sitem-insel – the Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine in Bern – has been created to establish, operate and develop a National Center of Excellence for Translational Medicine. sitem-insel is organized as a non-profit oriented public private partnership. Translational medicine is a new, process-oriented discipline that aims to translate new findings and products emerging from private-sector development and basic research into clinical application. The discipline seeks to professionalize the essential interaction between scientists conducting basic research in the private sector and universities, clinicians, regulatory bodies and investors. The mission of sitem-insel is to create and foster an enhanced environment for translational medicine in Switzerland. The sitem-insel strategy rests on three pillars: • The sitem-insel School, together with the University of Bern, offer postgraduate education and professional development courses taught by university and private-sector lecturers. • The sitem-insel Enabling Facilities provide infrastructure to foster cooperation between industrial partners, basic scientists and clinicians on the campus of the University Hospital of Bern (Inselspital) with the goal to bring novel diagnostic and therapeutic products towards clinical application. • The sitem-insel Promoting Services aim to optimize the administrative-regulatory effort along the route from laboratory bench to commercial products.