About Us

Some of the most pressing challenges in biomedical research today are global: understanding complex diseases, harnessing the potential of new technologies and driving the development of personalized approaches to medicine. Effective solutions can only be found by working together, across discplines, and across borders.

In this spirit EMBL, Europe’s leading research institute in molecular biology, and Stanford University, an internationally renowned center in research and education, have established the Life Science Alliance. By bringing together the best researchers from clinicians to engineers, chemists and biologists, we can gain a global understanding of the problem and create breakthroughs in biomedical research. In bridging these two institions, we are leveraging our complementary strengths and creating an interdisciplinary research network for the benefit of the life science communities worldwide.

Aims

The Alliance aims to create synergies between EMBL and Stanford's research communities and build on each other’s advances in the field.

The Alliance is committed to:

o Fostering cross-institutional knowledge transfer

o Increasing efficiencies in research

o Enabling high risk projects

o Promoting exchange of staff and scientific collaboration

o Sharing expertise and cooperation

o Offering training and education to members of the research communities

o Engaging in outreach activities to inform about current developments in research

Leadership

The Life Science Alliance is led by Lars Steinmetz, Professor of Genetics at Stanford University and Group Leader & Senior Scientist in the Genome Biology Unit at EMBL.

As Director of the Alliance, Lars serves as link between the Stanford School of Medicine, headed by Dean Lloyd Minor and the EMBL, headed by Director General Edith Heard. Lars oversees the Alliance and all of the ongoing activities and projects across both institutions.

Advisory Board

The scientific advisory is jointly composed of faculty from both EMBL and Stanford who provide advice on our scientific and strategic activities.

Russ Altman (Stanford)

Russ is a Professor of bioengineering, genetics, medicine, and biomedical data science (and of computer science, by courtesy). His primary research interests are in the application of computing and informatics technologies to problems relevant to medicine. The helix lab studies how human genetic variation affects drug response.

Altman lab

Lars Steinmetz (EMBL & Stanford)

Lars is the Director of the Life Science Alliance, a Professor of Genetics at Stanford University, Co-Director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center, and Senior Scientist in the Genome Biology Unit at EMBL. His group develops and applies cutting-edge technologies to investigate the genetic basis of complex traits, the mechanisms of gene expression and disease biology.

Steinmetz lab, Stanford
Steinmentz group, EMBL

Ami Bhatt (Stanford)

Ami is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine. Her laboratory researches the interplay between the human microbiome and noncommunicable diseases, such as cancer and cardiometabolic disorders. Along with Franklin Huang, Ami is a co-founder and co-president of the non-profit organization Global Oncology.

Bhatt Lab

Jan Ellenberg (EMBL)

Jan is the Head of the Cell Biology & Biophysics Unit and a Senior Scientist at EMBL Heidelberg. His research interests are widespread, with the overall goal of systematically elucidating the mechanisms underlying cell division and nuclear organisation. Jan also acts as the Scientific Coordinator for Global Bioimaging which seeks to create a global network of state-of-the-art imaging research infrastructures.

Ellenberg group

Keith Hodgson (Stanford)

Keith is a Professor of Chemistry and Photon Science at Stanford, where he chairs the Department of Chemistry. The Hodgson Lab focuses on how molecular structures relate to biological and chemical function, using a variety of x-ray absorption, diffraction and scattering techniques. Keith has preivously served as SSRL Director, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Deputy Director and Associate Laboratory Director for Photon Science.

Keith's profile

Peer Bork (EMBL)

Peer is Senior Scientist and Joint Head of the Structural and Computational Biology Unit at EMBL Heidelberg. His research spans various areas of computational and systems biology with a focus on function prediction, comparative analysis and data integration. The Bork Lab focuses on understanding microbial ecosystems like the human microbiome and the world’s oceans. In addition Peer serves as the strategic head of bioinformatics at EMBL.

Bork group

Silke Schumacher (EMBL)

Silke is the Director of International Relations at EMBL. She is responsible for all government and EU relations at EMBL as well as relations with EIROforum, and she oversees the European Learning Laboratory for the Life Sciences. A scientist by training, she previously held various management positions in academia and the biopharmaceutical industry.

Silke's profile

Mike Snyder (Stanford)

Michael Snyder is a Stanford Ascherman Professor and Chair of Genetics and the Director of the Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine. He is a leader in the field of functional genomics and proteomics, and one of the major participants of the ENCODE project. The Snyder lab develops a variety of approaches to analyze genomes, other omes, and regulatory networks to understand human variation and health.

Snyder lab

Matthias Wilmanns (EMBL)

Matthias is a senior scientist and the Head of EMBL Hamburg . He is also the Director of the Center of Structural Systems Biology and a Professor at the Hamburg University Clinical Center Eppendorf. His group investigates a variety of protein-ligand complexes within the context of biological systems using a broad range of molecular and structural biology techniques.

Wilmanns group

Support

Support our work

The Life Science Alliance is supported by generous private donations. Without their support, many of our transformative, high risk projects could not be pursued and our efforts to bring together the wider scientific community would not be possible.

Our donors understand that advances in biomedical research will help our communities. Together we can contribute to improving health and wellbeing.

If you would like to help us, please get in touch.

Find a doctor

Clinics & Services

Research Resources

Professional Training

Education Resources