The aim of HCNR is to rapidly apply basic neuroscience discoveries to clinical needs, with an ultimate objective of reducing the impact of neurodegenerative disease. Our scientists have helped decipher the inner workings of the neurons, how brain cells mature and age, and aspects of systems neuroscience such as vision, olfaction and memory. We have also made tremendous advances toward understanding how neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s develop. Despite this record of discovery, much more progress is needed before we will be able to prevent or cure neurodegenerative diseases. And we need to move quickly. Our strategy is based upon the principle that a well organized and focused community of like-minded investigators is the best approach to comprehensively tackling these diseases. Working with a broad spectrum of researchers, we encourage the rapid application of basic neuroscience discoveries to clinical needs, and reduce duplication by drawing researchers into a cooperative, integrated but non-bureaucratic assembly.

The Harvard Stem Cell Institute is a scientific collaborative established to fulfill the promise of stem cell biology as the basis for cures and treatments for a wide range of chronic medical conditions.

For more than 35 years, HST has been a pioneer in interdisciplinary educational and research programs designed to educate outstanding minds, cultivate leaders, create knowledge, and generate cost-effective preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic innovations. Today, HST draws upon the extraordinary resources of Harvard, MIT, and their research centers and Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals to provide students and faculty with a unique range of educational and research opportunities. The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology (HST) is dedicated to integrating medicine, science, and engineering into an educational program that carries these disciplines from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside, and, conversely, brings clinical insights from the patient's bedside to the laboratory bench. HST effectively integrates patient care and laboratory research through three primary focus areas: Biomedical Imaging; Biomedical Informatics and Integrative Biology; and Regenerative and Functional Biomedical Technologies.

The central theme of our research is to develop biomarkers for neurological disorders and to develop novel computational methods and tools to improve the scientific productivity of neuroscience. The Center for Bioinformatics is an integral part of both the Harvard Center of Neurodegeneration and Repair (HCNR), Harvard Medical School and the Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. http://www.hcnr.med.harvard.edu for a description of project activities and available resources of HCNR.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a nonprofit medical research organization that employs hundreds of leading biomedical scientists working at the forefront of their fields. In addition, through its grants program and other activities, HHMI is helping to enhance science education at all levels and maintain the vigor of biomedical science worldwide. The Institute is one of the world's largest philanthropies, with laboratories across the United States and grants programs throughout the world. Its headquarters and conference center are located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. Using the powerful new tools of molecular biology, HHMI research teams seek to explain how the human body functions and why disease occurs. HHMI investigators have been involved in many recent advances, from the discovery of genes related to cancer, heart disease, obesity, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and other diseases to new insights about how organisms develop, cells communicate or learning occurs. In 2003, the Institute broke ground in Ashburn, Virgina to begin construction on the Janelia Farm Research Campus. The complex will consist of laboratory space, a conference facility, temporary housing for visiting scientists, and many amenities. The collaborative nature of the research will bring biologists, physicists, chemists, computer scientists, and engineers together to tackle the most difficult problems confronting science. The Institute's grants program is the largest privately funded education initiative in U.S. history. The grants are helping to strengthen science education and encourage talented young people to pursue research and teaching careers.

In May 2001, the Museum announced the establishment of the Institute for Comparative Genomics (ICG). The Institute is a preeminent center for collections, research, and training in the field of non-human comparative genomics and pursues seminal research in the study of gene variation, which informs our understanding of the human genome, the evolution and history of life, and the conservation of Earth's biodiversity.

The Institute in Multiscale Modeling of Biological Interactions (IMMBI) at Johns Hopkins draws on a variety of disciplines in science and engineering to foster studies of biological interactions and to train the next generation of computational biologists. The IMMBI is a collaborative effort with two partner institutions, the University of Delaware and Los Alamos National Laboratory. It is one of three programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy under their computational biology Genomes-to-Life initiative.

The Institute for Nanobiotechnology has been established at Hopkins to bring together expertise from the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, biology, medicine, and engineering to enable the creation of new knowledge and new technologies. In partnership with research facilities and universities throughout the country, the INBT will revolutionize health care and medicine by creating groundbreaking technologies based on nanotechnology. The Institute's vision includes the development of innovative, interdisciplinary research programs focused in three interrelated thrust areas--diagnostics and therapeutics, cellular and molecular dynamics, and health and the environment.

The Institute for Systems Biology was co-founded in 2000 by Alan Aderem, Ruedi Aebersold, and Leroy Hood. In just five years it has grown to more than 170 staff members, including 11 faculty members and their laboratory groups. This pioneering approach to the study of biological systems takes place in the institute's 65,000-square-foot facility in Seattle. Building a new kind of research institute one that can tackle the multi-disciplinary challenges of systems biology requires a strategy that itself integrates many sciences including biology, chemistry, physics, computation, mathematics and medicine. Because the field of systems biology requires the seamless integration of these disciplines, ISB has developed a philosophy, an environment, and an administrative structure that transcends traditional organizational and disciplinary barriers. Scientists collaborate across their specialties to leverage knowledge and expertise with others at the Institute and in academia and industry. You can find a tour of ISB here.

The Institute for the Future of the Mind, is one of 10 research institutes in the new James Martin 21st Century School made possible by a $100M benefaction to Oxford University, with the aim of finding solutions to the biggest problems facing humanity and identifying the key opportunities of the 21st century. On this site you will find more information about how technology influences the way that we think, particularly when the mind is most vulnerable when we are young and when we are old. Also available are details about the programme of activities undertaken at the institute to achieve our goal of determining how we might harness new technologies to maximise the potential of each individual and safeguard their individuality.

Founded in 1983 by the eminent ecologist Dr. Gene E. Likens, the Institute is one of the largest ecological programs in the world. The Institute of Ecosystem Studies combines research and education in fulfillment of its scientific mission. Central to the Institute's mission is the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge about ecological systems. A society with a basic understanding of ecological systems and an appreciation of their role in the quality of human life is essential if natural areas are to be sustained.

The Institute of Human Origins (IHO) conducts, interprets and publicizes scientific research on the human career. IHO's unique approach brings together scientists from diverse disciplines to develop integrated, bio-behavioral investigations of human evolution. Through research, education, and the sponsorship of scholarly interaction, IHO advances scientific understanding of our origins and its contemporary relevance. Combining interdisciplinary expertise and targeted funding, IHO fosters the pursuit of integrated solutions to the most important questions regarding the course, cause and timing of events in human evolution.

The Institute of Molecular Biophysics (IMB) is a multi-disciplinary institute consisting of faculty and their research groups who use biophysical, biochemical and computational tools to probe the structure, function, and dynamic properties of large molecules and macromolecular assemblies.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization. IARC's mission is to coordinate and conduct research on the causes of human cancer, the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and to develop scientific strategies for cancer control. The Agency is involved in both epidemiological and laboratory research and disseminates scientific information through publications, meetings, courses, and fellowships.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization. IARC's mission is to coordinate and conduct research on the causes of human cancer, the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and to develop scientific strategies for cancer control. The Agency is involved in both epidemiological and laboratory research and disseminates scientific information through publications, meetings, courses, and fellowships.