The Department of Experimental Medicine was founded on January 1, 1998, with the aim of coordinating, integrating, sharing and rationalizing the entire scientific activity of the Professors pertaining to the area of Biomedical Sciences within the preclinical three-year period of the Faculty of Medicine.

Participating in the complex organization activity were the Directors and all components of the historical Biological Institutes most of which had been in operation since the time of the transformation of the old Medical School located in the Pammatone Hospital into the Faculty of Medicine. In fact, in 1929 all preclinical and clinical activities of the Faculty were transferred to the San Martino district where the city's new Hospital had been built, which would later become one of the most extensive hospital facilities in Europe.

According to the rules of healthcare architecture at the time, the Hospital had been built in separate pavilions with specific scientific and clinical uses. The University also participated in the erection of buildings located outside the hospital walls, each dedicated to the educational and research activities of the various scientific fields of the Biomedical area (Faculty of Medicine and Surgery), Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences (Faculty of M.F.N.) and Pharmacological Sciences (Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmacognosy,) all divided into Institutes. Of these, the oldest were immediately interested in the establishment of a homogeneous department, namely Normal Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, General Pathology, Pharmacology and Pharmacognosy, and Radiology. At the same time, the Institutes of Biological Chemistry (originated in the 1950s from Human Physiology), and Histology (originated in the same period from Normal Human Anatomy) joined the project. When the new University Statute came into effect in 2012, the field of Radiology merged into DISSAL, the field of Pharmacology merged into DIFAR, and the fields of Biology and Molecular Biology merged into DIMES.

Among the preliminary studies aimed at drawing up a programmatic plan, given the importance of working closely in laboratories, using large equipment in common, and sharing intellectual resources, the first goal was the quest to group activities in one building. Despite the expressed will of the academic authorities of the time, this goal has not yet been physically achieved, but increasing integration has been achieved by all components from both technical and intellectual perspectives.

In subsequent years following the whirlwind expansion of science in their fields after World War II, all the Lecturers contributed to the evolution of science in both the conceptual and technological spheres, and many of them gained international fame over time for their achievements and published in international periodicals of high prestige and considerable impact.

In its nearly 25 years of existence, DIMES has demonstrated ever-increasing vitality in areas that are at the forefront of molecular research. This has contributed to the elucidation of numerous aspects of cellular physiology and pathology, especially in the fields of Pharmacology, Genetics, Immunology, Oncology and Neuroscience as is documented by the frequent participation of researchers, by invitation, in International Symposia and Congresses.