Host labs - UNIL - MD-PhD Lausanne

UNIL - EPFL host labs for an MD-PhD thesis

Please find below a non-exhausive list of potential UNIL-EPFL Directors of thesis/host labs able to welcome you for an MD-PhD thesis. This list will be updated once a year.

You also have the opportunity to browse the following link to see the UNIL accredited Directors of thesis.

Don't hesitate to contact one or more of them and ask for an appointment to make up your mind!

A - D

Laboratories	Thesis Directors	Subject proposed
Anaesthesiology	Suter Marc	Studying the interaction between neurons and microglia/macrophage at the level of spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion in a model of neuropathic pain. Involves behavior, electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, optogenetic among other techniques.
Biomedical sciences	Amati Francesca	Translational research in aging and muscle metabolism: from subcellular organelle contacts to whole organisms.
Center for Integrative Genomics	Gatfield David	1. Targeting the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway as an anticancer strategy. 2. Regulation of the circadian clock through translational/RNA mechanisms. 3. Functions and mechanisms of the ribotoxic stress response under high-fat diet.
Center for Integrative Genomics	Larsch Johannes	Neuroscience of social behavior in zebrafish
Center for Integrative Genomics	Roignant Jean-Yves	Epitranscriptomics in brain function.
Clinical neuroscience	Crottaz-Herbette Sonia	Brain reorganization and cognitive functions recovery after stroke
Clinical neuroscience	Du Pasquier Renaud	Decoding the influence of EBV in the CNS autoreactive immune responses in multiple sclerosis using a human iPSC-derived neural model
Clinical neuroscience	Ryvlin Philippe	1. Clinical Investigation of SUDEP Biomarkers Using the EpiSave Smart Wearable Solution. 2. Leveraging Large Language Models for Enhanced Diagnosis of Neurological Disorders
Clinical neuroscience	Sokolov Arseny	Technology-assisted precision cognitive neurorehabilitation in acquired brain damage.

E - F

Laboratories	Thesis Directors	Subject proposed
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism	Pitteloud Nelly	Genetics of Inherited Neuroendocrine Reproductive Disorders.
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism	Sykiotis Gerasimos	Roles of cap'n'collar transcription factors in the thyroid gland
Environmental Health Unit/Unisanté	Berthet Aurélie	Research on environmental health and how pollutants may impact human health
EPFL-MICROBS	Sakar Selman	Development of miniaturized medical instruments and robotic microsurgery platforms.
Epidemiology and Health Systems/ Unisanté	Bochud Murielle	To explore dietary determinants of human health in selected age groups using existing Swiss surveys and cohorts.
Epidemiology and Health Systems/Unisanté	Peytremann Bridevaux Isabelle	Precise topic for PhD can be discussed and thought more in depht with the PhD candidate. Plenty of research questions possible within the domain of i) the healthcare workforce using the SCOHPICA data; ii) quality of care using patient reported outcomes and experiences data coming from the international OECD PaRIs survey (PAtient-reported Indicator survey) or the SCAPE-CH national survey (Swiss Cancer Patient Experiences), for example. This would be preceded by a literature review (to be published) and would be complemented by additional data to be collected.
Family Medicine	Müller Chabloz Yolanda	In Switzerland, 85% of antibiotics are prescribed on an outpatient basis. Optimizing the prescription of antibiotics helps prevent the development of antibiotic resistance. The antimicrobial stewardship group is interested in the best way to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics in ambulatory care. We carry out research aimed at better understanding antibiotic prescribing in Switzerland, evaluating the effectiveness of innovative interventions, and the implementation of evidence-based strategies.
Fundamental Microbiology	Vettiger Andrea	Establishing Fluorescent Lifetime Microspy as a Tool for Rapid Antibiotic Succeptibility Testing.
Fundamental Neuroscience	Neukomm Lukas	NAD+ metabolic control of axon- and neurodegeneration in the fruit fly Drosophila.
Fundamental Oncology	Ho Ping-Chih	Metabolic regulation in HCC progression

G - O

Laboratories	Thesis Directors	Subject proposed
Gastroenterology and Hepatology	Gouttenoire Jérôme	Molecular virology and pathogenesis of hepatitis C and E
Global and Environmental Health/ Unisanté	Berthet Aurélie	Exposition aux polluants environnementaux et effets sur la santé
Heart and Vessel	Rosenblatt-Velin Nathalie	The aim of the project is to determine the influence of immuno-inflammatory mechanisms in the development of thoracic aortic aneurysm and in the sex-related differences.
Immunology and Allergy	Muller Yannick	To be discussed.
Immunology and Allergy	Perez Laurent	Deciphering the Phylogeny of Autoreactive B Cells.
Infectious Diseases	Roger Thierry	Improving innate immune defenses through trained immunity
Information Systems / Neuroheuristic Research Laboratory	Villa Alessandro	Enhancing Cognitive Resilience (ENCORE): Neuroimaging Insights and Cognitive Training in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease.
Institute of Humanities in Medicine (IHM)	Jox Ralf	Hospital discharge letters from their birth to their transformation by artificial intelligence: a philosophical and bioethical analysis
Institute of Sport Sciences (ISSUL)	Place Nicolas	Skeletal muscle adaptations to exercise and diseases: a translational approach
Integrative and Complementary Medicine (CEMIC)	Berna Renella Chantal	Pain, the brain and the gut: microbiota in a complex chronic pain condition
Internal medicine	D'Amelio Patrizia	The present study will test the hypothesis that in malnourished patients hospitalized in a geriatric rehabilitation unit, a nutritional intervention combining BCAAs, PUFA, and selected micronutrients may improve the nutritional status and the clinical consequences of malnutrition, namely sarcopenia and impaired immune function through modulation of the mithocondrial bioenergetics, oxidative state, inflammaging and innate immune defense.
Internal medicine	Gamondi Claudia	Exploration of perceptions and attitudes of healthcare professionals towards the delivery of palliative care to patients with substance use disorders
Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DMPL)	Greub Gilbert	How chlamydia mature from Infectious Elementary bodies into dividing Reticulate bodies, and how interferon gamma, antibiotics and/or starvation may induce the formation of a persistant resistant enlarged bacteria called aberrant body.
Neonatology	Giannoni Eric	1. Neonatal immune responses to bacterial pathogens Neonatal sepsis 2. Accelerating detection of neonatal sepsis (ADONIS): a machine learning-based approach
Nephrology and Hypertension	Wuerzner Grégoire	Set up and analysis of 7Test functional MRI study in patients with Parkinson disease with or without orthostatic hypertension.
Neuroheuristic Research Group	Villa Alessandro	Mindscope: Bridging the gap between fast optical brain imaging and neuronal dynamics during decision making
Neurology	Kherif Ferath	- Cognitive and Medical Neuroscience with Neuroimaging Computational and Algorithmic human brain functions - Neuroplasticity and Brain Connectivity - Neuro-AI and brain algorithms
Neurology	Pot Caroline	Targeting gut microbiota-derived metabolites to dampen inflammation and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging	Schottelius Margret	Development and preclinical characterization of novel radiopharmaceuticals for molecular imaging and therapeutic targeting of the tumor microenvironment.
Occupational and Environmental Health	Hopf Nancy	Understanding the Link Between Occupational Exposures to Inhaled Genotoxic Agents and Aerodigestive Cancers
Oncology	Auner Holger	Understanding and targeting the proteome of acute leukemia and multiple myeloma
Oncology	Herrera Fernanda	New Radiation technologies and onco-immunology
Ophthalmology	Ionta Silvio	The neural/behavioral impact of sensory inputs on motor outputs

P - Z

Laboratories	Thesis Directors	Subject proposed
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology	Mühlethaler-Mottet Annick	Pediatric oncology: Elucidating the molecular mechanisms driving neuroblastoma tumorigenesis, phenotypic plasticity and drug resistance.
Plant Molecular Biology	Majda Mateusz	The role of endoreduplication in multiscale growth coordination in plants.
(Child and Adolescent) Psychiatry (SUPEA)	Schechter Daniel S.	Material early adversity, context encoding/memory impairment, and interactive behaviors with toddlers: Identifying neurobiological mechanisms linking these associations.
(Child and Adolescent) Psychiatry (SUPEA)	Urben Sébastien	Emotion regulation in child and adolescent psychopathology. Lifestyle psychiatry and child and adolescent mental health.
(Old Age) Psychiatry (SUPAA)	Pierre Vandel	- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of OCD; - Local field potentials (LFP) in deep brain stimulation (DBS).
Psychiatric Epidemiology and Psychopathology Center/ IRP	Preisig Martin	Defined in function of the candidate's interests either on the risk of children of parents with psychiatric disorders or links between psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular risk factors in general population
Radiology	Hagmann Patric	Brain connectivity analysis, neuroimaging
Radiology	Murray Micah	Multisensory processes across the human lifespan.
Radiology	Pascucci David	SNF Starting Grant 2023: The ebb and flow of human brain activity, cognition and performance.
Rheumathology	Nasi Sonia	New insights into molecular mechanisms and treatment options for microcrystalline arthropathies.
Swiss BioMotion Lab	Jolles-Haeberli Brigitte	Using Artificial Intelligence in rehabilitation for musculoskeletal disorders
Thoracic surgery	Perentes Jean Yannis	Understanding how the immunogenetic cell death caused by hyperthermic intrathoracic cisplatin chemotherapy improves the control of malignant pleural disease alone or with immunotheraphy.
Woman-mother-child (DFME)	Giannoni Eric	Host-pathogen interactions in Group B Streptococcal sepsis