Biomedicine in Ticino

Antonio Lanzavecchia has been succeeded by Davide Robbiani as director of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) in Bellinzona. The IRB Foundation Council and the University Council at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) appointed him as the new director of the IRB and Full Professor at the USI Faculty of Biomedical Sciences back in June 2019.

According to a press release, his role will be maintaining and consolidating the high level of scientific results in the IRB’s field of specialization, human immunology. These have enabled the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland to position itself on the global map of leading research in the important field of basic research in biomedicine.

The IRB also wants to benefit from Robbiani’s experience in coronavirus research. The scientist earned his PhD in Immunology at Cornell University. Since 2005, he has been Research Associate Professor at the Rockefeller University in New York and, as Group Leader, involved in various projects connected to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. He and his colleagues discovered very powerful antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus and consequently paved the way for clinical trials in the autumn. The study was published in the specialist journal Nature in June.

“It is a pleasure to see the return to Ticino of a native researcher after all the experience and success in the field of immunology and microbiology in the United States,” said President of the IRB Foundation, Gabriele Gendotti.

Robbiani commented that the work carried out by the IRB as a “top and internationally renowned institute” was greatly in line with his own interest in human immunology and research. “Moreover, the current developments in the field of biomedicine represent for me a strong incentive to contribute to the scientific and academic development of Ticino.” In particular, he is keen to create new synergies with other players in biomedicine.