Success Stories

Throughout his career, he wanted to understand how the brain controls behavior, in particular social encounters. Many animals live in groups and tirelessly coordinate movement with conspecifics in swarms, flocks, herds and shoals. Johannes joined the CIG earlier this year as a tenure track assistant professor to study the neuronal and genetic underpinnings of such affiliative behaviors. He uses the transparent zebrafish as a model system to understand how social interactions emerge from neural computations in the brains of individual animals. In this new SNSF project “Neurogenetics of Social Affiliation”, Johannes and his group will investigate the brain areas, cell types and activity patterns that control coordinated swimming in groups of fish (shoaling). For this they will trick individual fish into virtual interactions with computer generated avatars and record live brain activity, to name just a few of the exciting techniques used in the lab. By studying animals that were bred over many generations for having extreme behaviors, how genetic differences affect neuronal circuits to make some animals more social than others. For my PhD and PostDoc I have worked in labs and institutes with a strong focus on neuroscience. Starting my lab at the center for integrative genomics of UNIL allows me to integrate my previous work with the exceptional experience in genomic and molecular analyses at this institute. I still can’t believe I was given this opportunity in a place as stunningly beautiful as the Dorigny Campus.

Originally from the UK, [they] hold a Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh and have accumulated extensive experience, including many months living on or next to glaciers. In the summer, [they] will transition from the University of Fribourg to UNIL as part of [their] SNF Starting Grant project, FlowState: melting, hydrology and ice flow at high elevations of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Recently, the Greenland Ice Sheet has been losing more ice annually than all the ice in the Swiss Alps combined. The primary objective of Andrew Tedstone new project is to determine whether this increased melting can drain to the ice sheet bed through ice more than a kilometre deep. If this meltwater does reach the bed, the research aims to uncover whether it influences the speed at which the ice slides downhill. A unique aspect of this research involves enduring harsh weather conditions each spring to collect critical field data, which are essential for interpreting satellite observations and improving models of ice sheet behaviour. UNIL and IDYST are an excellent fit for Andrew Tedstone’s research. In particular, IDYST offers significant expertise relevant to the project, including conducting complex field campaigns in remote areas, analyzing large volumes of geographical data, and developing numerical models of earth systems.

Throughout her career, she has been deeply fascinated by the interplay between diet, infection, the microbiome, and nutrition—particularly undernutrition—both from clinical and fundamental perspectives. Outside of her scientific endeavors, Pascale is an avid traveler and mountaineer, although these activities have become more challenging since the arrival of her young daughter. The work of Pascale’s group focuses on microbiota imbalances that underlie various forms of malnutrition and their association with diet-related non-communicable diseases. Her goal is to enhance the understanding of these complex syndromes and to develop evidence-based diagnostic tools, prevention strategies, and treatments to improve the health of children in the world's most impoverished regions. To achieve this, her group combines experimental research with clinical studies, primarily in low- and middle-income countries. Notably, Pascale and her team can be found conducting molecular experiments in the lab, performing computational analyses, or collecting samples in distant locations such as Laos or Ethiopia. This diversity, along with the intercultural and interdisciplinary nature of their work, is something Pascale values highly and sees as essential for tackling the complexity of nutritional disorders and the microbiome. UNIL, particularly the Department of Fundamental Microbiology (DMF) and the NCCR Microbiomes, provides an outstanding environment for Pascale’s research. The diverse expertise of other research groups, the open and dynamic culture of discussions at the DMF and within the NCCR, and the excellent technical platforms at UNIL create a uniquely supportive setting for her group’s work. Additionally, Pascale notes that her lab offers one of the most spectacular views, especially for those who love mountains.

Eduardo's interest in developing medical technologies that interact intelligently with the nervous system, particularly neuroprosthetic treatments to restore motor control after neurological disorders, has shaped his career. His experiences in this field revealed the immense potential of neuromodulation therapies that move beyond traditional ‘static’ approaches. Instead, these therapies adapt to the capabilities of underlying neural circuits in real-time to alleviate motor impairments. This conviction has driven his research direction ever since. During his PhD, Eduardo applied these concepts to spinal cord stimulation for restoring walking after spinal cord injury. Subsequently, he sought to improve deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapies for Parkinson’s disease. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford University and later as an Ambizione Fellow at CHUV, he focused on designing closed-loop protocols to address gait and balance deficits—critical challenges for patients for which therapeutic options are limited. On a personal level, Eduardo enjoys running, hiking, playing tennis, and generally engaging in activities that involve social interaction. Neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and other parkinsonian syndromes induce severe locomotor deficits that restrict mobility. These issues include gait abnormalities, postural instability, freezing of gait, and orthostatic incapacity, leaving many patients wheelchair- or bed-bound. Pharmacological and surgical treatments like DBS often fail to fully address these problems. These mobility deficits typically result from disrupted communication between the brain and circuits in the low-thoracic and lumbar spinal cord, which control trunk and leg motor functions as well as blood pressure regulation. Spinal cord stimulation can selectively target these circuits to modulate motor and hemodynamic functions, compensating for the disrupted communication and restoring mobility. Eduardo’s research explores the hypothesis that combining brain and spinal cord stimulation therapies in a closed-loop system can address the spectrum of mobility problems associated with typical and atypical parkinsonian disorders. His research group leverages the latest implantable neurotechnologies for DBS, which enable the chronic and real-time recording of brain activity. By decoding neural signatures underlying mobility impairments, these technologies guide smart, adaptive stimulation protocols to prevent such impairments. This research requires close collaboration across disciplines, combining technological innovation (to monitor, decode, and modulate neural and motor dysfunction in real time) with clinically relevant experimental protocols to uncover underlying mechanisms. Eduardo ensures active collaboration between engineers, medical doctors, therapists, and industrial partners. The Department of Clinical Neurosciences and the NeuroRestore research center at UNIL provide the ideal framework for his work. These institutions offer unique technological, neurosurgical, and neurological expertise, enabling the development of therapies that can significantly improve patients’ everyday lives.

Paula loves traveling and discovering new places and cultures. She has a strong connection to nature and enjoys hiking with her family and friends as well as playing with her son. She is an animal lover who spends time with her cats and finds relaxation in reading books or watching good movies. Additionally, she is passionate about Pilates, which helps her disconnect and focus on her body and well-being. Paula’s research uses electrons to create images that reveal the inner architecture of bacterial cells as they exist in nature. This innovative approach allows for imaging entire cells at the molecular scale in native conditions—a new research and technological angle she brings to UNIL. Her work focuses on understanding bacterial growth, division, and virulence factors, with the ultimate aim of discovering how to halt bacterial proliferation to combat infections, a critical goal given the increasing rates of antibiotic resistance. Her research combines cutting-edge imaging technologies with bacterial cellular biology, making it a perfect fit for the new Dubochet Center for Imaging for cryo-electron microscopy. This center, a collaborative effort between UNIL and EPFL, provides outstanding infrastructure for her work. Moreover, UNIL’s Department of Fundamental Microbiology (DMF) is part of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) AntiResist, which aims to understand how bacteria evade antibiotic treatment—an area closely aligned with her research interests. Thanks to UNIL’s unique resources, including the state-of-the-art imaging facilities at the Sorge Campus, and the expertise of colleagues specializing in bacterial molecular and cellular biology, Paula is well-positioned to develop a robust scientific program for her independent research group. She also aspires to serve as a female role model in STEM, inspiring future generations of scientists.

Born in Milan, he spent the first twenty years of his life there before moving to Geneva in his early twenties. In Geneva, he earned a Master’s degree in Socioeconomics from the University of Geneva before beginning a joint PhD in Economic and Social History in Geneva and Uppsala, Sweden. Since completing his PhD, he has worked or conducted research in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan, and Mexico. In 2019, he was awarded an SNSF Ambizione Grant and joined the Graduate Institute in Geneva, where he stayed until December 2023. Subsequently, he became a Lecturer in 20th Century Latin American History at the University of Manchester. Most recently, he received an SNSF Starting Grant, which will begin in September 2024 at the Institut d’études politiques at UNIL. In his spare time, Carlo enjoys spending time in nature with his family and is currently teaching his three-year-old son to ski. Carlo’s new project examines a pivotal period in Latin America’s history—the neoliberal turn of the 1980s. After nearly half a century of inward-looking development and protectionism, Latin American countries underwent a decade of liberalizations, deregulations, and privatizations, driven by pressure from international creditors such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The region experienced significant socio-economic upheaval following the sovereign debt crisis of 1982–83. To secure financial support from Western creditors, most countries adopted structural reforms. While these reforms have been studied by economists, sociologists, and political scientists, there is a lack of historical accounts of the period. Carlo’s project will address this gap by combining recently disclosed archival sources from Europe, the United States, Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil with computational text analysis techniques. His aim is to investigate how neoliberal reforms were developed, implemented, and contested, culminating in the first historical account of this transformative decade. In the context of contemporary political developments, such as Argentina’s president Javier Milei’s embrace of neoliberal policies, this research is especially timely as it traces the Latin American origins of neoliberalism. Carlo and his team will be based at the Institut d’études politiques at UNIL. The institute hosts an exceptional range of historians and social scientists working on topics closely related to his project. Carlo believes that UNIL provides an unparalleled environment in Switzerland for fostering academic synergies and is looking forward to joining the university in September.

Claudia has always been passionate about neuroscience and fascinated by how millions of neurons interact to produce complex behaviors and consciousness. Even seemingly simple behaviors, such as basic motor functions, remain not fully understood. Her research adopts a molecular systems neurobiology approach to uncover the critical roles of different types of spinal cord neurons in motor function, as well as the changes these neuronal circuits undergo in neurological disorders such as spasticity. Spasticity, a condition that causes involuntary and painful muscle spasms, often occurs after spinal cord injuries or strokes and affects over 12 million people worldwide. Currently, no effective treatments exist for this condition. Claudia’s goal is to understand the mechanisms underlying spasticity in the spinal cord to develop novel treatments. She is excited to join the Department of Fundamental Neurosciences (DNF) at UNIL, which is known for its diverse research programs at the forefront of neuroscience. Additionally, she is eager to build strong collaborations with clinical research groups at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), fostering a synergistic approach that bridges fundamental neuroscience with clinical applications. Claudia looks forward to contributing to the dynamic environment at UNIL and CHUV, sharing her research tools and expertise, and establishing her laboratory at the DNF. This vibrant research community offers an excellent platform for advancing her work in neuroscience.

His main research interest lies in human perception, a fascination that began during his high school philosophy classes, where he was captivated by the enduring philosophical debates surrounding perception. This intellectual curiosity, combined with his passion for music and movies, led him to explore the neural correlates of music perception for his bachelor’s thesis and the mechanisms of audio-visual integration for his master’s thesis at the University of Florence, where he obtained his Master’s degree in 2009. In 2014, David earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive Sciences from the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences at the University of Trento under the supervision of Prof. Massimo Turatto. He then pursued his first postdoctoral position at the University of Verona in the lab of Prof. Leonardo Chelazzi. During this time, he refined his research focus and methodologies, examining how prior experiences and learning mechanisms influence perception and attention. In 2015, David moved to Switzerland to join the Perceptual Network Group of Prof. Gijs Plomp at the University of Fribourg. As part of an international Sinergia grant funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), this role deepened his appreciation for collaborative and multidisciplinary research. It also allowed him to expand his expertise in neuroimaging techniques through interactions with renowned research groups both within Switzerland and internationally, including labs at CHUV and UNIL. In 2019, David was awarded an SNSF Ambizione Grant, which enabled him to join the Laboratory of Psychophysics led by Prof. Michael Herzog at EPFL as an independent researcher. Concurrently, he began collaborating with the University of Iceland, serving as co-Principal Investigator on two grants with Prof. Árni Kristjánsson. This collaboration also gave him the unique experience of witnessing the northern lights over consecutive nights. In 2023, David was awarded an SNSF Starting Grant, which will allow him to establish his own laboratory as an SNSF Assistant Professor at CHUV/UNIL and The Sense Innovation Center. David’s research explores the extent to which human perception is shaped or even deceived by context. Contrary to the common belief that we perceive the world as it truly is, his work reveals that perception is far from a perfect snapshot; it resembles a painting where details are often lost or distorted. Using a multidisciplinary approach that combines human psychophysics with advanced imaging techniques like fMRI and EEG, David investigates two main research goals. First, he seeks to understand how contextual factors—such as prior experiences or the spatial arrangement of elements in a visual scene—influence perception and determine which details are prioritized for deeper processing. Second, he aims to unravel the relationship between perception, cognition, and the unique neural activity patterns that characterize individual brains. His long-term objectives include paving the way for clinical applications, particularly in conditions such as schizophrenia, where perceptual idiosyncrasies and abnormal neural patterns remain poorly understood. Having collaborated extensively with research groups at CHUV/UNIL, David values the multidisciplinary approach and research excellence of this environment. Joining UNIL’s vibrant community of experts in physiology, clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and imaging, as well as The Sense Innovation Center, provides an ideal platform to advance his research and establish new collaborations in sensory sciences and innovative research projects.