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 was 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.
In a recent ISB Research Roundtable, ISB President Dr. Jim Heath shared new findings connecting Long COVID to immune dysfunction and autoimmune diseases, and explained how artificial intelligence could accelerate the search for answers — and potentially new treatments — for millions of people living with the condition.
By integrating single-cell, proteomic, genetic, clinical, and laboratory data, the team found that these cells adopt molecular features also seen in established autoimmune diseases. The findings help explain how viral infections can disrupt immune regulation and may provide a framework for understanding and eventually preventing autoimmune complications following infection.
The 2025–26 school year has concluded, but ISB Education continues to build momentum through curriculum development, statewide educator engagement, conferences, and a busy summer of student research.
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.
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.
Associate Professor Wei Wei develops innovative technologies to understand how cancers adapt to treatment and to help identify more effective therapies for individual patients.
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.