity includes:
- proteomics
- genomics
- cell and molecular biology
- flow cytometry
- transgenics (including gene knockouts)
- animal models (mouse, zebrafish and xenopus)
- bioimaging
Additional specialized research tools
include facilities for:
- electron microscopy
- quantitative microscopy and imaging with a laser
- scanning confocal microscope
- hybridoma generation
- molecular genetics laboratory with computer-assisted
DNA, RNA and protein sequencing
- NMR
- mass spectrophotometry
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