Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern

Institute infrastructure
Cell culture and microscopy techniques, electrophysiology (conventional), protein interaction techniques.

Prof. Hugues Abriel
Channelopathies, ion channels and protein-protein interactions

Dr. Jean-Sébastien Rougier
senior scientist
Cell culture, patch-clamp (heterologous expression system, iPSC, and cardiomyocytes), newborn cardiomyocytes isolation, molecular cloning, protein-protein proximity assay, immunostaining

Sabrina Guichard
technician
Cardiomyocytes isolation, genotyping, molecular cloning, generation transgenic animal, co-immunoprecipitation, western blot, biotinylation, immunostaining, patch clamp HEK-293

Anne-Flore Hämmerli
technician
Patch-clamp, atrial cardiomyocytes isolation

Dr. Patricia Teixidor
scientific officer

Dominic Schneiter
PhD Student
 

Institute of Biochemistry, ETH Zürich

Institute infrastructure
Determination of structures at atomic resolution of Protein-RNA and drug-RNA complexes using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (NMR)

Prof. Frédéric Allain
NMR, ITC, splicing assay

Dr. Antoine Cléry
senior scientist
NMR, ITC, splicing assay 

Aging and Muscle Metabolism lab, Department of Physiology & Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne

Lab infrastructure
Human physiology and metabolism research lab including exercise testing, exercise intervention, stable isotope tracers, glucose clamps, indirect calorimetry, body composition. Zebrafish facility, breeding, exercise testing and training.
Primary muscle cell cultures, respirometry, mitochondria isolation, wet lab, microsopy.

Prof. Francesca Amati
Clinical and translational research in muscle metabolism and aging, including muscle wasting, sarcopenia, insulin resistance and the development of other chronic diseases related to muscle metabolism. Our lab research projects include specific subcellular compartments, organelle dynamics and contact sites (mitochondria, lipid droplets, etc)

Dr. Sylviane Lagarrigue
Postdoc
Mitochondrial metabolism, respirometry (Seahorse XF analyzers), primary cell cultures

Dogan Grepper
PhD student
Zebrafish models

Cassandra Tabasso
PhD student
Lipidomics

Dr. Ammar Ebrahimi
Postdoc
Small molecules and peptides, Drosophila models

Axel Aguettaz
PhD student
Imaging (high resolution, confocal, electron microscopy) 

Laboratory of Integrative and Systems Physiology (LISP) – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Lab infrastructure
Goals: to understand the role of mitochondria and proteostasis in health, disease, and aging
Strategy: systems & population genetics, molecular & cellular biology, and computational approaches
Model systems: C. elegans, mouse genetic reference populations, humans
Keywords: Metabolic sensing, Mitochondrial metabolism, Nuclear receptor and cofactor biology, Complex genetics, Genetic reference populations, Aging.

Prof. Johan Auwerx
Metabolism, Aging, muscle wasting, sarcopenia, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, IBM, mouse and human genetics, NAD biology, mitochondria.

Ioanna Daskalaki
Postdoc
Muscle stem cell, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, mitochondria and metabolism

Yasmine Liu
Postdoc
Muscle stem cell, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, mitochondria and metabolism

Amelia Lalou
PhD student
Aging, proteostasis, mitochondria

Regenerative and Movement Biology lab, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich

Lab infrastructure and techniques
I) Tissue culture: primary muscle cell culture, pluripotent stem cell culture (mouse, rat, human), reprogramming somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (mouse, rat, human), reprogramming somatic cells into myogenic progenitors (mouse), isolation of fibro-adipogenic progenitors and satellite cells using surface markers, intramuscular cell transplantation and graft analysis.
(II) Relevant mouse strains:  C57BL/10ScSn-Dmdmdx/J, B10ScSn.Cg-Prkdcscid Dmdmdx/J, B6.Cg-Pax7tm1(cre/ERT2)Gaka/J, Pax7-nGFP.

Prof. Ori Bar-Nur
Stem cell biology with emphasis on pluripotent and satellite stem cells, direct lineage reprogramming methods such as 
conversion of somatic cells into muscle cells, principles of skeletal muscle regeneration.

Nicola Bundschuh
Lab manager
Primary muscle cell culture, reprogramming somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, 
genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9, flow cytometry, FACS sorting.

Giada Bacchin
PhD student
Direct reprogramming of somatic cells into myogenic progenitors, primary muscle/fibroblast cell culture and isolation, 
production of viral vectors, molecular cloning, human iPSCs, flow cytometry, biomaterials.

Veerle de Goederen
PhD student
Muscle cell dedifferentiation, fish cell culture, transcriptomics.

Christine Trautmann
PhD student
Primary muscle cell isolation and cell culture of bovine myoblasts and muscle fibers.

Ajda Lenardic
PhD student
Gene editing and genetic engineering,  cell biology with the focus on reprogramming of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells and myogenic cells.

Pjeter Gjonlleshaj
PhD student
Stem cell biology.

Ali Kerem Kalkan
PhD student
Human iPSCs and primary muscle cell culture, reprogramming human somatic cells into iPSCs, 3D muscle differentiation, Golden Gate cloning, transcriptional regulation using CRISPR-Cas nucleases, FACS sorting.

University of Geneva, Faculty of Medicine, Department Cell Physiology and Metabolism

Institute infrastructure
Microscopy, FACS, genomic platform, proteomics facility, cell culture, muscle force, histology, isolated muscle fibers, transgenic mice, AAV.

Prof. Perrine Castets
SNSF Assistant Professor
Muscle physiology; molecular biology; transgenic animal models; neuromuscular diseases; neuromuscular junction; autophagy.

Florent Chabry
Lab manager
Mouse genotyping; immunohistochemistry; molecular biology; neuromuscular junction.

Léa Castellano
Post-doc
Molecular biology; neuromuscular junctions, denervation, ultrastructure, mitochondria.

Loris Levet
PhD student
Molecular biology; autophagy; autophagic vacuolar myopathies.

Gaetan Lopez
PhD student
Molecular biology; neuromuscular junctions, denervation, mitochondria, mTORC1.

Exercise and Health lab, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich

Lab infrastructure and techniques
I) Freshly isolated cell culture: primary muscle cell culture, isolation of satellite cells, fibro-adipogenic progenitors, immune cells and muscle endothelial cells, (II) Muscle physiology and regeneration in vivo: intramuscular cell transplantation and graft analysis, skeletal muscle injury: cardiotoxin, glycerol and hind-limb ischemia, TSE running wheel system, indirect calorimetry analysis (Sable systems metabolic cages). (III) Relevant mouse strains:  Pax7-mTmG. Mouse lines to study vascular biology (pdgfb-CreERT2, Esm1-CreERT2, Apln-CreERT2), macrophage biology (Tim4-Cre, Lyzm-Cre, Ms4a3-Cre) etc. in muscle.

Prof. Katrien De Bock
Metabolic reprogramming and crosstalk during muscle regeneration, exercise physiology, cell-cell interactions in skeletal muscle.

University of Basel and University Hospital Basel

Lab infrastructure and techniques
Acetlycholine Receptor-specific, human-derived, monoclonal antibodies.

Dr. Nicholas Sanderson
group leader

Sebstian Holdermann
PhD student

University of Geneva, Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism

Institute infrastructure
Calcium imaging, electrophysiology, human primary cell culture, lentivirus.

Prof. Maud Frieden
Myogenesis and muscle regeneration, electrophysiology, Ca2+ imaging.

Dr. Stephane Koenig
Scientific collaborator
Reserve cell activation, molecular biology, myogenesis and muscle regeneration, lentivirus, signal transduction.

Dr. Tahir Idris
PostDoc
Extracellular matrix, molecular biology, myotube maturation, signal transduction.

Loann Laubry
PhD student
Myoblast differentiation, Signal transduction, Ca2+ imaging, electrical stimulation on cell culture.

Mélanie Fourgeaud
PhD student
Reserve cell activation, genomic data analysis, molecular biology, signal transduction.

Olivier Dupont
Lab technician
Myoblast differentiation, Signal transduction, Ca2+ imaging.

Biozentrum, University of Basel

Institute infrastructure
Treadmill (open and closed), voluntary wheel running, grip strength, CLAMS (comprehensive laboratory animal monitoring system), qNMR (body composition).

Prof. Christoph Handschin
Skeletal muscle cell plasticity in health and disease incl. exercise and muscle wasting pathologies.

Dr. Regula Furrer
Postdoc
Dysferlinopathy (in vivo testing, in situ force measurements)

University of Geneva, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Basic Neurosciences

Institute infrastructure
Cell culture and microscopy techniques; pre-GMP and GMP lab; muscle physiology; animal facility and analysis of muscle function.

Prof. Marisa Jaconi
Human pluripotent stem cells (ESC and iPSC) and tissue-derived stem cells 
Cardiac and skeletal muscle differentiation
Organoids and tissue engineering
Cell therapy strategies and GMP cell production
Setup for 3D sound-induced morphogenesis (Cymatix)
Setups for microfluidics and electrophysiological characterization of organoids.

Dr. Tania Rodrigues
PostDoc
Mesoangioblast biology, muscle differentiation and functional analysis, lentivector transduction and clonal selection
GMP isolation and cell banking.

Martha Iabel Gonzalez Duque
PostDoc
Stem cells and cardiac valve reconstruction, 3D bioprinting, sound-induced morphogenesis.

Mitochondria & Energy Metabolism lab, Department of Biochemistry, University of Lausanne

Lab infrastructure and techniques
(I) Tissue culture: muscle, cancer and immune cell culture. (II) Systems biology: genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screening, nutrient screening, omics. (III) Mitochondrial biology: Respirometry, mtDNA expression, respiratory chain complexes assembly, mitochondrial disorders.

Prof. Alexis Jourdain
Mitochondria, systems biology.

Ebru Adigüzel
Biologist/lab manager

Miriam Lisci
PostDoc
Mitochondrial gene expression

Miriam Valera-Alberni
PostDoc
Mitochondrial gene expression

Eleanor McKay
PostDoc
Nucleotide metabolism in vivo

Joan Blanco Fernandez
PhD student
Mitochondria, macrophage immunometabolism

Marcell Harhai
PhD student
Mitochondrial disorders

Abigail Lee Strefeler
PhD student
Mitochondria, nutrient metabolismy

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine & University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland

Institute infrastructure
Hypoxic chamber, Whole Animal System for muscle physiology testing in mice, bioluminescence imaging.

Dr. Thomas Laumonier
Senior scientist, PhD
Co-responsible of the lab
Isolation of human myogenic stem cells, cell therapy, immunology, flow cytometry, gene therapy, bioluminescence imaging.

Prof. Didier Hannouche
Professor, MD
Co-responsible of the lab
Orthopaedic surgery, cell therapy.

Dr. Laure Gallay
PostDoc
Animal microsurgery, PCR, histology.

Axelle Bouche
PhD student
Cell culture, flow cytometry, cell transplantation.

Diego Michel
Master student
Cell culture, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence.

Dr. Axel Tollance
PostDoc
Primary human cell culture, Flow cytometry, Seahorse.

Departement für Maschinenbau und Verfahrenstechnik, CLA Building, Laboratory of Soft Robotics, ETH Zurich

Institute infrastructure
3D extrusion bioprinter, light-based xolographic printer, 3D printers, and equipment for electrical stimulation and mechanical training of muscle cells and tissue.

Robert Katzschmann
Assistant Professor
Soft Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Muscle Tissue Engineering, Electrical Stimulation of Muscle Cells and Tissue, Bio-hybrid Robot.

Miriam Filippi
Senior scientist
Skeletal/Cardiac Muscle Tissue Engineering, Electrical Stimulation of Muscle Cells and Tissue, Biofabrication, 3D Extrusion Bioprinting, Bio-hybrid Robots.

Aiste Balciunaite
PhD student
Biohybrid Robots Based on Skeletal Muscle Tissue, Xolographic Bioprinting

Asia Badolato
PhD student
Biohybrid Robots Embedding Neuronal Cultures

Manuel Mekkattu
PhD student
In silico Modeling of Muscle Contraction

Pablo Paniagua
Research Assistant
Bioreactors for Muscle Tissue's Mechanical Stimulation 

Institute of Cell Bioogy, University of Bern

Institute infrastructure
Confocal Microscopy, Spinning Disk microscopy.

P.D. Peter Meister
C. elegans, muscle differentiation, epigenetics, nuclear organization, microscopy.

Karthik Mohanraj
Post-doc
Cell plasticity, muscle cell induction, pluripotency, genetic screens.

Regenerative Medicine Technologies Lab, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC), Bellinzona 
Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Lugano

Institute infrastructure
Human cell culture, in vitro modelling, biofabrication, organs-on-a-chip

• Isolation and culture of primary cells from human musculo-skeletal biopsies (e.g. myoblasts, fibroblasts, mesenchymal stem cells)
• Biofabrication of miniaturized in vitro models of the human skeletal muscle microenvironment embedding muscle fibers, endothelial cells and muscle-specific stromal cells
• Biofabrication of human microvascular networks with applications in musculo-skeletal pathologies, oncology and aging

Technologies and techniques: Fused-deposition modelling 3D printer, Digital light processing 3D printer, Volumetric 3D bioprinter, Laser cutter, Plasma cleaner, High-vacuum pumps, Nitrogen gas generator, Nitrogen oven, Soft lithography, Electrical stimulation, Microfabrication, Microfluidics and organs-on-a-chip, Automated liquid handling, Confocal high-content imaging system, Biofabrication and Hydrogel patterning, Computational fluid dynamic simulations.

Prof. Matteo Moretti
Tissue engineering, regenerative medicine for musculo-skeletal tissues (e.g. bone, muscle, cartilage, tendons), bioreactors, 3D printing.

Prof. Simone Bersini
Muscle biofabrication, organ-specific vascularization, microfluidics, organs-on-a-chip for modeling cancer metastases and human aging.

Stella Monestier
PhD student
Bioprinting, microphysiological systems.

Megi Ishmaku
Research assistant
Primary cell isolation and culture, microfabrication.

Giuseppe Talò
Engineer
Design of electro-mechanical systems, computer-aided design, microfabrication, 3D printing, bioprinting.

Marco Francese
Master student
Computer-aided design, computational fluid dynamic simulations, microfabrication.

University of Basel, Biozentrum

Institute infrastructure
AAV technology; mouse models; muscle force measurement; microscopy; Proteomics and RNA-seq analysis; FACS analysis; voluntary wheel running; CRISPR/Cas9.

Prof. Markus A. Rüegg
Muscle physiology; molecular biology; transgenic animal models; neuromuscular diseases.

Dr. Judith Reinhard
Research associate
Molecular biology; biochemistry; histology; histochemistry; transgenic animal models; AAV-mediated gene therapy; muscular dystrophies (LAMA2 MD).

Dr. Eleonora Maino
PostDoc
Molecular biology, genome editing, disease modelling, neuromuscular disorders.

Timothy McGowan
PhD student
Stem cells, muscle regeneration; muscular dystrophies (LAMA2 MD).

Julia Schedel
PhD student
Myotendinous junction, muscular dystrophies (LAMA2 MD), molecular biology.

Alexia Böck Pereda
PhD student
Muscle biology, muscular dystrophies, molecular biology.

Lena Jörin
Technician
Genotyping of mice, lab management.

Institute infrastructure
1.5T and 3T human MRI scanners for in vivo imaging and spectroscopy, electronics laboratory, access to 31P coils for in vivo human spectroscopy and MR-compatible ergometer, equipment for electrical muscle stimulation during MRI.

PD Dr. Francesco Santini
Research Group Leader
Methodological development, dynamic  MRI; MRI safety; electronics design and development.

Prof. Oliver Bieri
Head of Radiological Physics (parent group)
Methodological development, novel contrast mechanisms.

Dr. Claudia Weidensteiner
Principal investigator
Methodological development, study design and data analysis, pediatric imaging.

Dr. Marco Barbieri
Ambizione Fellow
Sarcopenia and Osteopenia, method development

Dr. Marta Maggioni
Postdoc
Vendor-independent MR Sequence development, Short echo-time imaging

Sabine Räuber
PhD Student
Electrical stimulation and muscle physiology

Giuseppe Timpano
Visiting PhD Student
Deep learning methods

Tanja Haas
Technician
MRI scanning.

Philipp Madörin
Technician
MRI scanning.

University of Basel, Department Neurologie & Biomedizin

Institute infrastructure
Translational research on muscular dystrophies, Congenital myopathies with special focus on excitation contraction coupling dysregulation and calcium homeostasis.

Prof. Michael Sinnreich
Neuromuscular diseases
Muscular Dystrophies.

Prof. Susan Treves
Intracellular calcium measurements, resting membrane potential measurements with fluorescent dyes, Preparation of primary muscle moytube cultures (human, mouse, EOM) Western blots, preparation of poly and monoclonal  Abs, protein purification.

Prof. Francesco Zorzato
Force measurements on fast and slow twitch muscles, Ca2+ imaging on single muscle fibers, single fiber dissection, SPARK analysis, electroporation. Western blots, preparation of Abs, protein purification.

Dr. Jochen Kinter
PostDoc
Experience in NGS, drug screenings, aptamers.

Dr. Lionel Tintignac
Senior scientist
Myogenesis, primary culture of muscle cells, NGS and Ribo-seq, proteomics and PTM. Proximity labeling.

Dr. Christian Klingler
PostDoc
Experience in NGS, drug screenings, aptamers.

Dr. Alexis Ruiz
PostDoc
Force measurements on fast and slow twitch muscles. Single fiber dissection and Ca2+ imaging on single muscle fibers. Confocal microscopy, Western blots, qPCR. In vivo assessment of mouse muscle force.

Sofia Benucci
PhD student
Force measurements on fast, slow twitch muscles and EOM muscles. Histology of muscle sections. Ca2+ imaging on single muscle fibers and single cells, qPCR, confocal microscopy, western blotting. In vivo assessment of mouse muscle force.

Yusuf Ertuna
PostDoc
Myogenesis, primary culture of muscle cells, proteomic and PTM. Proximity labeling.

Huiying Li
PhD student
FACS sorting, cytokine profiling, EBV cells, immunocharacterisation.

Wen Jin
MD, PhD student
Characterisation cell lines from patients carrying RyR1 mutations.

Kenshiro Kido
MD
Malignat Hyperthermia myotubes.

Iren Cerem
Master student
EBV cells characterisation.

Hervé Meier
Research Assistant (Master’s)
Western blots, qPCR, protein purification, cell and tissue culture, subcellular fractionation, calcium imaging and confocal 
Microscopy, pPCR and Western blotting.

Raphael Schmid
Master student
DUX4 Biogenesis, Ubiquitination, Protein Homeostatis.

Adeline Stiefvater
Research technician
Mouse muscle dissection, primary muscle cell and fiber culture, drug screening. EX vivo myotonia measurements.

Laboratory of Regulatory Evolution, DUW Zoology, University of Basel

Institute infrastructure and techniques
(I) single-cell genomics: in-house production and bioinformatics analyses of single-cell genomics data sets, namely 10x Genomics scRNA-seq, snRNA-seq and scATAC-seq, as well as SMART-seq2 scRNA-seq (II) lightsheet microscopy: whole-mount immunohistochemistry, lightsheet microscopy and image analysis (III) Axonal backfills: muscle-specific axonal backfills and single-cell motor neuron picking in developing chicken embryos.

Prof. Patrick Tschopp
PI
Developmental biology and evolutionary-comparative developmental biology, transcriptional regulation, functional genomics and single-cell functional genomics, experimental embryology.

Dr. Maëva Luxey
Senior Research Associate
Developmental neurobiology, primary cell culture, axon guidance, axonal backfilling, muscle microdissection, functional genomics and single cell functional genomics, lightsheet and confocal microscopy, experimental embryology.

Fabio Sacher
PhD student
Analysis of 10X and SMART-seq2 scRNA-seq data, DE testing, and data visualisation in R.

University of Geneva, School of medicine

Institute infrastructure
Microscopy, live-cell imaging, cell culture, fluorescent proteins.

Dr. Bernhard Wehrle-Haller
PD, PA
Dynamic regulation of cell-matrix adhesions, live cell imaging, cell culture, FRAP, microscopy, live imaging.

Jérémy Kessler
PostDoc
TGFbeta-structure and function
 

Inselspital Bern, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Institute infrastructure
Equipment for muscle and nerve excitability measurements, ENMG equipment, muscle MR imaging, histology.

Prof. Hugh Bostock
PhD, researcher
Musle and nerve excitability measurements.

Matthias Exl
PhD student
Muscle and nerve excitability measurements.