Didier TronoAfter obtaining an M.D. from the University of Geneva and completing a clinical training in pathology, internal medicine and infectious diseases in Geneva and at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Didier Trono embarked in a scientific career at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research of MIT. In 1990, he joined the faculty of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies to launch a center for AIDS research. He moved back to Europe seven years later, before taking the reins of the newly created EPFL School of Life Sciences, which he directed from 2004 to 2012. He is now actively engaged in the efforts of Switzerland to integrate new technologies in the fields of precision medicine and personalized health.
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.
Urs von StockarOriginaire de Zurich, Urs von Stockar est né en1942. Ingénieur chimiste diplômé de l'EPFZ en 1967, il y est ensuite assistant au Laboratoire de chimie technique et, en 1973, soutient sa thèse couronnée par la médaille d'argent de l'EPFZ.
De 1973 à 1976, il travaille au département de génie chimique de l'Université de Californie. Il y enseigne et participe au développement d'un procédé technique pour la conversion biologique de la cellulose en alcool.
En 1977, il est ingénieur chimiste chez Ciba-Geigy. Fin 1977 il est nommé professeur extraordinaire à l'EPFL. Il dirige l'Institut de génie chimique en 1978/79 et en 1989/90. Il est professeur ordinaire en 1982. En 1982/83 et 1993/95, il dirige le Département de chimie. Son enseignement et sa recherche traitent des opérations de transfert de masse et de la biotechnologie, il s'intéresse également aux questions de bioénergétique et de biothermodynamique. Collaborant avec l'UNIL et l'ISREC, son équipe développe des procédés de fabrication d'anticorps monoclônaux spéciaux, capables de protéger les muqueuses humaines. En 1990 il est nommé professeur associé à l'Université de Genève. Il représente la Suisse dans un groupe d'experts de la Fédération européenne de biotechnologie. Après avoir siégé pendant plusieurs années dans son Comité de direction, il a été nommé président de la Fédération Européenne de Biotechnologie pour la période 1996-97. Depuis 1991, il dirige le Comité de coordination suisse pour la biotechnologie.
Diploma in Chemical Eng.-1967-ETHZ, CH
Ph.D.-1972-ETHZ, CH
Postdoc. Fellow-1973-76-Univ. of California, Berkeley, US
Jacques FellayJacques Fellay is a medical scientist with expertise in infectious diseases and human genomics. He obtained his MD from the University of Lausanne in 2002 and his PhD from University of Utrecht. After a clinical training in infectious diseases in Switzerland and a 4-years postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University, he joined the EPFL in April 2011 with an SNF Professorship.
On top of his EPFL affiliation, Jacques is also Head of Precision Medicine at the University Hospital (CHUV) in Lausanne, Group Leader at the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, and Co-director of the Health2030 Genome Center at Campus Biotech in Geneva.
Michel AguetDr. Michel Aguet, MD, held positions in academia and industry (Associate Professor at the Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Zürich; Head of Molecular Oncology, Genentech, So. San Francisco) before he was appointed director of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) (1996-2009). In the context of the integration of ISREC into the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), he was appointed as Full Professor at the newly established School of Life Sciences in 2005. From 2001-2013 he directed the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) in Molecular Oncology, a national program launched by the Swiss National Science Foundation to encourage translational cancer research and for which ISREC was the leading house. Dr. Aguet has been a SAB member in the pharmaceutical industry, biotech industry and venture capital industry since 1997.
A large part of his scientific career was devoted to exploring the molecular biology of interferons (cloning of the interferon gamma receptor, generation of various interferon signaling mutants in the mouse) and, in collaboration with Prof. Charles Weissmann, to investigating the role of prion related protein PrP in mouse prion disease models. In recent years his research focused on characterizing the role of BCL9 proteins, which are part of the Wnt/beta-catenin transcriptional activation complex, in regulating stem cell traits in intestinal epithelium and colorectal cancer. His laboratory is now closed due to retirement.
Priscilla TurelliPositions
2005-now: Research associate, Federal School of Life Sciences, Laboratory of Virology and Genetics, Lausanne, Switzerland
2001-2004: Research associate in Pr D. Tronos laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland
1997-2001: Post-doctoral research fellow in Pr D. Tronos laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland
Honors and fellowships
2004: Bristol-Myers Squibb AIDS AWARD
1997-1999: Human Frontier Science Program fellowship
Education
June 1997:
PhD in cellular biology.
Final mark:jury congratulations.
Université de la Méditerranée, France.
June 1993:
Post-graduate diploma in cellular biology and microbiology.
INSERM U372, Marseille-Luminy, université de Provence, France.
June 1992:
Master in cellular biology Specialty: genetic.
Final mark: Best master student of this year.
Université de la Méditerranée, France.
June 1987:
Scientific baccalaureate, France.
Teaching experience
2009-now: phD thesis co-director, School of Life Sciences, Lausanne, Switzerland.
2002: Tutor in virology for medical students, 2nd year, Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland.
1996-1997: Tutor in molecular biology and biochemistry for under-graduate students,
Université de la Méditerranée, Aix Marseille II, France.
Stewart ColeProfessor Stewart Cole is an international authority in bacterial molecular-genetics and genomics. He has made outstanding contributions in several fields including: bacterial anaerobic electron transport; genome analysis of retroviruses and papillomaviruses; antibiotic resistance mechanisms; and the molecular microbiology of toxigenic clostridia. His studies on isoniazid and multidrug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, together with his pioneering work on the pathogenicity, evolution and genomics of the tubercle and leprosy bacilli, have made him an undisputed leader in the field of mycobacterial research. The findings of his research are of direct relevance to public health and disease-control in both the developing world and the industrialised nations. He has published over 250 scientific papers and review articles, and holds many patents.
