James Bradner, president of Novartis Institutes of BioMedical Research, says that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company has a lot in common with Northeastern.

He points in particular to the two institutions’ focus on cross-disciplinary collaboration, especially as it relates to the university’s new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex.

“There’s no question we are similar,” Bradner explains during a panel discussion on the future of interdisciplinary research. “At Novartis, there’s no chemistry building, no biology building. In your extraordinary facility, there are robots in the lobby, biology on floor four, cybersecurity on floor six. This is what the future of training environments will look like.”

He challenges Northeastern students and faculty to collaborate with Novartis on future projects. “We will not cure neurodegenerative diseases without you,” he says. “We will not cure cancer without you.”