Institute of Pharmacology

The Institute conducts translational research on the pharmacology of inflammation and cancer, from fundamental mechanisms to patient-oriented research. The Institute commits to educating students in pharmacology to become proficient, responsible health professionals.

To the Institute’s website

Director

Prof. Carole Bourquin

Profile

  • At the Institute of Pharmacology, we understand health and disease as evolving biological states that arise from complex molecular and cellular interactions and can be modulated by pharmacological interventions. Our activities bridge basic research and translational science, with the goal of advancing therapeutic strategies across a broad spectrum of diseases.
  • Members of the Institute contribute substantially to undergraduate education in medicine, pharmacy, biomedical sciences, and related disciplines at the University of Bern.
  • The Institute of Pharmacology is closely integrated into doctoral and postgraduate training at the University of Bern, participating in structured PhD programs and advanced academic courses.
  • Research at the Institute is organized into several groups addressing key areas such as cancer pharmacology, immunology, inflammation, and metabolic disorders. A strong focus is placed on methodological innovation and the development of novel pharmacological approaches.

External Partners

Institutes of Biochemistry, Experimental Immunology and Molecular Cancer Research, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zürich, Switzerland; Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Chair of Pharmacology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland; Department of Chemistry, and Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany;  Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacy, Institute of Pharmacy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, University Hospital and Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Swiss EoE Research Group, Olten, Switzerland, Centre de Recherche CIMI, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Schweiz; Swiss Institute of Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), Lausanne, Schweiz; Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Department of Medical Sciences, Laboratory for Technologies of Advanced Therapies (LTTA), University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; University of Graz, Austria

Grants

  • Swiss National Science Foundation (grant No. 320030_219451 / 1; 310030_219605; 310030-201199; 310030-212418/1; REQUIP 221602);
  • HORIZON EIC Grants (EU projects)
  • Swiss Cancer League KFS-5936-08-2023-R; KFS-515-08-2020; KFS-6545-08-2025
  • Novartis Foundation FreeNovation
  • Bürgi-Fonds
  • Novartis Foundation for Biological-Medical Research
  • EoE Foundation
  • China Scholarship Council

Highlights 2025

Impact of obesity on the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy

Although obesity is a major risk factor for many cancers, recent studies suggest that it may enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Using in vivo models and clinical data, this study reveals that obesity-derived estrogens play a key role in the response to anti-PD-1 therapy in obese males with melanoma by enhancing the activity of dendritic cells. These findings suggest that estrogens may serve as a predictive factor of response to immunotherapy in men with melanoma.

Dupuychaffray et al., JCI Insight. 2025

BOK Loss Exposes a Therapeutic Achilles’ Heel in Lung Cancer

Work from the Kaufmann group has identified a previously unrecognised vulnerability in non–small cell lung cancer linked to the loss of the BCL-2 family protein BOK. Reduced BOK was found to impair uridine metabolism and promote chronic, low-level DNA damage. When p53 — a tumour suppressor frequently mutated in lung cancer — is also defective, cancer cells become highly dependent on ATR-mediated DNA repair for survival. Using the ATR inhibitor ceralasertib, a synthetic lethal interaction was revealed specifically in BOK/p53-deficient cells. These findings suggest that reduced BOK expression may serve as a biomarker to guide ATR-targeted therapies in p53-mutant lung tumours."

Winner of Novartis FreeNovation 2025

Prof. Stephan von Gunten and junior researcher Lukas Mürner from the Institute of Pharmacology at the University of Bern are being awarded for innovative research, receiving research funding by the Novartis Research Foundation's FreeNovation 2025-Program. FreeNovation is intended to encourage unconventional thinking and to further strengthen Switzerland's research position. The funded research project focuses on complex sugar structures (Glycans) on the surface of pancreatic cancer cells, playing a key role in central biological processes such as tumor growth, metastatic spread and evasion of immunological defence mechanisms. Despite their promising diagnostic and therapeutic potential, these structurally diverse carbohydrates have so far eluded broad analysis using currently available methods. By using state-of-the-art technologies in combination with innovative screening strategies and novel methods for the production of glycan specific reagents, a more profound access to the functional and biological significance of glycane structures is to be made possible. This until today unachieved analytical depth not only promises an expanded understanding of the molecular properties of pancreatic tumors, but also the development of new diagnostic standards as well as the identification of potential therapeutic targets.