The Monaco Scientific Centre: where human and planetary health meet

The Monaco Scientific Centre (CSM) was established in 1960 by Prince Rainier III to enable the Principality to conduct high-level scientific research.

The Centre is an independent public body, and is split into three departments. Founded in the late 1980s, the first and oldest of the departments focuses on marine biology, specialising in the study of corals.

It also hosts some very serious research into the socio-economic aspects of climate change.

“The impact of climate change on marine ecosystems worldwide is significant, and this is particularly true in the Mediterranean Sea, which is one of the climate change hotspots according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),” explains the CSM, which studies the consequences of record marine heatwaves on the Mediterranean basin.

The third department, officially opened in 2013 at the behest of Prince Albert II, is dedicated to medical biology

It comprises a human health section, which develops research projects alongside Princess Grace Hospital (CHPG), the Monaco Institute of Sports Medicine and Surgery (IM2S) and the Monaco Cardiothoracic Centre (CCM), an International Sickle Cell Disease Observatory, as well as four translational research teams (studying the metabolic properties of cancer cells, interactions between gut microbiota and the immune system, and therapies applied to neuromuscular disabilities).