The Competence Center for Systems Physiology and Metabolic Diseases (CC-SPMD) is a research and education program of ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich linking over 20 faculty members from different academic disciplines including biology, medicine, computational science and engineering. CC-SPMD embodies an interdisciplinary, team-based approach to develop the scientific foundations for personalized medicine and innovative therapeutics for metabolic diseases.
CC-SPMD is built around the shared vision of applying tools and insights from many disciplines to promote discoveries in biology and their application in medicine. It also offers a broad range of educational activities in systems biology. CC-SPMD has developed two multi-investigator research programs in diabetes and is in the process of seeding other activities in this area.
The «beta-cell Systems Biology» project aims at defining the pathophysiology underlying beta-cell failure in diabetes through a systems level understanding of cellular information processing, the discovery of biomarkers and the imaging in vivo of beta-cell function. It is executed in collaboration with Roche to develop mechanism-based innovative medicines.
The «LiverX» project is dedicated to the study of hepatic insulin resistance by building a framework that integrates prior knowledge on cellular signaling with systematically acquired quantitative data on multiple parts of the involved hormonal and metabolic control networks in the context of single cells, organs and whole organisms and subjects with insulin resistance.
- CC-SPMD is a Zurich-based life science campus-wide research and education program with the mission to develop the scientific foundations for personalized medicine and innovative therapeutics for metabolic diseases
- CC-SPMD pursues high-impact application of its discoveries by forming alliances with the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology companies
- CC-SPMD supports the development of complex technologies and their application in the metabolic disease area
- CC-SPMD promotes education by offering a PhD program in «Systems Biology of Complex Diseases» (as part of the Life Science Zurich Graduate School) and by organizing conferences specializing in this subject
Dr. Urte Hinrichs, Managing Director
ETH Zurich, Institute of Cell Biology, HPM F 39.1
Schafmattstr. 18
8093 Zurich
Switzerland
