We focus on mentoring our faculty to become exceptional leaders of their labs and research programs.
Unlike most of academia, ISB provides faculty the opportunity to focus specifically on research without classroom teaching requirements. Our faculty mentorship program enables success and sustainability by linking assistant professors with senior faculty who provide advice and support. As an organization, we value work-life balance, are committed to diversity, and foster a cross-disciplinary environment that enables us to take on big, complex problems.
Dr. Jim Heath in the ISB lobby. Photo credit: Scott Eklund / Red Box Pictures.
“ISB’s future will be built on the success of our early-career faculty. I am proud of our unique faculty mentorship program that provides the support for assistant professors to thrive. If you dare to dream about creating your own research lab, we want to hear from you”
Dr. Jim Heath, ISB President and Professor
Along with a one-of-a-kind faculty mentorship program, ISB offers startup packages for assistant professors to build their research programs and labs. We strive to develop faculty to sustain themselves in three to six years. We work diligently to recruit the best talent for the organization and provide extensive administrative support to faculty members.
Cross-disciplinary science is just one element that makes ISB unique. New faculty members join an organization whose labs take great pride in working together. In fact, 20 percent of all peer-reviewed published papers last year involved research from more than one lab within ISB. We are committed to continuing a collaborative environment.
Our faculty participate in the formation of spin-out companies, and strategically partner with healthcare and industry to transfer technologies, products and new concepts generated by our ambitious projects to society. Faculty inventions are supported by a robust commercialization path that has resulted in more than 90 patents.
We believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive ISB will fuel innovation and lead to greater scientific outcomes. We value:
A foundational element of ISB is to make quality STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education a reality for every student regardless of gender, race or socioeconomic status.
Recruitment and retention of outstanding and diverse research staff is a top strategic priority. ISB employs 180 staff from 24 countries. We are committed to fostering gender equity and increasing the representation of individuals from communities historically underrepresented in STEM.
ISB is located in the South Lake Union neighborhood, a bustling life sciences hub in the center of Seattle. ISB occupies a building that is LEED Platinum certified. Our neighbors include Amazon, UW Medicine, Fred Hutch, Northeastern University, Microsoft, Novo Nordisk, Allen Institute for Brain Science, and many others.
ISB’s research facilities are equipped with next-gen sequencing, microarray, and quantitative PCR services. We house over 20 mass spectrometers and have the largest collection of instruments in the Northwest. From processing and banking blood samples in-house to a state-of-the-art optics lab and much more, ISB facilitates cutting-edge scientific research.
ISB researchers have unparalleled access to deep-phenotyping datasets (e.g., paired genomes, proteomes, metabolomes, microbiomes, clinical markers, electronic health records, etc.) from large human cohorts, which enables rich multi-omic insights into health and disease states. These datasets can be launching pads for hypothesis generation and more.
“Being part of ISB’s faculty has been a tremendous experience. The faculty here are extremely collaborative, with biologists, computer scientists, physicists and chemists working side-by-side, which enables ambitious team science that spans many disciplines. I encourage any postdocs looking to start their own labs to seriously consider ISB as a landing place.”