An Important Incentive for Science in Tessin

The founding of the university in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland in October of 1996 has been immensely important in regard to the development of scientific and cultural activities in the canton of Tessin. There are no scientists at the new university even though a number of laboratories for biomedical research already exist in Tessin. Research in this field is of tremendous importance for the integration of the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland into the national and international scientific context. This is also true for the further development of biotechnology, which is very important in the area of medical and ecological progress. With this goal in mind, a group of physicists and biologists - members of the interdisciplinary commission for Swiss medicine in Tessin - support the establishment of a new scientific institute in Bellinzona with a focus on human immunology. It is called the Institute for Research in Biomedicine.

Biomedicine is a part of biology that deals with processes at work in the physiological and pathological functions of the human organism. Biomedical research on molecular, cellular, and clinical levels contributes to the further development of new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and is also essential for medical progress.

This group of scientists works towards establishing the Institute for Research in Biomedicine as an active partner in national and international research networks. In particular, the Institute seeks to establish scientific cooperation between research institutes within and outside of Switzerland.

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine has the following objectives:

* It wants to participate in the expansion of knowledge in essential fields of science

* It stimulates and supports the theoretical and practical levels of biomedical research done in Tessin

* It wants to contribute to the professional training and further education of scientists in the area of human biology and medicine

* It acts as a scientific partner for the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry in Tessin and vicinity