Today, neurobiology stands at an exciting crossroads. There is the quest to unravel the secrets of the brain and the anatomical and functional fundamentals of neuronal circuits in more detail, to understand the mechanisms of neuronal and neurodegenerative disorders, and to support the nervous system during healthy aging, and in aging-related diseases.

The overall objective of the VIB Center for Molecular Neurology (CMN) is to enhance our current understanding of the biology of the nervous system during healthy aging and in relation to aging-related diseases. The new information will be translated to the clinic as well as to experimental work to gain a comprehensive view of the disease process ultimately contributing to the development of effective preventive interventions and etiological treatments.

Translating basic research findings into drugs is a long process with many steps. Medical biotechnology can both enable new discoveries and speed up the process of turning this new knowledge into usable therapies.

The VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology (CMB) is VIB’s main center of biomolecular analytics and biopharmaceutical engineering research, with a key focus on protein technology. CMB also translates the novel technologies and insights into widely applicable research tools, vaccines, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.

Cancer is a complex set of diseases involving a variety of different cell types, including tumor, endothelial, stromal and immune cells. The behavior of a tumor and its response to specific cancer therapies are difficult to predict. They largely depend on its cellular morphology, tumor metabolism and the genetic and epigenetic changes accumulating in the tumor cells. But they are also influenced by the tumor micro-environment, which consists of, among others, the tumor vasculature and infiltrating immune cells. To advance the understanding of cancer biology and treatment, a multidisciplinary approach is needed. Within VIB, scientists conduct both strategic basic and translational research into cancer.