Research Institute of Molecular Pathology IMP

The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) is a leading basic research institute in Vienna, Austria. Its 13 research groups with scientists from 40 countries address fundamental questions in molecular biology. Funded primarily by Boehringer Ingelheim and with unconstrained academic freedom, the IMP is the ideal environment for curiosity-driven biomedical research. As part of Vienna BioCenter, the IMP is embedded in one of Europe’s biggest life science hubs with approximately 2,800 people working on life science research, education and business.

IMP_new_building — *IMP new building. © Research Institute of Molecular Pathology*

Focus on basic research with state-of-the-art facilities

Since the IMP’s establishment in 1985, scientists at the institute are addressing important problems in research areas covering a broad spectrum of the molecular life sciences, including molecular and cell biology; development and regulation; immunology and cancer.

In pursuit of their research goals, scientists at the IMP employ the latest methods and equipment in molecular genetics, imaging, biochemistry, and structural biology on an array of model systems. This is achieved with the help of state-of-the-art core facilities with experienced scientific staff that are available to all research groups of the IMP and its two partner institutes: the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) and the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (GMI).

In addition to the annual core funding of approximately two thirds of the IMP budget, Boehringer Ingelheim has repeatedly supported one-term investments. These included the construction of the current IMP building until 2016, and the purchase of a potent KRIOS G4 cryo-electron microscope in 2022, which is operated in collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim.

A Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of eight to ten members meets with IMP researchers every year to discuss the quality, significance and main focus of research conducted at the institute. SAB members are distinguished scientists from some of the world’s top research institutes and universities, as well as a representative of Boehringer Ingelheim’s research units. Since 2011, the representative is Prof. Norbert Kraut, an internationally recognized cancer researcher.

You can learn more about the IMP at the Vienna BioCenter on this link: IMP at a glance

IMP_Collaborative_spirit_and_ state-of-the-art_techniques — *Collaborative spirit and state-of-the-art techniques to drive new scientific breakthroughs.*

Collaborations with Boehringer Ingelheim

While the support of Boehringer Ingelheim for the IMP is aligned with philanthropic and social responsibility goals, there are also synergies and benefits that emerge from the collaboration. For example, there is a long history of IMP alumni who later join Boehringer Ingelheim’s staff, often in research and development capacities. Expertise of IMP scientists can be beneficial for establishing new technologies on the side of the company, especially technologies that are already applied in academic research, but not yet a routine in the private sector. In some areas, scientists of Boehringer Ingelheim and the IMP work together in collaborative projects.

An example for such a collaboration is research on immune-modulation and on defining vulnerabilities of cancers with mutations in the cohesin complex, which aligned the translational interest of Boehringer Ingelheim with expertise of the lab of Johannes Zuber in screening technologies and that of Jan-Michael Peters in cohesin biology. This collaboration resulted in the identification of a novel potential therapeutic target in cohesin mutated cancers, drawing from the work of scientists at both the IMP and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Another example for a novel therapeutic modality emerged from a very fruitful collaboration with the IMP, several academic and biotech partners and strong support by our Medicinal Chemistry team. Together, we succeeded in bringing the concept of targeted protein degradation to the bacterial world with the goal to improve our future options against multiple drug-resistant pathogens.