Matrix Biology Institute (MBI) was founded in 1982 by Endre A. Balazs, M.D. and Janet L. Denlinger, Ph.D. At that time both of them were members of the faculty of the Eye Research Department at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University of New York.
The objective of MBI is to provide financial and intellectual support for research on the structure, function and therapeutic use of the molecular building blocks of the intercellular matrix. The financial support for the Institute came from interested individuals and from industry. In 2000, Endre A. Balazs donated an endowment fund for the Institute.
Since its inception, MBI has supported research projects on the biological function of hyaluronan and its derivatives. The results of this research were published in international research journals and books.
The Theodor Huzella Foundation
In 1986 the Institute accepted the responsibility for managing the funds of the "Theodor Huzella Foundation", established in memory of the late Theodor Huzella, M.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Histology and Embryology of the Peter Pázmány University of Budapest between 1934 and 1945. It was founded and organized by his son Thomas Huzella and supported by his former students living primarily in the United States. Theodor Huzella and his students at the Faculty of Medicine were internationally known and well recognized researchers in the 1930s and used tissue culture systems to study the effect of the intercellular matrix on cells. Their work focused on collagen and its role in organizing cells into tissues and organs. Huzella and his students' work on embryonic cell growth on collagen gels was ground-breaking, and contributed significantly to the understanding of the control of the intercellular matrix in the movements and multiplication of cells. Endre A. Balazs started his research on the intercellular matrix and hyaluronan as a medical student in Huzella's laboratory in 1938, and continued this work as an Assistant Professor until his emigration to Sweden in 1947.
Research Laboratories
The Institute operates its own research laboratories in biochemistry, biophysics and cytology at 725 River Road Suite 205, Edgewater, New Jersey 07020.
