The mission

The HSeT Academy expands the range of the current team skills, while maintaining our volunteering policy. Its members participate in one way or another in the development of eLearning material and activities:

• They are interested in distance learning and new information technologies, whether active or retired, with free time to invest on a voluntary basis,
• They are ready to share some of their expertise with young colleagues worldwide,
• They are looking for a flexible occupation or participation in a training project,
• They want to « keep in touch »
• They enjoy the contact with learners of all countries hungry for knowledge and grateful for the training proposed by HSeT,
• They are willing to help HSeT to recruit new partners and / or donors through their network,
• They are interested in exploring new academic environments in the world.

The members

The members are experts and together cover all the topics of the HSeT portfolio.

Jean-Marie Boeynaems
 

Jean-Marie Boeynaems holds a MD and a PhD in biochemistry and pharmacology and is currently Director of the Department of Clinical Pathology and Head, Laboratory of Medical Chemistry at Erasme academic Hospital. He is also professor of pharmacology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and director of the PHARMED course in pharmaceutical medicine.

Michel Cuenod

Michel Cuenod, emeritus professor, Psychiatric neuroscience, University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Swoitzerland. Michel Cuénod is a Swiss MD with experience in psychiatry, and a neuroscientist trained in neurophysiology, neurochemistry and neuromorphology. He was professor of neurobiology and served as director of the Brain Research Institute at the University of Zurich from 1984 to 1998. Since 1998, he has been invited professor at the University of Lausanne.

Michel Cuénod was president of the European Neuroscience Association and is one of the founders of the European Journal of Neuroscience. As Secretary of the Human Frontier Science Program, he promoted international cooperation in molecular biology and neuroscience. He is recipient of many prizes and awards: the « Prix César Roux » of the Medical School of Lausanne, the « Robert Bing Preis » Award for Neurology of the Swiss Academy of Medicine, and the « Marcel Benoist Preis », the highest scientific distinction awarded by the Swiss government. He was named Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Geneva in 1994, and « Einzelmitglied » of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences in 1996. He received the Medal of the Human Frontier Science Program in 1999, and became an honorary member of the Swiss Society for Neuroscience in 2007.

In the course of his scientific carrier, he established a split-brain model of the pigeon visual system. He worked on the rapid axonal transport, both anterograde and retrograde, at the light and electron microscopy levels. Together with his collaborators, he developed the concept of « transmitter specific retrograde labelling » allowing to mark selectively neuronal pathways according to their transmitter. He then moved to the study of excitatory amino-acid transmission in the optic nerve and established homocysteic acid as « gliotransmitter » acting on NMDA receptors. He contributed to our understanding of the role of nitric oxyde in synaptic transmission. More recently, he became active in the field of neurobiology of schizophrenia; in collaboration with Professor Kim Do, he promotes the concept of redox imbalance due to impaired glutathione synthesis of genetic origin as a risk factor for the disease.

Abdul G Dulloo

Abdul G Dulloo, Lecturer and research faculty , Department of Medicine, Division of Physiology of the University of Fribourg.

He received a PhD degree at the University of London.

He was a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of London and Harvard Medical School and research associate at the University of Geneva.

His research interests are focused on thermogenesis, nutrient partitioning and body composition regulation.

Nicolette Farman

Nicolette Farman MD, PHD, Directeur de recherche INSERM, INSERM U 1138, Centre de Recherches des Cordeliers, Team Jaisser, 15 rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, 75006 Paris.

Nicolette Farman is Research Director (Senior Investigator) at Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research).
She joined the public research body in 1978 (Inserm U2, Limeil Brévannes Hospital) and was a Board Member between 2001 and 2008. She is a Member of the French Society of Nephrology, American Society of Nephrology, American Physiological Society and Honorary Member of the South-American Society of Nephrology. She is referee for several peer review journals such as J. Am Soc. Nephrology, Am. J. Kidney Diseases, Endocrinology, Nature. Nicolette Farman has organized four international congresses dealing with aldosterone in France and abroad. She was one of the pioneers in discovering the cardio-vascular effects of this hormone. She received the title of “Knight of National Order of Merit” and the Award of the Academy of Medicine in 2001. She is currently working alongside Dr Frédéric Jaisser at Unit 872 of Inserm.

Brian Harvey

Brian Harvey PhD HDR MRIA MAE, Professor of Molecular Medicine, RCSI, Dublin, Ireland, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI Education & Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Dublin 9, Ireland

Brian Harvey is a trained physiologist with a primary degree in physics and physiology and a PhD in physiology and biophysics from the National University of Ireland. After moving to France in 1982 following his PhD, he joined the French National Science Council (CNRS) and became group leader of the membrane transport research team at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) labs in Villefranche-sur-mer. ?In 1992 he was appointed Professor of Physiology at UCC where he established and directed the Wellcome Trust Cell Physiology Research Unit and held the senior management post of Vice-president for Research 1998-2002. ?In 2002, Harvey was appointed to the Chair of Molecular Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and established the Molecular Medicine Laboratories at Beaumont Hospital. In 2004, he was appointed Director of the RCSI Research Institute and in 2005, Director of Research at RCSI. In September 2010 he stepped down from these administrative posts to return to full-time academic work. ?In 2000, Harvey was elected a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Humanities and in 2007 was elected to the Royal Irish Academy. From 2004-2007, he was a founding member and chair of the RIA Life Sciences Committee and served on the committee again from 2009-2013. In 2005 he received the Laureat Prix Servier from the Servier Institute for his work on rapid responses to steroid hormones. He was elected meber of the European Academy of Sciences in 2000 and elected to the Royal Irish Academy in 2007. In 2006, Harvey was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite by The President of France for his role in developing Ireland-France scientific exchanges. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Michigan State University in 2013.

Harvey is the co-ordinator of several national and EU research networks including the The National Biophotonics & Imaging Platform Ireland (www.nbipireland.ie) and the Marie Curie COFUND in Assistive Technologies. He is a member of the management committee of ESF COST Action in cystic fibrosis and the vice-chair of COST Action in Aldosterone. In 2010, Harvey was appointed as Director of Research, RESPECT-DOCTRID Research Institute (www.respect.ie).

Harvey’s research is focused on steroid hormones and epithelial membrane transport, in particular, the female-specific effects of estrogen on ion transport and cell biology in lung, kidney and intestine, and the regulation of ENaC by aldosterone in the kidney.

Frédéric Jaisser

Frédéric JAISSER MD PHD   Director of INSERM Unit U1138

Frederic JAISSER, MD, PhD got a permanent position as Director of Research at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in 1996. Dr. JAISSER received his medical training and degrees from the Reims Medical School and was qualified as Nephrologist in 1990. In 2003, he joined the Collège de France in Paris as an independent INSERM team and is currently the director of a team of the INSERM Unit U1138, at the Cordeliers Research Centre, Paris. He is the head of the « Integrative Physiology and Pathophysiology Department of the Cordeliers Research Centre ». Since 2010, he is Scientific Delegate of the Pathophysiology Committee of the French National Research Agency. belongs to several research networks, including EU-granted programs. Since 2010, he is Scientific Delegate of the Pathophysiology Committee of the French National Research Agency.

He was recently appointed as Coordinator of a European consortium on Aldosterone with more than 45 laboratories from 15 EU countries dedicated to the Aldosterone field, covering the continuum from experimental to clinical studies. He is part of the national F-CRIN INI-CRCT network dedicated to Cardiovascular and Renal Clinical Trialists.

The aim of the current studies in his lab is to improve the understanding of the pathophysiological roles and signaling pathways whereby the hormone aldosterone promotes pathologies in various organs including the kidney and the cardiovascular system. This work combines cellular and molecular approaches, animal physiology, pharmacological studies and has implications in human diseases. His interest includes translational research aimed to identify and validate biomarkers of Mineralocorticoid Receptor activation in cardiovascular and kidney diseases and novel therapeutic use of MR antagonists.

Michel Maillard

Michel Maillard PD et MER, Associate physician, Service of Gastro-entérology & Hepatology, University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Dr. Michel Maillard received his medical degree from the University of Lausanne in 1999. He completed his postgraduate training in internal medicine and general surgery at the Hospital of Saint-Loup (Pompaples) and the CHUV between 2000 and 2003. in 2002 he received his doctorate in medicine after studying the effects of treatment with infliximab Crohn’s disease, under the direction of Pr. Jean-Jacques Gonvers. From 2003 to 2007, Dr. Maillard between the Swiss MD PhD program and joined the laboratory of Pr. Scott B. Snapper at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston (USA) to conduct a PhD in life sciences in the direction of Pr. Pierre Michetti. FMH specialist in gastroenterology, Dr. Maillard is part of gastroenterology and Hepatology Service of the University Hospital since 2007. His interests focus on basic and translational research in inflammatory bowel disease. He is the author and co-author of several articles in the best scientific journals. His research has been recognized with national and international awards.

Marian R. Neutra

Marian R. Neutra is an Allen and Melvin Gordon Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.Marian Neutra is Director of the GI Cell Biology Research Laboratory at Children’s Hospital as well as director of the Harvard Digestive Diseases Centre.Herlaboratory focuses on interactions of pathogenic micro-organisms and antigens with the epithelial surfaces of mucosal tissues and with the mucosal immune system.This research is relevant to the development of new vaccine strategies against pathogens such as HIV.Marian Neutra is the Scientific Co-Founder of OraVax, now Acambis, a vaccine producing company.

Pierre Ronco

Pierre Ronco is Director of the Renal Division “Néphrologie et Dialyses” and of the Research Unit UMR-S1155 affiliated to INSERM and University “Pierre et Marie Curie” (Sorbonne University), both located at Tenon hospital in Paris.

He was born in 1951 in Paris. He received his PhD in Immunology from University Paris 7 and his MD from the Medical Faculty Saint-Antoine affiliated to UPMC. He was trained in clinical science by Gabriel Richet, past President of ISN and founder of the kidney clinical and research centre at Tenon hospital, and in immunology by Pierre Verroust, Research Director at INSERM.

He was appointed full Professor of Nephrology at UPMC in 1986. He became head of the Renal Division in 1995 and director of the INSERM Research Unit in 1998. He was appointed senior member of the prestigious “Institut Universitaire de France” in 2008. He served as President of the Scientific Councils of Medical Faculty Saint-Antoine and Francophone Kidney Foundation, President of the Francophone Society of Nephrology, Councillor of the European Society of Nephrology ERA-EDTA and President of the 49th ERA-EDTA congress in Paris (May 2012, 8600 delegates). He is currently Vice-President of the Francophone Kidney Foundation, and member of the NIH supported network on rare kidney diseases (Neptune).

He has been serving ISN for more than 23 years as a Council member (1993-1999), a member of the Management (1995-1997), Nominating (1999-2001), COMGAN Africa (2002-2005), Lillian Jean Kaplan Prize Selection (2002-2009) and Forefront/Nexus (2009-2016) Committees, as Program Chair or Co-Chair of 4 World Congresses of Nephrology over 3 continents (Madrid 1995, Milan 2009, Cape Town 2015, Mexico City 2017), as an Associate Editor of Kidney International for 8 years (1997-2005), as a speaker in a number of ISN CMEs, and as the coordinator of a supporting center in two Sister partnership programs with Shanghai, Ruijin Hospital (2003-2009) and Douala, Cameroon (2009-2014), and in a trio program with Shanghai that has become a center of excellence and the Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital (2014-to now). He is currently serving on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and Nature Reviews Nephrology.

Pierre Ronco’s major contributions to clinical science, renal immunopathology and rare kidney diseases, resulted in over 400 research publications as listed in PubMed, including in the New England Journal of Medicine (8), The Lancet (3), Science (2), the Journal of Experimental Medicine (3), and the Journal of Cell Biology (3) and 30 chapters in textbooks. His H-index is 56.

He has been awarded numerous prizes and honors: Paul Neumann prize (Francophone Society of Immunology), Jean Hamburger and Claude Bernard awards (City of Paris), Jean Valade award (“Fondation de France”), Marguerite Delahautemaison and Rose Lamarca prizes (Foundation for Medical Research), Jean Dausset prize (French Society of Immunology), and the prestigious Jean Hamburger award (International Society of Nephrology). He is a member of the Academia Europeae, the French Academy of Medicine and the Royal Academy of Medicine (Belgium), and an ERA distinguished fellow (FERA).

Major publications (2011-2016)

  1. Bally S*, Debiec H*, Ponard D, Dijoud F, Rendu J, Fauré J, Ronco P*, Dumestre-Perard C*. Phospholipase A2 Receptor-Related Membranous Nephropathy and Mannan-Binding Lectin Deficiency. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2016 Dec;27(12):3539-3544. * Equal contribution
  2. Ronco P, Debiec H, Pathophysiological advances in membranous nephropathy: time for a shift in patient’s care. The Lancet. 2015, 385 (9981):1983-92.
  3. Vivarelli M, Emma F, Pellé T, Gerken C, Pedicelli S, Diomedi-Camassei F, Klaus G, Waldegger S, Ronco P, Debiec H. Genetic homogeneity but IgG subclass-dependent clinical variability of alloimmune membranous nephropathy with anti-neutral endopeptidase antibodies. Kidney Int. 2015 Mar;87(3):602-9. Commentary from LR Beck
  4. Ruggenenti P*, Debiec H*, Ruggiero B, Chianca A, Pellé T, Gaspari F, Suardi F, Gagliardini E, Orisio S, Benigni A, Ronco P*, Remuzzi G*. Anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody titer predicts post-rituximab outcome of membranous nephropathy. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2015 Oct;26(10):2545-58. * Equal contribution
  5. Debiec H, Valayannopoulos V, Boyer O, Nöel LH, Callard P, Sarda H, de Lonlay P, Niaudet P, Ronco P. Allo-immune membranous nephropathy and recombinant aryl sulfatase replacement therapy: a need for tolerance induction therapy. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2014 Apr;25(4):675-80.
  6. Coenen MJ*, Hofstra JM*, Debiec H*, Stanescu HC, Medlar AJ, Stengel B, Boland-Augé A, Groothuismink JM, Bockenhauer D, Powis SH, Mathieson PW, Brenchley PE, Kleta R*, Wetzels JF*, Ronco P*. Phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R1) sequence variants in idiopathic membranous nephropathy. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2013 Mar;24(4):677-83. * Equal contribution Editorial from DJ Salant
  7. Ronco P, Debiec H. Pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy: recent advances and future challenges. Nat Rev Nephrol. 2012 Feb 28;8(4):203-13.
  8. Debiec H, Hanoy M, Francois A, Guerrot D, Ferlicot S, Johanet C, Aucouturier P, Godin M, Ronco P. Recurrent membranous nephropathy in an allograft caused by IgG3κ targeting the PLA2 receptor. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012 Dec;23(12):1949-54. Editorial from LR Beck
  9. Debiec H, Lefeu F, Kemper M, Niaudet P, Remuzzi G, Ulinski T, Ronco P. Early childhood membranous nephropathy due to cationic bovine serum albumin. N Engl J Med. 2011 Jun 2;364(22):2101-102. Editorial from A Fogo and from M Haase, Int Urol Nephrology 2012, 44:635.
  10. Debiec H, Ronco P. PLA2R autoantibodies and PLA2R glomerular deposits in membranous nephropathy. N Engl J Med. 2011 Feb 17;364(7):689-90.
  11. Stanescu HC, Arcos-Burgos M, Medlar A, Bockenhauer D, Kottgen A, Dragomirescu L, Voinescu C, Patel N, Pearce K, Hubank M, Stephens HA, Laundy V, Padmanabhan S, Zawadzka A, Hofstra JM, Coenen MJ, den Heijer M, Kiemeney LA, Bacq-Daian D, Stengel B, Powis SH, Brenchley P, Feehally J, Rees AJ, Debiec H, Wetzels JF*, Ronco P*, Mathieson PW*, Kleta R*. Risk HLA-DQA1 and PLA(2)R1 alleles in idiopathic membranous nephropathy. N Engl J Med. 2011 Feb 17;364(7):616-26. * Equal contribution. Editorial from M Segelmark
Françoise Rohner-Jeanrenaud

 

Françoise Rohner-Jeanrenaud, Metabolism Laboratory, Department of  Cell Physiology and Metabolism, University Medical Center, University of Geneva.

Born in Geneva, Françoise Rohner-Jeanrenaud obtained a PhD in Biology at the Geneva University Faculty of Sciences in 1981 for a series of studies on the hypothalamic control of insulin secretion. Since then, she studied different aspects of the neuroendocrine control of metabolic homeostasis and its dysfunctions in obesity and type 2 diabetes, on which she published more than 130 articles. In 2007, she was appointed as Associate Professor at the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Hypertension and Nutrition of the Department of Internal Medicine Specialties at the Geneva University Hospital where she is leading a research group on metabolic research.  She was appointed as Full Professor in 2014. Her research group is affiliated to the Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism. The main interests of her lab are the study of the neuroendocrine regulation of metabolism, as related to obesity/insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

 
 
 
 

 

Niama Diop Sall

Professor Niama Diop Sall is a Doctor of Medicine, Full Professor of Medical Biochemistry.  He also holds a Higher Diploma in Health Economics. He was Head of Laboratories at the Abass Ndao Teaching Hospital in Dakar and Head of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Cheikh Anta Diop University.

 

Béatrice De Vos

Béatrice De Vos is a native Belgian board certified physician and specialist in pharmaceutical medicine. She trained at the Catholic University of Leuven and at Erasme University of Brussels. She is a member of the Belgian College of Pharmaceutical Medicine. She has been awarded a Doctor in Medical Sciences’ degree at the University of Antwerp (UIA).

For the past 25 years she worked in leading positions of clinical research and medical affairs departments of major international pharmaceutical companies (Regional Director Benelux at Wyeth-Ayerst R&D (Belgium), Vice President Global Medical Affairs at GSK Biologicals (Wavre, Belgium), VP Global Medical & Scientific Affairs at Sanofi Pasteur in Lyon, France). She was in charge of the clinical development programs of multiple drug candidates and several viral vaccine candidates. She succeeded developing a paediatric rotavirus vaccine, from bench to bed, that is currently used globally. She is author or co-author of multiple publications in international peer-reviewed journals and books, lecturer at several congresses, advisor to several national and international companies and NGO’s, and member of data safety monitoring boards and scientific advisory boards.

Today, she is owner and managing director of a consultancy office, Bejamad bvba. She is actively involved in developing novel therapies such as ATMP (advanced therapy medicinal) products based on stem cell technology, small molecules in immune-oncology and vector vaccines for infectious diseases. She is president of the board of directors of a company developing allergen-specific immunotherapies, ASIT biotech.

Jean-Michel Dayer

Jean-Michel Dayer, born in Switzerland followed his medical education and training in Lausanne and Geneva. He was Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Arthritis Unit, Massachussetts General Hospital and was appointed at the Faculty of Medicine in Geneva in 1981 as the Head of the Division of Immunology & Allergy, Geneva University Hospital then as full Professor of Medicine. He is presently Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the Geneva University. Dr. Dayer was among the first to initiate the field of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and TNF) in chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoidi arthritis .

He demonstred for the first time the presence of IL-1 inhibitor in urine. He identified the mechanism of competitive binding of IL-1 receptor antagonist to IL-1 (IL-1Ra) and isolated the TNF inhibitory binding protein in urine of patients opening a new avenue of research in the field.

 

Susanna Cotecchia
 

Susanna Cotecchia is emeritus professor of Pharmacology, University of Lausanne.

After a basic medical training, then a specialization in neuropharmacology at the Mario Negri Institute in Milan and the Department of Medicine at the University of Duke under the direction of Prof. R. J. Lefkowitz, Susanne Cotecchia joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in 1992 as a regular Professor.

Her research topics were the molecular basis of receptor activation and G protein-coupling, the molecular basis of the pharmacological selectivity of the adrenergic receptor subtypes and the study of the in vivo role of the alpha1-AR subtypes using knock out mice.

Philippe Despres

Philippe DESPRES (PhD), virologist, was the former director of the virology laboratory « Flavivirus-Host Molecular Interactions » (FHMI) from 2002 to 2014 at the Institut Pasteur, Paris (France). FHMI hosted the National Reference Centre for Arboviruses (France) from 2008 to 2011. The lab studied the biology of arboviruses of medical interest and pathogenesis of arboviral diseases. It has also contributed to the development of innovative tools for laboratory diagnosis and candidate vaccines against arboviruses.

Philippe DESPRES is now a virologist integrated into the new Joint Research Laboratory PIMIT (Infectious Processes in Tropical Islands ; tutorships: University of La Reunion island, INSERM, CNRS, IRD) as head of the I2T research team (Immunopathology of Infectious Diseases in the Tropics). PIMIT is hosted by the technology platform CYROI in La Reunion Island. The research projects of I2T are directed towards the comprehensive study of immunopathogenesis of arbovirus-related diseases. Philippe DESPRES has now the rank of university professor at the University of Reunion island.

Kim Q. Do

Professor Kim Q. Do is Director of the Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience (Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland). For over 25 years, Prof. Do has been involved in translational research bridging neuroscience and psychiatry. At Lausanne University, she set up a research program aimed at a better understanding of the causes and mechanisms leading to schizophrenia phenotypes in order to develop markers for early diagnosis, new drug targets as well as preventive and therapeutic measures. Her work pioneered the involvement of a pathophysiological “hub” in which oxidative stress/redox dysregulation interacts with NMDAR hypofunction and neuroinflammation, leading to the impairment of neural connectivity and synchronization, and to cognitive deficits as observed in patients. Using various animal models relevant to schizophrenia and autism, she demonstrated that oxidative stress during development impairs myelin formation, and selectively and permanently affects prefrontal parvalbumine containing fast spiking GABA interneurons. These effects can be reversed by antioxidants, suggesting that redox regulators could have therapeutic and preventive value in patients, as successfully tested in clinical trials.

In addition to her research activities, Kim Do also works on professional education and public outreach towards better care and cure of major psychiatric disorders.

Links:

  • List of publications
  • Video (4min.32) on Prof. Do’s translational research program, produced at the request of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and presented at their Annual Meeting 2014
  • Website
Renaud du Pasquier

Renaud du Pasquier , Head of the Service of Neurology, University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV)

Clinical researcher Renaud Du Pasquier is a specialist in neuroinflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis or other neuroimmunological and neurovirological diseases.

Born in Geneva, Renaud Du Pasquier obtained his medical degree, then performed his clinical training in Geneva, where he earned his board in neurology and internal medicine. In 1999, he moved to Boston, Harvard Medical School, where he completed his postgraduate training in Neurovirology and Neuroimmunology. Back in Switzerland in 2004, he moved to Lausanne where he developed a clinical and research activity through a six year assistant professorship grant  from the Swiss National Fund.

He was appointed associate professor in 2011 at the University of Lausanne and associate physician in the Department of Neurology of the University Hospital. From 1 January 2015, he serves as Chief of the Neurology Service function. His research, conducted in the Neuroimmunology Laboratory concerns the physio-pathogenesis of demyelinating diseases, viral or inflammatory such as MS and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. He also set up a joint clinical study CHUV HUG-about new features of cognitive disorders in patients infected with HIV, as part of the « Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

Jean-Pierre Guignard

Jean-Pierre Guignard Emeritus Prof FBM/UNIL

Jean-Pierre passed away on April 14, 2022. This pioneer in pediatric nephrology, also a dedicated humanist and a devoted reader, will be missed.  Former Head of the Pediatric Nephrology Service at the CHUV,University of Lausanne. He received his Federal diploma of Medicinein 1964 and his PhD in 1966. He received the De Cérenville price for his thesis. After completing internships in London, Vancouver, Montreal and Mexico City  he was appointed Full Professor in 1993 at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine where he directed  the unit of pediatric nephrology. He is a pioneer in perinatal nephrology. His work on renal maturation was rewarded in 1983 by the Guido Fanconi price.He published over 500 articles and other documents. He is a founding member of the European Society for Developmental Pharmacology. He is involved actively  in promoting greater social justice.

 
 
 
 
Denis Hochstrasser

Denis Hochstrasser Chairman of the genetic and Laboratory Medicine Department of the Geneva University Hospital, Vice-Rector of the University of Geneva

Professor Denis Hochstrasser has been Vice-Rector of the University of Geneva since 2013, and is currently in charge of Campus Biotech, ties between the University and the University Hospitals, Personalized Health, and the Information and Communication Technology Sector. He is also chairman of the Genetic and Laboratory Medicine Department of the Geneva University Hospital. He is a board certified physician in internal medicine and in clinical chemistry.

At the academic level, he is a full professor both at the Department of Human Protein Sciences of the Faculty of Medicine and at the School of Pharmacy of the Faculty of Science. He was one of the founders of the Swiss Institute for Bioinformatics, of the Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology and also of Biobank Swiss Foundation. He is a scientific founder of Geneva Proteomics Inc, Geneva Bioinformatics SA, and Eclosion SA.

He is a board member of the CTI certification board for the Swiss government and of Viollier laboratories. He is an indivisual member of the Senate of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences. His research focuses on the discovery of clinical biomarkers in brain, pancreas and kidney diseases, on human toxicology, and on the development of proteomic & clinical chemistry related technologies such as clinical mass spectrometry.

 
 
Michel Lazdunski

Michel Lazdunski  is Professor at the Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS, France

Michel Lazdunski started as an engineer in chemical engineering, he then got a PhD in Physical Chemistry and a Doctorat ès Sciences in Biochemistry. His first research activities in biological sciences were in enzymology. He then gradually moved to ion transport systems and more specifically to the molecular analysis of ion channels at a time when it was not even known that these channels were proteins. He first developed tools (toxins in particular) to analyze the properties of Nav channels, then worked with Cav channels, all sorts of K+ channels and CFTR, epithelial Na+ channels, acid-sensitive ion channels, peptide-gated ion channels, always linking molecular studies with developmental biology, pharmacology, physiology and physiopathology.

He has a particular interest for the implications of ionic channels in epilepsy, ischemia and neuroprotection, pain and behavioral disorders. For more than 30 years he has developed toxins and more specifically peptide toxins for all sorts of ion channels. He has been the Founder and Director of the Centre de Biochimie (CNRS) in Nice, of the Institut de Pharmacologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS and of the Institut de Neuromedecine Moléculaire, CNRS/Université de Sophia Antipolis.

Michel Lazdunski has received several national and international awards among which the Gold Medal of the CNRS in 2000, the highest French scientific award, and the Gold Medal for Medicine from the Ernst Jung Foundation in 2011. He is a member of several Academies among which the French Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europae.

 
 
 
 
 
Jean-Pierre Montani

Jean-Pierre Montani is Professor and Chair of Systems Physiology, Head of the Division of Physiology of the Dept. of Medicine University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

From 1982 to 1986 he was a Visiting Assistant Professor, in the Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, at The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson MS, USA). He was then appointed  Assistant Professor then Associate Professor, in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, at The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson MS, USA In 1995 he was appointed Professor and Chairman of the Division of Physiology of the Dept. of Medicine, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. In 2003 he was a Visiting Professor of Neuropharmacology, in the laboratory of Professor Geoff Head, at the Baker Medical Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia. He was an Invited Professor in Physiology, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland from 2003 to 2012. His research interests are the control of blood pressure and regulation of sodium balance, the mechanisms of obesity-induced hypertension,

The cardiovascular and renal complications of weight cycling, the impact of nutrition and salt on cardiovascular and metabolic control, the impact of nutrition on progression of renal dysfunction with ageing and the m athematical modelling of large integrative physiological systems.

Jean Rossier

Jean Rossier, member of the  Académie des Sciences Paris and Professor at the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (ESCPI ParisTech).

Jean Rossier studied medicine in Brussels where he obtained his doctorate in 1969, before performing a doctorate in biology at the College of France under the direction of Jacques Glowinski. He continued his research at Tufts Medical School in Boston and the Roche Institute in New Jersey under the direction of Roger Guillemin. Jean Rossier was appointed professor at Higher School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry of the City of Paris, when Pierre-Gilles de Gennes decides to introduce biology. Jean Rossier the head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Cellular Diversity where he developed chain reaction techniques and polymerase studying new classes of neocortical interneurons. Working on neuropeptides he discovered multiple opioïd peptides delineating several distinct neuronal systems involved in pain and reward. Turning his interests on GABAA receptors, he made the seminal observation that several inverse agonists facilitate performance in learning and memory tasks. He is the inventor of single cell RT-PCR (scRT-PCR) after patch-clamp and has deciphered the molecular organization of synaptic receptors and diversity of interneurons.

Jean Rossier’s winner of Doistau-BLUTEL price (1983) and Lacaze (1990) of the Academy of Sciences, the Claude Bernard award of the city of Paris (2006) and foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences since 2002. He is foreign member of the Royal Academy of Belgium medicine since 2011. He was awarded the Mentoring in Science Award 2011 awarded by the magazine Nature.

Marco Schapira

Marco Schapira Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne was theformer director of Onco-hematology Service at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV)

Urs Rüegg

Urs Rüegg, Emeritus Professor at the School of Pharmacy, University of Geneva. UNIL-UNIGE Ecole de pharmacie

After twelve years of drug research in the Basel pharmaceutical industry, Urs Rüegg  joined the University of Lausanne as Professor of Pharmacology in 1992. Since 2004 he has headed the Laboratory of Pharmacology at Geneva – Lausanne School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva. Since 1992, he has had full responsibility for the entire curriculum in pharmacology for pharmacy students.

His recent research interests include pharmacology of cellular calcium signalling and with his research team, he focuses on altered calcium handling in Duchenne muscular dystrophy & pharmacological approaches.

Urs Rüegg is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Freanch Association on myopathies and an expert panelist of the Swiss National Science Foundation and Treasurer of the The International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR)

Yves Schutz

Yves Schutz PhD Visiting Research Collaborator Laboratory of Nutritional energetics & body composition regulation, Department of Medicine / Physiology, University of Fribourg.

Expert in Human Nutrition Specialist and energy metabolism and obesity, Yves Schutz was appointed associate professor in the Department of Physiology of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM) of the UNIL from 1 April 2011. Born in 1946 in Geneva, Switzerland, Yves Schutz began his academic career at the ETH Zurich, where he earned his engineering degree in Food Science in 1972 which he completed this with a second university degree in experimental nutrition at the University of Cambridge (England). In 1974 he joined the Department of Nutritional Sciences of the University of California, Berkeley (USA) and worked in parallel for the biomedical division of the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), Guatemala. He obtained his PhD degree in human nutrition at University of California Berkeley.

Back in Switzerland, he joined in 1980 the University of Lausanne where he was appointed as associate professor. He developed new methods for measuring energy expenditure using a calorimeter chamber fixed in Lausanne  or mobile, the latter for research projects in Africa (Gambia), in collaboration with the Medical Research Council in Cambridge. His work has contributed to the understanding of causative mechanisms of obesity and thinness, and the role of physical activity as a factor controlling energy intake and weight.

Yves Schutz is co-recipient of the « Bluetooth Innovation World Cup 2009 Award » for the « smart shoe », a sole equipped with sensors to measure energy expenditure simultaneously with body weight, collaborative project with three US universities and for which five patents were filed by UNIL.

In 2015 he was appointed visiting fellow and main external collaborator at the  Department of Medicine,  Division of Physiology of the  University of Fribourg

Dominique Garcin

Dominique Garcin obtained his PhD at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Lyon in 1989. He then joined the Department of Microbiology and Genetics (the current department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine) of the Faculty of Medicine in Geneva, where he was appointed Senior Lecturer in 2010.  D. Garcin’s research is focused on the mechanisms that govern interactions between viruses and innate defense system. His laboratory is primarily interested in the molecular mechanisms governing the specific detection of viral infections mainly at the level of viral nucleic acid detection in the cytoplasm of infected cells.

The specificity of this detection is essential to trigger appropriate antiviral cellular responses. Another aspect of his research concerns the viral strategies to avoid or escape these innate responses so effectively.