Exploring New Frontiers

The Research Beyond Borders team brings together the talents and capabilities of our scientists with the expertise of our innovation partners. This blend of external innovation and internal expertise allows us to effectively incubate the most creative scientific ideas and build a cradle for innovation. Already involved in key research projects in the human microbiome and regenerative medicine, our Research Beyond Borders team is keeping its finger on the pulse by working with world-leading academic research institutions to push the boundaries of science. Partnerships have already been established in a number of innovation ‘hotspots’ in the USA, Europe and Asia.

Pioneering New Models of Collaboration in our Human Microbiome Research Program

Our human microbiome research program aims to establish the causal effects of the microbiome on certain gut and metabolic disease pathophysiologies and brings together key experts from the microbiome and immunology scientific communities to work together in a new model of collaboration – SHINE.

Our Strategic Hub for Innovative New Therapeutics concept Exploration (SHINE) program is a unique postdoctoral research model for academic-industry partnership, designed to maximize engagement with a network of targeted investigators, and support their cross-institutional collaboration around a common scientific theme. Most importantly, SHINE brings together complementary skills and expertise to accelerate the drug discovery process, providing greater potential to discover truly novel concepts that can translate into new and advanced medicines for patients. Researchers from world-leading institutions - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, New York University, Washington University in St. Louis and Weill Cornell Medicine New York – are working side-by-side with Boehringer Ingelheim scientists at our research “collaboratory” in Ridgefield, CT. Specific research activities will center on:

• Developing a better understanding of the interface between the body’s immune system and the microbiome
• Determining the microbial triggers that impact intestinal barrier function
• Developing appropriate models for facilitating drug discovery activities.

Pioneering the Boundaries of Innovation: Regenerative Medicine and Hearing Loss

Other key research areas of interest for the Research Beyond Borders team include regenerative medicine, hearing loss and gene therapy.

Developing new treatment approaches for hearing loss, through regeneration of hair cells from inner ear stem cells, is the focus of a joint research project with Professor Renjie Chai and his team at China Southeast University. The collaboration combines the expertise of Professor Chai, one of the world leaders in the field of hearing loss, with our own expertise in drug discovery and clinical development to pave the way for the development of much needed new treatment options for this condition. Dr. Clive Wood, Senior Vice President, Human Pharma Discovery Research acknowledges the importance of this partnership for the Research Beyond Borders initiative.
 

 

“We’re looking for the medicines of the future and we’re open to the best new ideas and concepts to inspire our research and development from wherever they emerge. This is our first human pharma research partnership in China and our second collaboration in hearing loss, one of the focus areas of our Research Beyond Borders initiative. It is an outstanding example of how this unique initiative will boost our R&D by partnering with the most innovative scientists working at the forefront of biomedical research."

 

For more information about Research Beyond Borders please contact:

Dr. Guido Boehmelt
Email: guido.boehmelt@boehringer-ingelheim.com

Weiyi Zhang
Email: weiyi.zhang@boehringer-ingelheim.com  

Prof. Dr. Clive Long
Email: clive.long@boehringer-ingelheim.com

Dr. Shinobu Suzuki
Email: shinobu.suzuki@boehringer-ingelheim.com

Junjun Gao
Email: junjun.gao@boehringer-ingelheim.com