Research Institute of Molecular Pathology

The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) is a biomedical research center, funded by the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, and by national and European research grants. The institute is located on the Campus Vienna Biocenter (VBC). The IMP employs around 250 people from 36 nations.

The IMP's conducts research in the molecular life sciences. Research results are published in peer-reviewed journals.

Research areas

Research at the IMP is organised into four themes: life at the molecular and cellular levels, information processing and storage in neural circuits, mechanisms of organismal development and disease, and interdisciplinary approaches that bring ideas and methods from other fields to bear on biological questions. The common goal in all of these areas is to elucidate the mechanisms and principles that underlie complex biological processes.

The IMP is organized into 17 independent research groups, headed by four senior scientists, twelve junior group leaders, and one IMP fellow. The groups focus on the following topics:

• Neural circuits in Drosophila (Barry Dickson)
• Auditory perception and memory in the neocortex (Simon Rumpel)
• Spatio-temporal specificity of miRNA function (Luisa Cochella)
• Stem Cell Commitment in Hematopoiesis (Meinrad Busslinger)
• Circuit mechanics of emotions in the limbic system (Wulf Haubensak )
• Symmetry breaking during cell polarization (Carrie Cowan)
• Learning and memory in Drosophila (Krystyna Keleman)
• The Molecular Basis of Migration (David Keays)
• Molecular Machines (Thomas Marlovits)
• Molecular Mechanisms of Protein Quality Control (Tim Clausen)
• Molecular Mechanisms of Antibody Diversification (Rushad Pavri)
• Systems biology of regulatory motifs and networks (Alexander Stark)
• Molecular Mechanisms of Kinetochore Function (Stefan Westermann)
• Mitosis and chromosome biology (Jan-Michael Peters)
• The neural basis of locomotor visual guidance in Drosophila (Andrew Straw)
• Finding and probing cancer drug targets using advanced in-vivo RNAi (Johannes Zuber)
• The neural basis of behavior (Manuel Zimmer)
• Multi-scale understanding of biological function (Alipasha Vaziri)

Core Facilities

Core facilities providing scientific services to the members of the institute are:

• The Bioinformatics department offers sequence analysis, scientific data mining, hardware and software infrastructure and self developed software.
• The BioOptics facility offers analytical flow cytometry, cell sorting, image processing and analysis, and microscopy services.
• The Comparative Medicine-department offers animal husbandry and veterinary services.
• The Molecular Biology Service Facility provides high throughput technologies and Microarray technologies.
• There is a Protein Chemistry Department for mass spectrometry experiments.
• The animal facility supervises care of mice and Xenopus laevis and hosts a mouse service facility for generation of new transgenic lines and ES cell microinjections into blastocysts.
• Other facilities include the workshop, a graphics department and the Max Perutz Library.

International PhD program

An international PhD program is carried out jointly with the neighboring institutes IMBA, GMI and MFPL. Acceptance into the program is competitive and based on a formal selection procedure. There are two selections each year, deadlines are April 30 and November 15.

Scientific Advisory Board

In order to maintain its standard of research, the IMP has installed a process of review and feedback. The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), consisting of internationally recognized scientists, meets once a year and discusses the quality, significance, and main focus of research conducted at the IMP.

History

The foundation of the institute was promoted by the private company Boehringer Ingelheim, intending to branch into biotechnology, and the American partner Genentech, a biotechnology firm. From the collaboration of both firms rose the idea of founding an independent basic research institute in Europe which resulted in the establishment of the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in 1988 in Vienna (Austria) under the direction of Max Birnstiel. The institute opened its doors in 1988.

The success of the IMP was reflected in the expansion of biotechnology facilities near the institute. Three institutes of the Faculties of Science and Medicine of the University of Vienna moved into the building next door, and have been restructured as the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL) under the directorship of Graham Warren.

In 1993, Genenetech bowed out of its commitment with the IMP and Boehringer Ingelheim become the sole sponsor of the institute, with support from the Austrian Government.

The campus has been enriched by two institutes of the Austrian Academy of Sciences: the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, directed by Josef Penninger, and the Gregor Mendel Institute (GMI), directed by Magnus Nordborg.

Kim Nasmyth succeeded Max Birnstiel as director in 1997, after Max Birnstiel retired. Barry Dickson followed in 2006 and stepped down at the end of 2012. Jan-Michael Peters is acting director of the IMP.

Funding

The operating budget of the IMP is provided largely by Boehringer Ingelheim. Support comes from grants awarded to individual scientists and projects by national and international funding agencies such as the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Austrian Industrial Research Promotion Fund (FFG), the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), Zentrum für Innovation und Technologie (ZIT), the City of Vienna, the Austrian federal government, the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP), and the European Union (EU).

People

The IMP attracts researchers from all over the world and today 36 nationalities are represented in the institute. There is a constant turnover due to the limited contracts of most researchers.

References

External links

• Research Institute of Molecular Pathology official website
• Boehringer Ingelheim Corporate website
• Boehringer Ingelheim Regional Center Vienna website
• Campus Vienna Biocenter
• International PhD Program in Molecular Life Sciences