The Institute

Brief History of the Institute

The Institute of Chemical Biology (ICB), [named as Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Biotechnology (IBMCB) until 6/5/2019] was founded in February 2012 through the merger of the Institutes of Biological Research and Biotechnology (IBRB) and Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (IOPC) of the National Hellenic Research Foundation. This unification brought together complementary expertise to form a leading-edge institute, leveraging the strengths of both legacy entities: the IBRB since 1977 in the areas of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, and the IOPC since 1989 in the fields of Organic, Organometallic and Medicinal Chemistry.

Vision and Mission of ICB

ICB plays a pivotal role at both national and international levels in drug discovery and biological target identification, in holistic approaches in health and healthspan, in the development of high-value chemicals, in biotechnology and in the utilization of natural products.

ICB capitalizes on the excellence of the two pre-existing Institutes to promote research, education and innovation. The institute maximizes the added value of its merger through interdisciplinary synergies, enhancing its national and international impact.

Research Directions

The research activities of ICB are epitomized in three interconnected strategic pillars, supported by several competitive grants. ICB researchers contribute, interact, collaborate, synergize, and exchange knowledge and expertise to successfully meet the excellence goals of the Institute. This holistic model bridges basic science with translational outcomes in biomedical applications.

Drug Discovery

ICB is unique in Greece in Drug research employing a comprehensive integrated approach encompassing all the stages of Drug discovery (structural biology, design, synthesis, biological evaluation in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo, development of nanocarriers for effective delivery) combined with translational research (collaboration with clinicians, biomarker, big data analysis).

Holistic Approaches in Health

ICB applies a combination of holistic chemical, biological and computational technologies (genomics, epigenomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics) to characterize a wide range of samples, to study the mechanism of disease onset and progression and  the efficacy/toxicity of therapeutic approaches, and for the discovery of biomarkers related to environmental exposure, population heterogeneity and disease pathogenesis.]

Biotechnology

ICB applies biotechnological approaches, nanotechnology and green chemistry to produce compounds and nanocarriers with applications in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and chemicals.