CRMBM (Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale, Center for Magnetic Resonance in Biology and Medicine) was established in 1985 on the Campus of the Medical School in Marseille, adjacent to the University Hospitals of La Timone (adult hospital and children hospital), the largest medical facility in Southern Europe. CRMBM is jointly operated and funded by CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, National Center for Scientific Research), Université de la Méditerranée and the Public Hospital System of Marseille (Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille) .

With a multidisciplinary staff of 50 basic scientists, engineers and clinicians, CRMBM pilots basic and clinical research protocols both internally or in collaboration with a network of over 200 academic researchers and clinicians, locally, nationally and abroad. It is also actively engaged in contract research with industrial partners (clinical trials, pharmaceutical industry, MR manufacturers). CRMBM has over 20 years of experience in biological and medical applications of NMR techniques. It is one of the largest biomedical MR centers in Europe and a national facility for small animal MR imaging. It currently occupies for basic and animal research 1000 sqm of laboratories in the research building of the Marseille Medical School and, for clinical research, 1100 sqm at the University Hospital in a newly dedicated building recently delivered to CRMBM (January 2008).

Programs on small animal imaging (rats and transgenic mice) are active on murine models of human pathologies (neurological, cardiovascular, muscular ). Human MRI/MRS is applied to the investigation of (i) neuropathologies : multiple sclerosis, stroke, brain tumors, metabolic encephalopathies, epilepsy, infectious diseases (HIV, malaria, schistosomiasis), (ii) myocardial protection (infarction and transplantation), and (iii) neuromuscular physiopathology (fatigue, hyperthermias, metabolic myopathies, sports medicine).
CRMBM possesses all the classical equipments required to conduct research in life sciences, including cell cultures, separation methods (HPLC…), molecular biology assays, enzymology etc… and advanced units for monitoring physiological parameters in small animals and humans. At the Medical School, CRMBM has 2 high resolution multinuclear Bruker MR wide bore spectrometers at 200 MHz (4.7T) and 400 MHz (9.4T) used for the study of biological fluids, cell extracts and perfusedorgans (muscle, heart ). For small animal in vivo MR studies, CRMBM has state-of-the-art equipment with a Bruker Biospec Avance 47/30 MRI/MRS system (horizontal magnet at 4.7T) and a Bruker Avance 500 WB system at 11.75T dedicated to MRI/MRS of transgenic mice. In its new building at the University Hospital, CRMBM conducts MRI/MRS activities on humans at 1.5T on a Siemens Avanto multinuclear system and at 3T on a Siemens Verio wide-bore (70cm) system. Both whole-body systems are totally and exclusively devoted to clinical research.

Basic researchers and clinicians at CRMBM have published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

MARSEILLE is the second largest city in France with a population of over 1 million. It has the second largest scientific research community in the country. It is located on the western edge of the French Riviera, with excellent connections by plane, highways and fast trains (TGV) with the rest of the world. Marseille is renowned for its quality of life, active cultural life and numerous amenities.

Patrick J. Cozzone
Director of CRMBM