on February 13, 2010
The Institute for Research in Bellinzona and the Società Ticinese delle Scienze Biomediche e Chimiche hosted the annual meeting of the Union of Swiss Societies for Experimental Biology on the 11th and 12th of February at the Palazzo Congressi in Lugano.
The meeting is entitled USGEB2010: Frontiers in Human Biology and will include dedicated Symposia in which the latest scientific advances will be shared. The symposia are organized by individual societies and cover a broad range of topics.
Plenary Sessions will be led by guest speakers of international renown:
- Wilhelm Krek, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Rino Rappuoli, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy
- Martin E. Schwab, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Stewart Cole, EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland
- Vincenzo Cerundolo, University of Oxford, UK
The Canton of Ticino has organized a symposium on Computational Biology to underline advances in this growing field in Switzerland and in particular in Ticino through collaborative research programs that involve the USI, the SUPSI, the IRB and the CSCS.
Introduction to the meeting from Antonio Lanzavecchia, Chairman of the Organizing Committee:
Frontiers in Human Biology intends to shed light on the recent global advances in biomedical research in the areas of metabolic and genetic disorders and of infectious diseases and vaccines. The program of the meeting provides only a glimpse on the many research activities carried out by the member Societies of the USGEB. At the same time this meeting offers the opportunity to know the efforts of the Canton Ticino to foster research in life sciences at the Universita` della Svizzera Italiana (USI) and through support to institutions such as the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) and the Institute of Oncology of Southern Switzerland (IOSI). We are confident that the increasing scientific impact of the research in Ticino combined with the excellent quality of life in the south will attract young scientists to consider their career development in our region.
On Friday 12 February the Friedrich Mischer Award will be presented to Dr. Henrik Kaessmann, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
During the meeting three events were held for the general public:
- 11 February from 14:00 to 15:30, High school and university students were invited to attend, together with meeting participants from all over Switzerland, a special screening of the documentary “Naturally Obsessed” about the life of PhD students.
- 11 February: 19:00 to 20:00, The Frontiers Lecture Dr. Angelo Paris, Director of the EXPO 2015 presented the ambitious project to hold a world expo in Milan on the theme of “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”.
- 12 February 2010, at 20:30. Mezzosoprano Giuliana Castellani was accompanied by renowned pianist Bruno Canino. In the first of a series of concerts to raise funds for research in Ticino. Rerservations for tickets at Palazzo dei Congressi or on the website: www.grandivoci.ch/
Companies exhibiting at USGEB:
Mettler Toledo (Schweiz) GmbH, Leica Microsystems (Schweiz) AG, Science Products AG, VWR International AG, Vadaux-Eppendorf AG, Milan Analytica AG, Life Systems Design AG, Microsynth AG, Applied Biosystems Deutschland GmbH, Fermentas GmbH, Milian SA, Thermo Scientific, SKAN AG, Sysmex Digitana AG, IG Instrumenten-Gesellschaft AG, Chemie Brunschwig AG, Nikon AG, Labforce AG, Bucher Biotec AG, Witec AG, Socorex ISBA SA, Biobank -Suisse, Macherey-Nagel AG, Sartorius Stedim Italy SPA, Sarstedt AG, Axon Lab AG, Jackson Immunoresearch Europe Ltd, , BioConcept, Solaris Biotechnology srl, Fedegari Autoklaven AG, LuBioScience GmbH, Olympus Schweiz AG, Carl Zeiss AG.
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine opened its doors in Bellinzona in September of 2000 with the goal of improving understanding of human immunology. In the ten interceding years the IRB has grown from the initial 20 to more than 80 people. More than 300 papers have been published in leading scientific journals and a doctoral program in immunology has seen the successful defense of 35 doctoral theses. Contributions to understanding the basic mechanisms of the immune system have led to several important breakthroughs that have changed the landscape of immunology research and gained worldwide recognition for the IRB as a center of excellence.
The STSBC is the result of the fusion of two associations: ASIRB (Swiss Italian Association for Biomedical Research) and the ATC (Ticino Association of Chemists).
The goal of the association is to promote collegiality, protect titles as well as the professional, economical and social values of the members. The association oversees professional integrity and expresses opinions and takes actions with respect to the fields of biology, chemistry and related fields, in particular the field of biomedicine.
USGEB was founded in 1969 as a union of Swiss scientific societies sharing a common interest for the emerging field of molecular and cellular (experimental) biology. The mission of the Union was the dissemination of ideas and experimental know-how between the young research groups and fostering the communication among the leaders of the field at the different academic institutions all over the country.
