Katarzyna PierzchalaKatarzyna Pierzchala completed professional studies at the Faculty of Physics at University of Silesia and at the Medical University of Silesia, Poland. She obtained her BSc degree (2003) and MSc degree (2005) in Medical Physics from the University of Silesia, Poland. In 2010 she obtained her PhD degree in physics (biomedical physics) “Oxidative Stress on Human Cells in the Presence of Nano-Sized Titanium Dioxide” from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Physics of Complex Matter, Switzerland. In 2013, she joined, as a Scientist, the Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging at EPFL, where she implemented the electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) and optical and fluorescence microscopy to study the brain redox and antioxidant state in rodent models of human diseases ie. hepatic encephalopathy and the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of intact living cancerous cells to characterize their metabolic profile and metastatic potential and observe changes of MRS signals intensity associated to cells metabolism after in vitro chemotherapy to provide better understanding of the mechanisms of drug-cell interaction, with a view to offer appropriate treatment.
Elda Fischi GomezElda Fischi-Gomez holds a BsC and a MsC degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC, Barcelona, Spain) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2015). Her main research interests center on the development and application of novel MRI techniques to clinics by optimising the inter-play between multi-modal MR analysis, MR physic/hardware and the underlying clinical neuroscience. She has worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the A.A. Martinos Center of Biomedical Imaging of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA, USA) with a Swiss National Foundation Fellowship. Since 2019 she joined the Signal Processing Laboratory 5 of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) with a SPN-PHRT individual grant from the EPFL-ETH domain on microstructure imaging for multiple sclerosis.
Daniel ConstamDaniel Constam received his doctoral degree in Natural Sciences from ETH Zürich in the neuroimmunology group of Adriano Fontana (1993). For postdoctoral studies, he joined the laboratory of Elizabeth Robertson as an EMBO fellow at Harvard University to characterize proprotein convertase (PC) functions in mouse models of early embryogenesis (1994-1999). As an ISREC group leader (>2000) and Associate Professor at EPFL (>2007), he initially continued to study pluripotency and lineage differentiation during development and found that several secreted PCs jointly regulate cell-cell adhesion and TGFβ signaling pathways at the cross-roads of stem cell and cancer biology. To map the proteolytic activity of PCs and their relative distribution in exocytic or endocytic vesicles, his lab developed PC-specific FRET sensors for high resolution live imaging in normal cells and in tumour-host interactions. His studies on TGFβ signaling also identified the RNA-binding protein Bicc1 and its self-polymerization in membrane-less organelles as regulators of mRNA translation and cell metabolism that cooperate with primary cilia to prevent cystic growth in renal tubules and in pancreatic and bile ducts.
Pierre-Etienne BourbanBackground 1990 Ingénieur en science des matériaux 1993 PhD in materials science Activities 1993-1994 Research at the Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware, USA (ccm.udel.edu), SNSF grant Since 1994 Research and teaching at EPFL, Composites, (LTC, LPAC) 1995-1999 Coordination Swiss Priority Program on Materials research: 2.2: Composites Since 1998 Biocomposites 2004-2009 Direction of the EPFL Transdisciplinary programme in Sport and Rehabilitation 2005-2008 Member of the EPFL Vice-Presidency for Innovation and Valorisation and direction a.i.EPFL-LTC Since 2016 Direction Discovery Learning Labs Materials/Bioengineering and Engineering
Didier TronoAprès des études de médecine à l’Université de Genève et une formation clinique en pathologie, médecine interne et maladies infectieuses à Genève et au Massachusetts General Hospital de Boston, Didier Trono s’engage dans une carrière scientifique au Whitehead Institute du MIT. En 1990, il est recruté par le Salk Institute de San Diego pour lancer un centre de recherche sur le SIDA. Il rentre en Europe sept ans plus tard, avant de prendre en 2004 les rênes de la toute nouvelle faculté des Sciences de la Vie de l’EPFL, dont il orchestre le développement et qu’il dirige jusqu’en 2012. Il participe aujourd’hui activement à la coordination des efforts de la Suisse en vue de l’intégration des nouvelles technologies dans le domaine de la médecine de précision et de la santé personnalisée.
Mihai Adrian IonescuD'origine et de nationalités roumaine et suisse, Mihai-Adrian Ionescu est né en 1965. Après le doctorat en Physique des Composants à Semiconducteurs de lInstitut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, M. Ionescu a travaillé comme chercheur post-doctoral au LETI-CEA Grenoble, sur la caractérisation des diélectriques low-k pour les technologies submicroniques CMOS. Après une courte période au sein du CNRS, comme chargé de recherche 1ere Classe il a effectué un séjour post-doctoral au Center for Integrated Systems, Stanford University, USA. Actuellement il est Professeur Nanoélectronique à lEcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
