Cell Biology Seminar

Mondays - 11:15

Room C161, IZB, Baltzerstrasse 4, 3012 Bern

ICB Seminars Autumn Semester 2026
Date	Speaker	Affiliation	Talk Title
September 14, 2026	Prof. Dr. Michael Raissig (Invited by Dawid Warmus)	Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern	“Transcription factor control of stomatal morphodiversity in plants”
September 21, 2026	Prof. Dr. Claudia Keller Valsecchi (Invited by Prof. Dr. Peter Meister)	Biozentrum, University of Basel	"Mechanistic Diversity in Chromatin Regulation Across Evolution: Insights from Mosquitoes and Other Systems"
September 28, 2026	Prof. Dr. Gabriel Neurohr (Invited by Prof. Dr. Benjamin Towbin)	Institute of Biochemistry, ETH Zürich	"How Physical Cues Shape Cell Function in Homeostasis, Stress and Senescence"
October 5, 2026	Dr. Timothy Fuqua (Invited by Prof. Dr. Eva Glünz)	Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern	"How mutations create new evolutionary innovations: a systems approach"
October 12, 2026	Dr. Veikko Geyer (Invited by Prof. Dr. Eva Glünz)	Center for Molecular Bioengineering, Dresden University of Technology	"How molecular motors bend and twist the cilia of the green alga Chlamydomonas"
October 19, 2026	Prof. Dr. Alexis Jourdain (Invited by Prof. Dr. Torsten Ochsenreiter)	Department of Immunobiology, University of Lausanne	"Harnessing nutrients and auxotrophies to study mitochondria"
October 26, 2026	Prof. Dr. Jan Riemer (Invited by Prof. Dr. Torsten Ochsenreiter)	Institute of Biochemistry, University of Cologne	“Regulation of Proteome Plasticity”
October 30, 2026	Prof. Dr. Florenci Serras (Invited by Prof. Dr. Benjamin Towbin)	Development Biology and Genomics, University of Barcelona	"Timing Is Everything: Early Oxidative Stress Shapes Tissue Regeneration"
November 2, 2026	Dr. Clare Harding (Invited by Prof. Dr. Eva Glünz)	School of Infection and Immunity, University of Glasgow	"Heavy Metal Parasite: Use and abuse of metals by Toxoplasma gondii"
November 9, 2026	Dr. Natalie Wiedemar (Invited by Prof. Dr. Eva Glünz)	Insitute of Parasitology, University of Bern	"Characterization of Drug Resistance and Exploration of Novel Treatment Options for the Common Liver Fluke, Fasciola hepatica"
November 16, 2026	Prof. Dr. Ashley Vaughan (Invited by Prof. Dr. Volker Heussler)	Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute	"Using Plasmodium falciparum genetic crosses to understand malaria parasite fitness across the life cycle"
November 23, 2026	Prof. Dr. Simona Huwiler (Invited by Prof. Dr. Carmen Faso)	Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern	TBA
December 7, 2026	Prof. Dr. Sangwoo Kim (Invited by Dr. Maciej Dobrzynski)	EPFL	TBA
December 14, 2026	Prof. Dr. Alexander Eggel	Department for BioMedical Research, Inselspital, University of Bern	TBA

Monday, November 2nd, 2026 - 11:15 - Baltzerstrasse 4, Room C161

Dr. Clare Harding | School of Infection and Immunity |University of Glasgow | "Heavy Metal Parasite: Use and abuse of metals by Toxoplasma gondii"

Clara Harding's work has focussed on the cell biology of the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. During her postdoc, she investigated the molecular mechanisms of how the parasite builds and maintains its remarkable, teardrop-like shape, with a focus on the transmembrane proteins of the periphery of T. gondii. In her new group, her research will focus on how Toxoplasma acquires and uses iron from its host cells. Iron is an essential nutrient for almost all cell types, from bacteria to the cells that make up our bodies, however it can be difficult to acquire and is toxic in the wrong place. Toxoplasma is the ultimate generalist, it requires a host cell to replicate within, it can grow within any cell type from any warm blooded animal. This means during its lifecycle, the parasite must contend with both high and low iron concentrations and be able to rapidly adapt to its environment.

Monday, November 9th, 2026 - 11:15 - Baltzerstrasse 4, Room C161

Dr. Natalie Wiedemar | Institute of Parsitology | University of Bern | "Characterization of Drug Resistance and Exploration of Novel Treatment Options for the Common Liver Fluke, Fasciola hepatica"

The trematode parasite F. hepatica, also called the common liver fluke, infects the liver of humans and animals. It is distributed worldwide and is also common in ruminants in Switzerland (Frey et al., 2018), where it leads to losses in agricultural production. While human infections occur only sporadically in Europe, the parasite significantly affects certain population groups, mainly in the Global South, and is considered a neglected tropical disease. The common liver fluke undergoes a complex life cycle that involves lymnaeid snails as intermediate hosts and mammals as definitive hosts. Mammals become infected by ingesting the environmentally stable cyst form of the parasite (called metacercariae), usually through the consumption of contaminated plants; a typical example is wild watercress. Once ingested, the juvenile flukes (approximately 0.2 mm long) hatch in the small intestine and migrate to and through the liver. During the course of infection, the parasites grow (up to 3 cm) and settle in the bile ducts. There, they can survive for multiple years and reproduce sexually. The migration of the parasites through the liver leads to bleeding, liver tissue damage, and inflammation. During the advanced stage of the disease, the parasites can cause obstruction of the bile ducts.

Monday, November 16th, 2026 - 11:15 - Baltzerstrasse 4, Room C161

Photo of Professor Doctor Ashley Vaughan

Prof. Dr. Ashley Vaughan | Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute | "Using Plasmodium falciparum genetic crosses to understand malaria parasite fitness across the life cycle"

Ashley received his PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and studies the disease malaria, caused by Plasmodium parasites. Ashley and his team have shown the importance of the parasite’s fatty acid synthetic pathway for sporozoite and liver stage maturation. The team also researches how to elicit the most protective immune response after vaccination with genetically attenuated parasites. Ashley and his team have led significant advances in the use of human liver-chimeric mouse models for studying human malaria parasites. This includes complete liver stage development and the transition to blood stage malaria in the mouse for the human malarias Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. He has also used this mouse model for the creation of experimental Plasmodium falciparum genetic crosses, a significant advance that aids in our understanding of P. falciparum drug resistance and linking genotypes to phenotypes. More recently, Ashley and team have used the human liver-chimeric mouse model to study the formation of the P. vivax dormant liver stage hypnozoite as well as hypnozoite persistence and activation. Ashley continues to be fascinated by basic parasite pre-erythrocytic biology – the mosquito and liver stages of the life cycle and to this end the team also use rodent malaria models for parasite transgenesis to understand how the parasite interacts with its vector and host during sporozoite and liver stage development. Ashley collaborates with Drs. Kappe and Sather at the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research. Ashley also collaborates both nationally and internationally with malaria experts including Dr. Jetsumon Sattabongkot at Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, a leading expert in the field of P. vivax research.

Institute of Cell Biology

Cell Biology Seminar

Mondays - 11:15

Date

Speaker

Affiliation

Talk Title