Category: BRCCH Board

Prof Andrea Schenker-Wicki has been President of the University of Basel since 2015. She has master’s degrees from both ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, a doctoral degree from the University of Freiburg and a habilitation from the University of St. Gallen. Most recently, from 2001 to 2015, she held a full professorship in business administration at the University of Zurich and acted as the director of its Executive MBA programme. In addition, she was Vice President for Law and Economics at the University of Zurich between 2012 and 2014.

Prof Schenker-Wicki has joined, among others, the Council of the Zürcher Fachhochschule (ZFH) and is also President of EUCOR (an alliance of five universities based in the Upper Rhine region). Furthermore, she was part of the Austria Science Board from 2010 to 2016, a member of the German Accreditation Council from 2009 to 2012, and a member (from 2007) and later (from 2008) the President of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (OAQ) to 2012. From 2012 to 2015, she was a member of the Swiss Science and Innovation Council, and in 2013, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna awarded her an honorary doctoral degree.

Prof Primo Schär is Dean of the Medical Faculty and a professor in the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel. He obtained his PhD from the University of Bern and did his postdoctoral work at both the University of Bern and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK). Prior to joining the University of Basel, Prof Schär was a research group leader at the Institute of Molecular Cancer Research at the University of Zürich.

Prof Schär’s group investigates biological processes that modulate genome plasticity; i.e., the stability of the genetic and epigenetic codes of cell identity. Their objective is to provide a thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved and the consequences of their dysfunction for cell fate, transformation and cancer.

Prof Daniel Müller is Professor of Biophysics and the current Head of the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) at ETH Zurich. He did his PhD in biophysics at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany and at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. His academic career has included positions at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the University of Technology in Dresden, Germany, where he also co-established the research centres for Biotechnology (BIOTEC) and Molecular Bioengineering (BCUBE). In 2010, Prof Müller joined ETH Zurich, and in 2014, together with Wolfgang Meier (University of Basel), he launched and became the co-director of the Swiss National Competence Center of Research (NCCR) of Molecular Systems Engineering. Prof Müller was part of the team that co-created the concept and acquired funding for the BRCCH in 2018.

His research focuses on bionanotechnological tools for quantifying interactions and controlling biological processes. Currently, these tools allow the imaging of cells and cellular components at (sub-)nanometer resolution, the quantification, localization and manipulation of cellular interactions and the control of various cellular states.

Prof Urs Frey is the Medical Director and Chair of Paediatrics at University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB). He is also the Chairman of the National Steering Board for the Swiss Personalized Health Network. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Bern and a PhD in medical physics from the University of Leicester, UK, with subsequent specialisations in paediatrics and child and youth medicine and pulmonology. Most recently, before joining UKBB, Prof Frey was the Head of Department and Professor of Paediatric Pulmonology at the University Hospital of Bern.

His research interests include lung physiology, the epidemiology of lung growth and development, computational biology and mathematical modelling of complex diseases, with a particular focus on bronchial asthma and chronic lung disease of infancy, as well as other wheezing disorders in infants and preschool children.

Within the context of the BRCCH, Prof Frey sits on the BRCCH Board. He is also is a collaborator in the consortium "Alex".

Prof Laura Nyström is Professor of Food Biochemistry at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST), ETH Zurich. She completed her MSc and PhD studies in Food Sciences at the University of Helsinki in Finland in 2002-2008. She joined ETH Zurich as Assistant Professor of Food Biochemistry at D-HEST in 2009. She was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2016, and to Full Professor in 2022.

Prof Nyström’s research focuses on dietary fibres and associated phytochemicals in cereal grains and other plant-based materials. Her group investigates the chemical and biochemical reactions that may affect these compounds during processing and storage, as well as their effects on health. They also assess different cereals and side streams from food processing as raw materials for valorisation for added value products and develop approaches to improving the functionality, sustainability, and circularity of the products.