Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR)

The Foundation was founded on 11.1.1999 as a Foundation for the Research and Treatment of Lymphoma in Tessin, mainly because the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma in Lugano (ICML), from a humble beginning in 1981 had grown to such a size that it needed a legal and administrative body to continue to manage the event.

Slowly, the Foundation became associated with oncological research in Tessin, financing specific projects, principally in the field of malignant lymphoma. In particular, the Foundation played an important role in financing the development of the IELSG (International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group) and also in supporting the database of the IOSI (Institute of Oncology of Southern Switzerland), a fundamental tool for identifying clinical research topics.

In 2011, the Foundation was obliged, for legal and administrative reasons, to take over the management of the research laboratories of the IOSI, situated in the building of the IRB (Institute of Research in Biomedicine) in Bellinzona, which from that moment on were renamed the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR).

This step was strongly advocated by the federal authorities, which in view of the high level of quality of the research, wanted to support the laboratories with federal subsidies. This however required the separation of the administration from that of the EOC (Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale) respectively of IOSI, to avoid the problem of federal funding to a cantonal institution.