Rolf GruetterAwards:
1999 Young Investigator Award Plenary Lectureship
, International Society for Neurochemistry
2011 Fellow
, ESMRMB
2011 Teaching Award
, Section Sciences de la Vie, EPFL
Lothar HelmLothar Helm was born in Gernsbach (Germany) in 1952. He studied physics at the University of Karlsruhe (Germany) and obtained his diploma degree in 1977. He remained in Karlsruhe for his Ph.D. research with Prof. H. G. Hertz and received his degree in physical chemistry in 1980. In 1980 he joined the laboratories of Prof. André Merbach at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. From 1983 to 2001 he was maître denseignement et de recherche at the Faculty of Science of the University of Lausanne. In 2001 he moved, together with the whole chemistry department, from the University of Lausanne to the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Since 2006 he is adjunct professor at the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at EPFL and director of the NMR services of the institute.
From 2007 to 2011 he was director of the "Conférence du corps Enseignant" at EPFL. Since 2011 he is member of the School Assembly of EPFL (AE).
MAIN RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Physico-chemical studies of contrast agents for medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Study of reactivity and reaction mechanisms in coordination chemistry by variable temperature and pressure nuclear magnetic resonance
Computer simulation of solvent dynamics on cations and metal complexes in solution
Professional course
Jean-Philippe AnsermetJean-Philippe Ansermet was born March 1, 1957 in Lausanne (legal origin Vaumarcus, NE). He obtained a diploma as physics engineer of EPFL in 1980. He went on to get a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where, from 1985 to 1987, he persued as post-doc with Prof. Slichter his research on catalysis by solid state NMR studies of molecules bound to the surface of catalysts. From 1987 to 1992 he worked at the materials research center of Ciba-Geigy, on polymers for microelectronics, composites, dielectrics and organic charge transfer complexes. In March 1992, as professor of experimental physics, he developed a laboratory on the theme of nanostructured materials and turned full professor in 1995. Since 1992, he teaches classical mechanics, first to future engineering students, since 2004 to physics majors. Since 2000, he teaches thermodynamics also, to the same group of students. He offers a graduate course in spintronics, and another on spin dynamics. His research activities concern the fabrication and properties of magnetic nanostructures produced by electrodeposition. His involvement since the early days of spintronics have allowed him to gain recognition for his work on giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR), magnetic relaxation of single nanostructures, and was among the leading groups demonstrating magnetization reversal by spin-polarized currents. Furthermore, his group uses nuclear magnetic resonance , on the one hand as means of investigation of surfaces and electrodes, on the other hand, as a local probe of the electronic properties of complex ferromagnetic oxides.
André MerbachAndré Merbach was born in Lausanne in 1940. He studied at the Polytechnical School of the University of Lausanne (Pelet and A3E2PL Awards), where he obtained in 1962 his degree in Chemical Engineering with a diploma research work in organic chemistry. In 1964, the University of Lausanne awarded him a PhD for his research on quaternary solubility systems with formation of mixed crystals. He spent then a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied the ionisation of strong electrolytes by NMR.
Upon his return in 1965 to the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Lausanne, he was asked to create a research and teaching program in Coordination Chemistry. He was appointed Assistant Professor in 1971.
In 1973, the Swiss Chemical Society awarded him the Werner Prize and Medal for his research on the structure, the stability and the dynamics of metal halogen adducts by NMR and, the same year, was nominated Professor of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry.
He was a member of the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research in the division of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Engineering from 1985 until 1996. He represents Switzerland on the COST Chemistry Technical Committee (European Co-operation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research: 35 countries and 1000 research groups in chemistry) and has chaired this Committee from 1998 to 2000. He was the Chairman of the Management Committee of the COST Action D6 on Chemical Processes and Reactions under Extreme or Non-Classic Conditions (1992-1997).
He has organised the XXIXth International Conference in Coordination Chemistry (ICCC) in Lausanne in 1992. He has been awarded an honoris causa doctorate from the Lajos Kossuth University of Debrecen (Hungary) in 1993 for his work on elucidating reaction mechanisms in coordination chemistry utilising high pressure NMR. He has been called at the presidency of the Swiss Chemical Society (2001-2004). The University of Geneva awarded him an honoris causa doctorate in 2003.
Mor-Miri MishkovskyI am a chemist, graduated Cum Laude in 2002 from Tel Aviv University in Israel. I obtained a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel on the development of new technology for rapid detection of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic data aiming at reducing the measurement time from hours to a fraction of second with Prof. Lucio Frydman. My thesis “Methodological Developments in Ultrafast Multidimensional NMR” granted me the Auto Swartz excellence award in 2007. Since 2009 I am working with the Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, on the development of hyperpolarized (HP) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) methodologies for monitoring biochemical processes in real-time.My research is focused on the development of Magnetic Resonance (MR) Molecular Imaging by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (dDNP). HP agents to interrogate biochemical processes in real-time are applied in vivo in the healthy brain and disease models, aiming at improving our understanding of cerebral function and metabolism toward better clinical diagnostics and therapy.
