The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) in Bellinzona, the capital of the Italian-speaking canton of Tessin, will be opened in the spring of 2000. The building, which is made of glass and steel and was designed by the famous architect Luigi Snozzi, is within view of Castelgrande Rock, the huge medieval castle in the center of town. Inside there are 1,400 square meters of laboratories and rooms for tissue cultures. It also provides the key equipment for analyzing nucleic acids and proteins, for cell differentiation and cytofluorometry, as well as for high resolution microscopy and image analysis.

The IRB is funded by the city of Bellinzona, the canton of Tessin, and by private foundations. The Helmut Horten Foundation is the main sponsor and has contributed 10 million Swiss francs for the laboratory equipment and to the regular expenses of the first five years.

The IRB's vision is to create the best possible conditions for its members to do highest level research in complete autonomy and with appropriate technical and logistic means. The Institute encourages the collaboration of research teams working in different fields of biomedical research.