History

The landscape of life sciences has changed dramatically in recent years as a result of spectacular growth in knowledge and technology. Our ability to sequence the human genome revolutionized biology. Since then, new disciplines such as genomics and proteomics have emerged along with highly sophisticated technologies, and basic research has evolved away from the traditional study of individual genes, one at a time, towards a systems biology approach.

This new kind of science allows investigators to shed light on the workings of cells and proteins as part of the greater organism they belong to, rather than on isolated components. It has opened the way for pursuing research initiatives more ambitious in scope and complexity, and more promising than ever before in terms of delivering effective diagnostics and therapies.

Yet harnessing this extraordinary new potential hinges upon the successful integration of talent, tools and knowledge from several different disciplines. Individual research teams, institutions and even entire countries are grappling with the significant shift required to bring together experts who want to tackle complex problems beyond the scope of a single laboratory and provide them with the right tools and facilities to optimize their work.

This is the pressing challenge the Université de Montréal seeks to respond to with its strategy for the alignment of resources, enabling technologies and knowledge to fuel investigator-initiated scientific discovery. Determined to offer the best research environment possible to support the work of an elite team of investigators, the University sought the counsel of some of the most respected health research leaders in the international community. This consultation proved invaluable in helping the University refine its vision for its Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) which it founded in April 2002.

Over the next three years, IRIC’s founding investigators were successful in rallying extraordinary support for a fully integrated systems biology research and training centre focused on immunology and cancer. They also secured the funding required to turn this vision into a reality. In 2005, IRIC opened its doors in the Marcelle-Coutu Pavilion, a brand new building designed and outfitted to meet the specific requirements of cross-disciplinary research.

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