July 2025
GRADUATION Congratulations to Babette on your outstanding achievements during your master’s thesis! Your presentation was absolutely first-class. We’re excited to continue working with you on your PhD project and look forward to what’s ahead.
|
|
AWARD Congratulations to Magda for being among the outstanding scientists elected to the EMBO Membership! This is a well-deserved recognition of the team's contributions.
June 2025
PRESENTATION & AWARD Big congratulations to Weijia! We're thrilled to share that our Weijia recently presented our latest single-cell proteomics data—developed in collaboration with the Functional Genomics Center Zurich—during her oral talk at the European Proteomics Association Conference, EuPA 2025. She was also selected as one of just 10 recipients of the EuPA Travel Grant this year—and the only one from Switzerland! On top of that, she took home 3rd place in the Proteomics Science Slam, earning an additional travel grant. Way to go, Weijia! We're so proud of you!
|
|
|
March 2025
PUBLICATION We are excited that our latest study is published in Neuron! We show that TDP-43 aggregation causes its loss of function. Our new cellular model of seeded TDP-43 aggregation uncovered novel pathological signatures and will enable us to screen for disease modifiers in the future.
|
|
AWARD We are thrilled to share that our collaborative project with the labs of Volker Haucke, Fang Fang, and Jeroen Pasterkamp has been selected by JPND allowing us to further advance our understanding of ALS and FTD.
January 2025
AWARD We are thrilled to receive support from the Frick Foundation to advance our research and deepen our understanding of ALS.
December 2024
PUBLICATION We are excited that our DQBM collaboration work with the Kümmerli Lab on antimicorobial research is published.
September 2024
AWARD We're excited that our project will be supported by SNF to identify modifiers of TDP-43 pathology.
July 2024
PUBLICATION Our collaborative work with the Aguzzi Lab on amyloidosis mechanism is published
AWARD We are very proud of Dr. Wiersma for receiving the prestigious Veni grant and for making the first step towards her independent research!
|
|
AWARD We are thrilled to share that Carlo Scialo has been awarded the prestigious Live Like Lou Foundation’s 2024 Postdoctoral Fellowship. Congratulations Carlo!
June 2024
AWARD We are proud to announce that Somanath Jagannath has received the highly competitive Postdoc grant from the University of Zurich! Congratulations Soma!
|
|
OUTREACH We are delighted to announce that Weijia has won first prize at the 1st Swiss-wide Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition held at UZH! This incredible achievement fills us with pride and excitement. Congratulations Weijia!
OUTREACH Our lab participated in Science and Nature Festival 2024 that took place on 6th June at Irchel Campus. We welcomed visitors to our lab and conducted a tour showcasing where exciting data is born. At our department's exhibition booth, we performed hands-on demonstrations of the phenomena we are studying. We are delighted that many of our visitors enjoyed the experiments, and we had a great time talking to science enthusiasts!
|
|
AWARD We are very proud to receive the Bronze level certificate from the LEAF Initiative in recognition of our lab’s sustainable and responsible practices!
|
|
SEMINAR We were delighted to host Dr. Laura Ranum (University of Florida, USA) for the NCCR RNA & Disease Seminar Series. Thank you for sharing the results of your inspiring cutting-edge research!
|
|
April 2024
GRADUATION Congratulations Julian on successfully defending your master's thesis! Your hard work, dedication, and perseverance have paid off. We are proud of you.
AWARD We are thrilled to share that our lab was selected as one of the eight inaugural recipients of the Tambourine ALS Breakthrough Research Fund, which supports cutting-edge basic and discovery-focused research that will change how we understand and treat ALS. Our work, in collaboration with Dr. Martin Muller (UZH), aims to resolve how TDP-43 pathology is linked to synaptic (dys)functions in ALS and FTD.
Thank you to Tambourine for this support.
Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4aY5tQ3
Thank you to Tambourine for this support.
Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4aY5tQ3
|
|
March 2024
GRADUATION Congratulations to Aurelie for your outstanding achievements and successfully defending your PhD thesis. You made us proud!
GRADUATION Congratulations to Elena for your huge accomplishment and successfully defending your PhD dissertation. We are proud of you!
SPOTLIGHT We are very excited that our recent publication in Nature was featured in the following media. Please check them out!
- Press release from UZH
- Discussed in the Stem Cell Podcast (from 23’ on)
- Press release from MaxWell Biosystems
- Article from AlzForum
February 2024
PUBLICATION We are so excited to share this work! We created iNets, a human neural system to study neurodegeneration and used it to discover NPTX2 pathology in ALS and FTD.
|
|
January 2024
GRADUATION Congratulations to Alexandra for her beautiful data & presentation and successfully defending her Master thesis. We are so proud of you.
December 2023
GRADUATION Congratulations to Victoria for her fantastic presentation and successful defense of her Master thesis. She made us proud!
November 2023
AWARD Congratulations to Vera for receiving the NCCR RNA & Disease Translational Fellowship! We are excited to work on the preclinical testing of our new therapeutic target for ALS/FTD!
|
|
October 2023
PUBLICATION Our collaborative work with the Borroni and Zanusso groups on RT-QuIC for TDP-43 in olfactory mucosa samples is published!
|
|
SEMINAR We were honored to host Dr. Don Cleaveland (UCSD, USA) for the NCCR RNA & Disease Seminar Series. Thank you for very inspiring talk. It was also a great occasion for reunion.
|
|
September 2023
OUTREACH Our science communication star did it again! Ruchi won the 3rd price (audience vote) at the Swiss Fame Lab Final in Bern!
|
|
August 2023
OUTREACH We are looking forward to participating at the Scientifica in September 2023! Join us for fun discussions, lab tours and lots more! Further information could be found here.
Date: 02.09.2023
Time: 12:00-18:00
Location: Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, UZH
Date: 02.09.2023
Time: 12:00-18:00
Location: Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, UZH
July 2023
PUBLICATION Our latest study published in the EMBO Journal shows that the loss of TDP-43 oligomerization and RNA binding promotes diverse TDP-43 pathologies and provides insight into the origins of heterogeneous pathologies occurring in human disease.
|
One more distinction for our Manuela Perez-Berlanga. She was a recipient of the Brain Diseases Award from the UZH Foundation! Congratulations!
|
|
June 2023
|
Congratulations to Manuela Perez-Berlanga for receiving a distinction from the Faculty of Sciences for her PhD Thesis!
|
|
Very proud of Laura De Vos for receiving the highly competitive CanDoc fellowship from the University of Zurich!
|
|
May 2023
|
|
Photo by Pascal Halder (www.naturphotos.ch)
December 2022
Our collaborative work with the Lagier-Tourenne lab and Neurimmune on anti-poly-GA immunotherapy is finally published!
|
|
November 2022
We are so proud of the amazing Dr. Manuela Perez-Berlanga for defending her PhD thesis with flying colors! And the T-Rexes were FlpIN!!
|
|
September 2022
|
Congratulations Dr. Pierre De Rossi for receiving the Stuart Berry ZNZ Poster Award!
|
|
We are grateful for the support of Target ALS and ADDF on our collaborative project with the University of Verona and Trieste International School for Advanced Studies. We will work towards the development of a diagnostic test for TDP-43 proteinopathies using nasal swabs.
|
|
June 2022
|
At her interview with the ZNZ Magda explained the focus and approach of our ERC project. Read it here.
|
|
We are participating at the Science And Nature Festival - June 11th at Irchel!
|
|
May 2022
|
Check out our new commentary on fantastic work on Tau phase separation by the Wegmann lab.
|
|
Congratulations to our Carlo Scialo for receiving the Silvia Zucchelli prize for the best PhD thesis from the International School for Advanced Studies! Well-deserved!
|
|
March 2022
|
We are an ERC-CoG recipient lab! Thrilled about this amazing opportunity to investigate physiopathological transitions of TDP-43. For more information see here: https://www.media.uzh.ch/en/Press-Releases/2022/ERC-Consolidator-Grants.html
|
December 2021
|
Our Sinergia application together with the labs of Ben Schuler, Fred Allain and Gunnar Jenschke was approved by the SNF.
In 2022 we will be able to actively continue our great collaboration with these groups! |
|
Dr. Vera Wiersma did it again! She was just awarded the prestigious Rubicon Research Grant from the Dutch Research Council for her project "Out of phase! Protein aggregation in ALS pathogenesis". Congratulations Dr. Wiersma. You make us proud!
|
|
November 2021
|
Ruchi, along with her team has been awarded the 2nd IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant for her podcast named "IndiaAsksWhy". IndiaBioscience is a Science outreach initiative primarily funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. In this podcast series, the two characters Utsuka & Jigyasa ask and answer common questions students may ask in day-to-day life. Scientists from varied fields also join to help them understand the answers.
|
|
Our new study just published in EMBO Reports shows that distinct TDP-43 pathologies can be reproduced in simple cellular systems.
We are very proud of Johanna Furrer for receiving the Semester Prize for her Master Thesis work in our lab. Congratulations Johanna!
|
|
Congratulations to Manuela Perez Berlanga for being selected to participate in the Global Young Scientists Summit 2022 out of 1700 candidates worldwide. What an exciting opportunity!
October 2021
|
Our new spotlight was just published in Neuron!
|
|
September 2021
Our lab has moved to UZI5!
August 2021
|
Our new collaborative work together with the labs of Adriano Aguzzi, Matthias Jucker and many others was just published in EMBO Molecular Medicine!
|
July 2021
Pierre and Julien will be swimming, biking and running at the Uster Triathlon on July 18th. They are fundraising for the Stiftung Synapsis Alzheimer Forschung Schweiz! Click here for more information and to support their cause.
|
|
June 2021
Meet Magda and the PolyLab in 60''.
May 2021
Our two papers on the role of synaptic FUS in ALS are out! Fantastic collaboration with the labs of Luc Dupuis, Sabine Liebscher and Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne. Read more about the work here.
January 2021
|
We are excited to work in collaboration with EPFL and SunRegen to test the efficacy of a small neuroprotective compound on ALS/FTD.
|
|
We are thrilled to initiate our first R21 grant, recently awarded by NINDS, aiming at testing an immunotherapy approach for ALS/FTD.
|
|
December 2020
|
We are so proud of our Pierre De Rossi for receiving the prestigious Career Development Award from the Synapsis foundation!
|
|
|
|
|
Congratulations to our Vera for receiving the highly competitive long-term postdoctoral fellowship from the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.
Well done Vera! |
October 2020
|
Our new review on the role of liquid-liquid phase separation in neurodegenerative diseases is out in Developmental Cell. A special treat to all Star Wars fans out there. May the force be with you.
|
|
|
The Polymenidou group receives competitive EU Consortium Grant.
Read the details on the DQBM News webpage. |
August 2020
July 2020
|
Celebrating Sonu's and Kathi's PhD defences!
|
May 2020
|
April 2020
Kathi successfully defended her PhD! Congratulations!
March 2020
Congratulations on successfully defending your PhD, Sonu!
December 2019
|
Happy Holidays from the PolyLab!
|
|
November 2019
|
Our SarkoSpin method was published in Bioprotocol.
|
October 2019
|
July 2019
|
Our lab just received an FTD Biomarker Initiative grant award from AFTD to develop biomarkers for FTD patients! |
June 2019
New review out on structural transition, function and dysfunction of TDP-43 in neurodegenerative diseases.
December 2018
|
New publication with our collaborators from ETH, Frederic Allain and colleagues, describing the structural properties of the RNA binding domains of FUS. |
|
|
Our manuscript on TDP-43 strains was just published in Nature Neuroscience along with an insightful news and views piece from Barbieri and Shorter. |
October 2018
|
Magda was named among the "45 below 45" most cited Greek scientists in an article published by a major Greek newspaper. |
|
August 2018
|
New study published with our collaborators Isabelle Mansuy, Ali Jawaid and colleagues showing defective miRNA biogenesis in ALS and FTD. |
|
Our new study on the dynamic translocation of FUS to the cytosol is highlighted at the HFSP website. |
|
July 2018
|
|
May 2018
|
Read Magda's latest Perspective on the role of RNA in the formation of phase separated granules.
|
April 2018
|
A new review on protein phase separation that Magda contributed to was just published at Trends in Cell Biology. |
|
May 2018
|
Great News! Our lab received a Therapeutic Idea Award from the US Department of Defense. We are excited to work with Dr. Lagier-Tourenne's lab from MGH on this collaborative project! |
October 2017
|
|
September 2017
|
The Motor Neurone Disease Australia highlights our study on TDP-43 oligomerization on their International research update! |
|
August 2017
|
The SNF funding for our lab was extended for another two years! |
|
Magda received an Investigator Initiated Award by the ALS Association! |
|
July 2017
|
June 2017
|
The Joining Forces Symposium focused on Protein Aggregation in Health and Disease that Magda co-organized together with colleagues at the ETH Zurich was a big success! We were all there and enjoyed two days of fascinating talks and intense discussions. |
|
January 2017
|
Our lab receives a Target ALS Consortium grant to test the efficacy of anti-DPR immunotherapy for C9 ALS. |
|
Our lab receives SNF Sinergia grant! We are excited to team up with the groups of Ben Schuler, Fred Allain, GunnarJeschke and Paolo Paganetti to study the role of disordered regions in RNA-binding proteins for function and pathology. |
|
September 2015
New open access review on the role of small RNAs in human disease with colleagues from the Clinical Research Priority Programs is published.
July 2015
|
|
New report supporting prion-like propagation events in ALS was just published from our collaborators at King’s college and UCSD. Read article here. |
June 2015
|
May 2015
|
Evi presents our research at the European ALS meeting in Dublin. |
April 2015
|
Congratulations to Magda! She received a Research Grant from the Research Talent Development Fund (FAN) of the University of Zurich. |
|
|
Magda receives the Georg-Friedrich-Götz Prize from the President of the University, Michael Hengartner. Read more on UZH News and on ZNZ Newsletter. |
March 2015
|
|
We are very excited that Magda will join the NCCR RNA & Disease as a Junior Principal Investigator! |
February 2015
|
January 2015
|
|
Congratulations to Marian! His project was funded by the Swiss Foundation for Research on Neuromuscular Disease! |
|
December 2014
|
|
The lab trains 2 students from the RNA block course. |
|
|
Magda goes to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to present our research at the international meeting on "Neurodegenerative Disease: Biology & Therapeutics". |
|
The Alzforum website highlights a new study on TDP-43 and asks Magda to comment on it. Read the story “TDP-43 Structure Reveals Two-Faced Amino End” here.
|
|
November 2014
|
October 2014
|
Watch Magda describe the mechanisms of ALS and FTD and our research at her Inaugural lecture at the University of Zurich. |
|
|
Congratulations to Evi for receiving a PhD Grant from the Neuroscience Center Zurich ZNZ. |
September 2014
|
Magda presents our research at the Annual Symposium of the Neuroscience Center Zurich ZNZ . |
|
|
The lab spends 2 days of interviewing RNA Biology PhD candidates. As a result Sonu Sahadevan Mala Kkoth will join the lab at the beginning of 2015. |
July 2014
|
Magda gives a 6hr lecture at the Neuroscience School of Advanced Studies on Protein Spreading in Neurodegenerative Diseases. |
|
June 2014
|
May 2014
|
Congratulations to Florent Laferriere and Zuzanna Maniecka for receiving a Forschungskredit from University of Zurich! |
|
March 2014
|
The lab starts with teaching and welcomes 2 master students for 2 weeks for the neuroscience block course BIO328. |
|
January 2014
|
Magda receives a second affiliation with the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich. |
December 2013
|
Magda presents at the Hellenic Society of Immunology as an invited speaker. |
|
September 2013
|
Magda starts working at the Institute of Molecular Life Sciences as SNFS Assistant Professor. |