The Institute for Systems Biology, where science solves problems, saves lives, and benefits human life on a global scale. If that’s not beautiful, we don’t know what is.
A microbial community-scale metabolic model of an individual’s gut generated by MICOM data and the data visualization tool Gephi. Image credit: Gibbons Lab/ISB.
Where discovery meets action – ISB is driving innovation from the heart of South Lake Union, uncovering new solutions to the world’s most pressing health problems.
ISB’s headquarters in South Lake Union, Seattle.
ISB brings together scientists, engineers, and staff from a wide range of fields, including molecular biology, genetics, software engineering, and microbial ecology, to advance human health.
Scientists working in the mass spectrometry and wet labs at ISB.
Dr. Mary Brunkow receiving her Nobel Prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on Wednesday, Dec 10, 2025. © 2025 Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.
ISB’s Dr. Mary Brunkow has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for transformative discoveries in immune tolerance, alongside Drs. Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi. Join us in celebrating this milestone for science and human health.
Cancer is complex and requires a sophisticated systems approach to understand and treat it. ISB researchers are pursuing several complex and cross-disciplinary means to better create more personalized therapeutics and simulate which treatments will be most effective.
Each of us has a microbiome — trillions of microorganisms that reside in and on our bodies. ISB researchers study the microbiome’s role in human health and translate this knowledge into approaches designed to promote better health for every individual.
Our infectious disease research addresses a wide range of global health initiatives. We are exploring new approaches that focus on cutting-edge treatments and preventive measures to fight infectious diseases.
Read the latest news of our transformational research, devoted scientists and educators, recent and upcoming events, and much more.
More than 160 civic leaders, scientists, philanthropists, and educators gathered in Seattle to honor a Nobel Prize achievement, launch the Mary E. Brunkow Fund, and highlight the importance of mentorship, STEM education, and scientific opportunity.
Katie Hafner, a renowned New York Times journalist and author, spoke with Nobel laureate Mary Brunkow about overlooked women scientists, the power of mentorship, and the work still needed to create opportunities for future generations of women in STEM.
An international team of researchers, including scientists from the Institute for Systems Biology, has conducted one of the most comprehensive molecular studies of human diversity to date. Published in Cell, the work reveals how ethnicity and geography influence metabolism, immunity, the microbiome, and biological aging — insights that could help advance precision medicine for diverse populations.
A purple ribbon, the color for gynecologic cancers, composed with diverse faces illustrated by Stacey Knipe.
The Women’s Health Consortium, led by ISB President Dr. Jim Heath, is taking a collaborative approach to engineered T cell immunotherapy to benefit all women with advanced HPV+ cancers. Your support will help us bring innovative therapies to patients in need.
President and Professor Jim Heath is dedicated to advancing precision medicine from benchtop to bedside, particularly in oncology. His research addresses fundamental scientific bottlenecks that can unlock solutions to broader challenges.
Associate Professor Sean Gibbons develops experimental and computational approaches to dissect and engineer the functional outputs of the human gut microbiome to advance personalized medicine.
Assistant Professor Anna Kuchina studies bacteria at the single-cell level, using advanced technologies to understand how bacteria behave in complex settings such as biofilms living in the human body.
The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) is a nonprofit scientific research organization located in Seattle. We believe that science has the power to transform health. You have an opportunity to play an essential role in the future of human health. When you get involved, you enable our researchers to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time. Together we can build a better, brighter, healthier future.