The Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF), founded in 1999 and now with over 560 employees, is under the umbrella of the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (NIBR) and is affiliated with the Novartis Institute for Developing World Medical Research (NIDWMR). GNF applies integrated state-of-the-art technologies in chemistry, biology, automation, and information sciences in order to pursue new approaches towards the understanding of complex biomedical problems in cancer biology, immunology, neuroscience, and metabolic as well as infectious disease. These technologies cut across the life sciences, and include genomics and proteomics tools, medicinal chemistry, cell-based high throughput screening of genes or compounds, structural genomics, and forward/reverse mammalian genetics.