ISREC
Encyclopedia
ISREC is the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

: Institut suisse de recherche expérimentale sur le cancer), a not-for-profit institution founded in 1964 and located in Epalinges
Epalinges
Epalinges is a municipality in the district of Lausanne in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is a suburb of the city of Lausanne.-Geography:...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

Since January 1st 2008, it is organized into two distinct entities:
  • The ISREC Foundation whose mission is to continue to seek and provide resources for the support of translational cancer research projects and the training of young scientists.
  • The Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) at EPFL
    École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
    The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government with the stated mission to:...

     – School of Life Sciences whose research projects are oriented towards fundamental cancer research.

History

The ISREC has its origins in the history of the "Centre Anti-Cancéreux Romand" (CACR) which was founded in 1924 in Lausanne. Initially, the CACR was composed of three main departments: pathology, experimental research and a therapeutic service. The appointment of Alfredo Vannotti (1907-2002) as Head of the experimental research service in 1947 and the appointment one year later of Serge Neukomm (* 1917), led to the development of experimental research. In the 1950s, the medico-social activities were maintained, but in 1957, they were taken up by the cantonal leagues. The CACR then limited its activities to experimental research on cancer. Under the leadership of Rudolf Stadler (Chairman since 1951) and Henri Isliker (Director), ISREC was created on June 18, 1964 as a Swiss foundation.
Initially, the ISREC was situated next to the Cantonal Hospital later known as the Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV)
University Hospital of Lausanne
The University Hospital of Lausanne , in Lausanne, is one of the five university hospitals in Switzerland.- External link :...

. The ISREC was growing steadily. In 1970, the collaboration of the ISREC with the Institute of Biochemistry, the WHO and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research constituted a critical mass of over 150 scientists. The space in the building on the rue du Bugnon became totally inadequate. The ISREC built a new research center in Epalinges and moved there in autumn 1976. In 1978, Henri Isliker handed the direction of ISREC to Bernhard Hirt who headed the Institute for 18 years. In 1996, Michel Aguet took over as director. In 2008, the research groups of the Institute were integrated into the EPFL – School of Life Sciences and in 2009, Douglas Hanahan was nominated Director of the Institute.

The ISREC Foundation (President Yves J. Paternot) continues to seek and to provide resources to support projects having a broad potential of diagnostic or therapeutic innovation in cancer research.

Research

The Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research has, for over 40 years of its existence as an independent institute, been devoted to cancer related basic research. Since its integration as an institute into the EPFL School of Life Sciences on January 1st 2008 and the renewal of a substantial part of its scientific staff, its research focuses on areas including genome stability, cell proliferation and differentiation, and the role of developmental pathways in tumorigenesis and tumor progression.

Publications

Between 1964 and today more than 2,000 articles were published by ISREC researchers in various scientific journals, notably in Cell, Nature and Science.

Honors (Selection)

The research conducted by ISREC members has been distinguished by major awards. These include:
  • Marcel Benoist Prize:


1976: Jean-Charles Cerottini and Theodor K. Brunner

1995: Henri Isliker
  • Friedrich Miescher Prize:


1976: Heidi Diggelmann

1982: Otto Hagenbüchle and Ueli Schibler

1992: Erich Nigg

1994: Susan Gasser

1998: Bruno Amati

2002: Joachim Lingner

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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