FAQ

Rectorate of NOVA University Lisbon

Frequently asked questions about us


The NOVA Institute for Medical Systems Biology (NIMSB) is a partnership between NOVA University Lisbon and Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (Berlin, Germany) supported by the European Union (Teaming for Excellence – Horizon Europe), the Portuguese Government and the Municipality of Oeiras.


NIMSB aspires to become a leading international Center of Excellence in the development, integration and application of state-of-the-art systems biology approaches to medical research and innovation, contributing to the development of early diagnostics and advanced therapeutic solutions to deliver real Precision Medicine to patients. This will reduce mortality and improve the quality of life, increase R&I intensity, promote regional and national socioeconomic development to improve Portugal’s competitive position in Europe and globally.


NOVA University Lisbon and Max Delbrück Center (MDC) jointly established the NOVA Institute for Medical Systems Biology (NIMSB). Both institutions have developed a shared vision to push the boundaries of precision medicine. The Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB) is a research institution from MDC, that is focused on investigating complex biological systems to advance understanding of disease mechanisms and develop innovative medical solutions.


The NIMSB Mission is to pioneer excellent interdisciplinary research aimed at detecting the earliest cellular changes that lead to the onset of disease. Such unprecedented, sensitive and precise detection is made possible by the emergence and integration of new breakthrough technologies, including single-cell and spatial multi-omics, artificial intelligence (especially machine learning), and patient-derived disease models (organoids and organ-on-a-ship).


NIMSB is collaborating with NOVA schools, affiliated hospitals and other partners, to achieve critical mass and to establish infrastructure in single-cell multi-omics analytical approaches, patient-derived micro-physiological disease models (organoids and organ-on-a-chip), and Artificial Intelligence for health. The local innovation ecosystem in Precision Medicine is nascent and primed for development, while education and training programs need medical systems biology concepts to prepare researchers and healthcare workforce for the future.


NIMSB is playing a special role in the development of breakthrough technologies to tackle high morbidity and mortality diseases. Timely detection and successful treatment of disease depend crucially on understanding and defining when, why, and how cells deviate from healthy states in specific patient groups, based on their genetic background and environmental history. Health research in diverse human populations is key for more inclusive and precise treatments within Europe and worldwide. Discovering the earliest causative pathological cellular changes will be translated through proactive innovation programs into novel diagnostics with increased accuracy for disease detection even before symptoms arise, creating unforeseen therapeutic opportunities to intercept disease and cure patients, before irreparable damage to tissues and organs.


NIMSB is currently headquartered at NOVA University Lisbon, in Campus de Campolide, in Lisbon.