The Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a community of world-class researchers utilizing the most advanced facilities and infrastructure to conduct groundbreaking, interdisciplinary, biotechnology-based research and workforce development.
Trailblazing Translational Research
One of the most advanced biotechnology research facilities in the U.S., CBIS is committed to innovative interdisciplinary research, where chemical engineers work next to biologists and physicists work next to biomedical engineers.
Since its opening in 2004, CBIS has made an indelible imprint on the world. CBIS researchers have developed high-tech, high-throughput methods to identify drug toxicities; they’ve devised inventive ways to synthesize the complex molecules of life; they’ve discovered how bacterial communities resist and become resistant to antibiotics; they’ve described how mistakes in protein folding occur; and they’ve advanced the methods and materials with which to grow human tissue.
Our collaborative research teams bridge disciplines and work at the frontiers of scientific knowledge, offering new ways of tackling fundamental science and developing technologies to improve lives. CBIS researchers uniquely focus on collaborative, translational research at the frontiers of life sciences, physical science, informatics, bioengineering, data modeling, bioimaging, engineering, lighting systems, architecture, business, the arts, and media technologies.
As a result of the center’s focus on both fundamental and applied research in biotechnology, new tools are being developed to delve into and better understand biology and ultimately to design new products and processes that will address key challenges and opportunities.
Our Mission
The mission of CBIS is to conduct research that addresses the world’s most pressing challenges in human health, support Rensselaer by serving as the central resource with world-class infrastructure for Institute-wide research, and to expand and broaden the scope of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research in biotechnology to further enhance the ability of Rensselaer and its schools to make a global impact on research, education, and society.
