Harvard and EPFL Join Forces in Research Projects to Tackle Blindness and Deafness Through Neuroengineering

New grants for five research projects awarded by the Bertarelli Program in Translational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering Boston/Lausanne (October 21, 2014)—The Bertarelli Program in Translational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering, a collaborative program between Harvard Medical School and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, has announced a new set of grants worth USD 3.6 million for five research projects. This is a further strengthening of the partnership between Harvard and Swiss scientists begun in 2010. 

Three of the five projects will pursue new methods to diagnose and treat hearing loss. A fourth project focuses on the dynamics of brain networks in children with autism, and the fifth on cell transplantation strategies that could reverse certain forms of blindness. 

The research projects were all selected for their scientific quality, the novelty of the approach proposed and the potential for genuine clinical impact. Three of the research projects are a continuation of the successful research projects from the Bertarelli Program, focusing on novel approaches to understanding or treating sensory disorders.

To promote collaborations between US and Swiss based scientists as well as between neuroscientists and engineers, the funding conditions stipulate that each project be an equal collaboration between Harvard and at EPFL. This incentivizes researchers to find new collaborators with complementary skills. This in turn led to new interdisciplinary projects that combined technologies and approaches in novel ways. 

“We are delighted at the continued generosity of the Bertarelli Foundation,” said Jeffrey S. Flier, Dean of Harvard Medical School. “This type of forward-thinking support is exactly what’s needed to help us continue to unravel the profound complexities of the human brain.” 

David Corey, HMS professor of neurobiology and Director of the Bertarelli Program for Harvard Medical School, said, “The past 40 years of basic research in neuroscience have produced an extraordinary understanding of how the brain works, and how it can malfunction in neurological and psychiatric disease. We are now at a point where we can use this understanding to treat these devastating diseases. The Bertarelli Program in Translational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering combines basic neuroscience with the technology and problem-solving focus of engineering to accelerate the delivery of new treatments to the clinic. The tremendous success of the first round of projects has amply validated the vision of the Bertarelli Foundation in creating this unique collaborative program." 

Commenting on the new research, Ernesto Bertarelli, Co-Chairman of the Bertarelli Foundation, said, “When my family and I had the vision for this program, it was based upon bringing together scientists and medical specialists from different disciplines and countries to really push the boundaries of neuroscience and neuroengineering, creating a melting-pot of different talents, passions and visions united by a commitment to find ground-breaking ways to treat people and to make their lives better. What has been achieved since 2011 is highly encouraging. What might be achieved with these new research projects is just as exciting.” Bertarelli, a graduate of Harvard Business School, is also a member of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows.

For further information, please contact: 

Harvard Medical School
Angela Alberti
617-432-3038
angela_alberti@hms.harvard.edu

EPFL
Madeleine von Holzen
+41 21 693 22 66 / M +41 79 305 86 25
madeleine.vonholzen@epfl.ch

Bertarelli Foundation
Marie-Hélène Hancock - Hirzel.Neef.Schmid.Counselors
+41 22 340 28 45 / M +41 79 204 21 22
marie-helene.hancock@konsulenten.ch

The Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
EPFL is an internationally top-ranked scientific research and educational institution on the shores of Lake Geneva. As one of two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, its trajectory over the past four decades is unparalleled—taking the lead in emerging fields of research such as bioengineering and energy technology, as well as expanding far beyond the Lausanne campus throughout Switzerland with satellite campus and international accords with other world-class universities. EPFL at a glance 

The Bertarelli Foundation
The Bertarelli Foundation was founded in 1998 in memory of Fabio Bertarelli, the father of Ernesto and Dona. Today, the Foundation has focused its activities on two main areas: life sciences and marine conservation. Ernesto and Dona are the Foundation’s co-presidents, while their mother, Maria Iris, and Ernesto’s wife, Kirsty, are also Board members. Bertarelli Foundation website 

Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (hms.harvard.edu) has more than 9,000 full-time faculty working in 11 academic departments located at the School’s Boston campus or in one of 47 hospital-based clinical departments at 16 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those affiliates include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Boston Children’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Hebrew Senior Life, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children’s Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System.