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www.cemm.at Ce — M —M — Research Report 2007 Research Report 2007 Research Report 2007 Ce — M —M — Research Report 2007 Ce — M —M — Research Report 2007 Ce — M —M — Research Report 2007 Ce — M —M — Research Report 2007 Director’s Intro — The Austrian Academy of > p. 8—11 Sciences — The CeMM Building — History of CeMM — > p. 11 > p. 12—13 > p. 14—15 Concept of CeMM — Know Yourself — Defend > p. 16—17 > p. 18—25 Yourself — Control Yourself — Treat Yourself — > p. 28—35 > p. 38—45 > p. 48—55 Heal Yourself — Accelerator Projects — The First > p. 58—63 > p. 66–69 Conference of CeMM (Synergy in action) — > p. 70–73 CeMM Karl Landsteiner Lectures — CeMM Retreat — > p. 74–75 > p. 76–79 CeMM Phd Program — CeMM Principal Investigators — > p. 80–82 > p. 83–91 CeMM Directory — CeMM Publications 2007 — > p. 92–95 > p. 96–97 Scientific Advisory Board — Acknowledgements — > p. 98 > p. 99 CeMM scientists and their families who without “Our light blue- losing faith kept working at CeMM’s only fun­ Why CeMM? damental mission, to do innovative research CeMM colored to assist medicine, throughout those years of The view of the constant uncertainties and push­backs. You are lab journal” the explanation as to why we exist, why this Scientific Director Research Research Report is possible and you will enable us to make this center for molecular medicine a success. This is the first printed CeMM Research Report What is Molecular Medicine? Why do we need Report and as such brings many reasons to be cheerful. CeMM’s young faculty decided to divide this a research center dedicated to it? Has it not been It summarizes the first chapter of all the activities report into five episodes that should accompany done already? How does it relate to several exist­ that have been connected with CeMM and con­ you through fundamental aspects of what our ing research institutes? These are the type of tributed to its development from the very begin­ research approach is about: Know Yourself questions that we have been confronted with 2007 ning of its virtual life in the year 2000. There are (the strive to know our molecular makeup, the since we started CeMM some three years ago. Introduction by Giulio Superti-Furga reasonable chances that from a future perspective “human system” in health and disease), Defend And these are the answers: many of the efforts of these first years will be Yourself (the ability to understand and boost considered a period of heroic fanaticism as on the body’s capability to defend itself against Molecular Medicine is an area in medicine where uncountable occasions the CeMM project seemed hostile agents like pathogens), Control Your­ the mechanisms of disease as well as the thera­ very very close to hitting the wall. However, this self (the understanding and exploitation of the peutic and diagnostic initiatives are all based on report is testament to the commitment of many processes by which cells and tissues maintain a detailed understanding at the molecular level. people connected with CeMM that it thankfully their properties and do not lose identity or over­ This means that at CeMM we hunt the molec­ didn’t. It is impossible to thank properly in this proliferate to form diseases such as cancer), ular basis of disease and fight it in ways that are short introduction all the people who deserve Treat Yourself (understanding the mechanism understood in the language of molecules. to be mentioned. From the initiators, sponsors of existing therapeutics and learning from them), and administrators in the Austrian Academy of and Heal Yourself (the ultimate goal of prevent­ CeMM as a center is needed to anticipate, respond Sciences, to the first group of CeMM project lead­ ing disease, by selectively modulating the body’s and contribute as much as possible to the revolu­ ers, to the managers and colleagues at the Medical own capability to maintain a healthy state). tion in medicine that has begun from the sequenc­ University of Vienna and two Ministers of Science ing of individual genomes, the large increase in and Research and their officers and managers. We have just started. We will have our building quantitative data from patients and the prolifera­ There are very many other people in different hopefully in the next couple of years. Please tion of therapeutic opportunities. positions and functions, including our founding understand that we are far from having achieved “Beirat” board who helped in numerous ways, much yet. Much of the content of this report In a nutshell, the challenges we are facing in including welcome advice, important criticism are thoughts and notions entirely projected in translating the knowledge gained through the or even just a cup of coffee. You all know who a future of very hard work integrated with the years of successful “reductionist” approaches you are, and we would like to express our sincere work of many others. We hope you agree that in molecular biology into improved medical gratitude. it is all worthwhile. practice are disease complexity and patient vari­ ability associated with the socio­economical There are a few people that nevertheless need The cover of this research report reproduces one dilemmas of affordability and safety require­ to be mentioned, especially as they may not of our light blue­colored lab journals (note­ ments of treatment. The solutions generated by otherwise be given due credit. First, it is my books), where we record our everyday findings. the entire biomedical research community will privilege to acknowledge the work of my pre­ The intention was to create a symbol illustrating lead to medicines that are integrative and have decessor, CeMM’s founding Scientific Director that what we present in this report is the syn­ physiology as their central discipline. More than Dieter Maurer, Professor in the Dermatology thesis of what is found in our books. This makes it has been so far, the medicine of the future Department of the Medical University of Vienna. a direct link between the CeMM researchers and will be predictive, preventive and personalised. His idea, his founding documents and his strive the readers’ community of stakeholders and for scientific excellence, are the basis for all the supporters. CeMM is a postgenomic research centre. What work we have done since. I am honoured to con­ does that mean? Its foundation and principles tinue being able to call on his advice and wish were generated after the elucidation of the to keep him a close CeMM friend for the years to We hope you enjoy the reading. sequence of the human genome. Knowledge come. It is also critical to let readers know that of the “parts”, i.e. the gene products and the without the professional, persistent and precise Giulio Superti­Furga molecules, of the human body has been revealed. activity of my precious colleagues Dr. Gerhard What we are facing is the revaluation of physiol­ Schadler, Administrative Director at CeMM and ogy. The human body as a biological system is Anita Ender, all­rounder (who, would it not be more than just the sum of its parts. It is the result for CeMM would already be “magister” in busi­ of countless interactions between the molecules ness and administration), CeMM and I would of which we are composed, that form higher order not be here. Thank you very much. Last but not structures such as networks. These in turn are CeMM Scientific Director least, the people to whom goes my unconditional dynamic and result from the momentary as well Giulio Superti-Furga admiration and thanks are the valiant group of as past interactions of our bodies with the Ce — M —M — Research Report 2007 Ce — M —M — Research Report 2007 8 9 environ ment, including exposure to food, patho­ Already, our current molecular viewpoint is closing the circuit: from the clinic to the clinic. gens, pollutants and drugs. The time is not far different to the phenomenological description To achieve this, the only recipe we are aware The Austrian away, maybe a reality for the next generation, of disease. For example, the same molecular of is one of immediate physical proximity and in which all the knowledge of the parts and its malfunction may be at the basis of quite dif­ project contiguity between the medical doctors Academy interactions will allow for computational models ferent diseases and, conversely, diseases that with the clinical insight and the biomedical of a “virtual human” that, fed with data from are currently believed to be the same may have researchers with the research weapons. We of Sciences molecular pathology, will predict disease out­ distinct molecular roots. Some inflamma­ have these people on the same project team and come and suggest cures. The human biological tory processes and the respective underlying stimulate the two sides to meet, collide and system is thought to be very robust, i.e. able to molecular pathways and networks may be connive. At the “receiving” end is a management absorb perturbations easily. However, both dis­ common to diseases as varied as rheumatoidar­ knowledgeable on the importance of securing eases and cures depend on understanding and thritis, type I diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, and protecting intellectual property generated modulating the fragile aspects of these otherwise and even some neurological diseases. Therefore by taxpayer’s money and encouraging the explo­ robust systems. CeMM can and will do research that benefits ration of therapeutic and diagnostic opportuni­ several disciplines and departments. In fact, it ties in a healthy and educated (not too close/not CeMM is not inventing molecular medicine, is CeMM’s molecular perspective that makes it too distant) relationship with industry.

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