At Indiana University, we believe in the power of discovery to change the course of human history. This power is rooted in the work of dedicated researchers from all disciplines and sectors, in projects both big and small. It is the steady cultivation of knowledge that has generated humanity’s greatest innovations, from life-saving penicillin to the microprocessors that power our smartphones.

IU has played a significant role in many of these breakthroughs, driving some of the most notable discoveries of the 20th century:

• After leading a research team formed by Proctor & Gamble in 1950, IU’s Dr. Joseph Muhler, along with Dr. William Nebergall and Dr. Harry Day, developed the first-ever toothpaste with fluoride to fight cavities. Crest toothpaste was launched in 1955—and our teeth have never been safer.
• Cracking the code to our genetic makeup, IU molecular biologist James Dewey Watson teamed up with Francis Crick to propose the double-helix DNA model in 1953. In 1962, Watson and two of his colleagues won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking discovery.
• In 1974, Dr. Lawrence Einhorn discovered a cure for testicular cancer by combining the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin with two additional drugs, vinblastine plus bleomycin. Einhorn’s treatment skyrocketed survival rates, and today, 95 percent of patients with testicular cancer are cured—the highest survival rate of any cancer.
• IU’s Harvey Feigenbaum helped create the technological underpinnings of the echocardiogram, the ultrasound imaging technique which has transformed how we treat cardiovascular disease. Feigenbaum taught the first medical school course in echocardiography in 1968 and later founded the American Society of Echocardiography in 1975.

We have no plans of slowing down in this century. Backed by more than 900 faculty researchers and 200 research centers across seven statewide campuses, IU’s research initiatives are bold, data-driven, and solutions-focused. And our work is fueled by an insatiable curiosity that’s capable of leading the next frontier in human progress.