Françoise Gisou van der Goot GrunbergGisou van der Goot is the Head of the Laboratory of Cell and Membrane Biology, and founding member of the Global Health Institute (GHI), School of Life Sciences, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne/EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). She is currently Vice President for Responsible Transformation, in charge of reinforcing values such as inclusion and sustainability throughout the School’s campus. From 2014 to 2020, she was Dean of the School of Life Sciences. Before joining EPFL, she was Group Leader at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and subsequently Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the same university. She studied engineering at the Ecole Centrale de Paris, then did a PhD in Molecular Biophysics at the Nuclear Energy Research Center, Saclay, France, followed by a postdoc at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg. She obtained an EMBO Young Investigator award in 2001, a Howard Hughes International Scholar award in 2005 and the Swiss Prix Marcel Benoist in 2009, the same year she was elected EMBO member (European Molecular Biology Organisation). She is a leader in the fields of molecular and cellular understanding of bacterial toxins, the organization of mammalian membranes and in organelles biology. Professor van der Goot is member of diverse scientific boards such as the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), the Conseil suisse de la science et de la technologie (CSST) and the European Research Council (ERC).
Thomas RizzoEDUCATION
Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1983
B.S., Chemistry, cum laude, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1978
ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS
Dean, Faculty of Basic Sciences, EPFL, 2004-present
Head, Department of Chemistry, EPFL, 1997-2004
Professor of Chemistry, EPFL, 1994-present
Professor of Chemistry, University of Rochester, 1993-1994
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Rochester, 1986-1992
Research Associate, The James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, 1984-1986
Florian Maria WurmFlorian Wurm received his academic training as a Biologist and Molecular Geneticist at the University of Giessen. He joined the Hoechst AG (Behringwerke) in Marburg as head of a laboratory in Virology. Working with immortalized mammalian cells for the establishment of production processes for alpha-interferons provided the first opportunity to combine basic research with medical application. In 1984 he joined Harvard Medical School in Boston as a Research Fellow in Molecular Biology. 1986 he took an offer from Genentech Inc. in San Francisco to work in Process Sciences on the development of large scale manufacturing processes for recombinant proteins. There he has held a number of leading positions and has acquired intimate knowledge in the generation of protein pharmaceuticals in mammalian cells in bioreactors (a number of which are now marketed products). In 1995 he joined the EPFL as a Professor for Biotechnology. Wurm has published more than 250 scientific papers and holds more than 20 patents/patent-applications. His H-index stands at 60 in 2021. He was Chairman (2005-2009) and is member of the Executive Board of the European Society of Animal Cell Technology (ESACT). He serves as a consultant to the pharmaceutical Biotech Industry, mainly in the fields of animal cell technology for recombinant protein production and in regulatory affairs. He works as a scientific reviewer and editior/asscciate editor for a number of international journals in the Biotech field. F.M. Wurm teaches classes to pre- and postgraduate students in the fields of Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology.
He was founder and Chief Scientific Officer of ExcellGene SA, a 2001 established company in Monthey, Switzerland. He took the position of President and CEO of ExcellGene in 2015. He retired from the CEO position in 2017 and continues to be President and Chief Scientific Officer of ExcellGene.
In 2008 Dr. Wurm was appointed Visiting Professor for Biotechnology at Jinan University in Guangzhou, China. He retired from his position at the EPFL in 2015. His laboratory is closed. With his team at ExcellGene and in collaboration with Dr. Paco Pino, Director of R&D, he continues to explore manufacturing sciences with animal cells in bioreactors.
Lucia Baldi Unser01/2021 - present Deputy to the Associate VP for Research / Deputy to the Associate VP for Centers & Platforms, EPFL06/2017 - 12/2020 Deputy to the Dean, School of Basic Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ;01/2015 - 11/2017 Lecturer/Communication and outreach manager at the School of Life Sciences, EPFL04/1998 - 03/2015: Research and Teaching Associate/Lecturer, Laboratory of Cellular Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences; 01/1994 - 07/1997: Visiting Fellow, Laboratory of Immunoregulation, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA;1991 - 1994: Research Fellow, Laboratory of Pediatric Oncology, G. Gaslini Scientific Institute, Genova, Italy;1987 - 1990: Research Fellow, Clinical Immunology and Immunogenetics Dept., Nat. Inst. for Cancer Research, Genova, Italy.
