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Join us for the third edition of the Lemanic Life Sciences Hackathon!
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\r\nOrganized by EPFL School of Life Sciences, EPFL AI Center and the University of Bern, we aim to bring together clinicians, life scientists, and data scientists to test ideas, drive innovation, and tackle real-world challenges in healthcare and research.
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\r\nExplore the untapped potential of AI in life sciences and clinical research\r\n
The EPFL Latsis Symposium 2026: “Decoding the Cell: Modeling, Predicting, and Engineering Cellular States” will be held on October 29-30, 2026, at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
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\r\nThis international gathering will bring together leading scientists in single-cell analysis, computational modeling, and cellular engineering to explore how recent breakthroughs in multi-omics technologies, predictive algorithms, and synthetic biology are reshaping our understanding of cellular function.
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\r\nThrough interdisciplinary talks and discussions, the symposium will spotlight advances in single-cell multi-modal data integration, predictive modeling of cell identity and behavior, and the engineering of synthetic cell states. By connecting researchers across experimental and computational domains, the event aims to establish new conceptual and technological frameworks for modeling and controlling cellular systems.
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\r\nHosted by EPFL, the symposium will foster scientific exchange, spark new collaborations, and accelerate progress toward next-generation cell-based therapies, disease models, and synthetic biological innovations.
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\r\nJoin us in Lausanne to connect with the global community shaping the future of cell understanding and engineering.
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\r\nSPEAKERS:
\r\n• Gray Camp – Research Group Leader at the Roche Institute for Translational Bioengineering (ITB) in Basel
\r\n• Barbara Engelhardt – Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes & Professor, Department of Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University
\r\n• Jeremy Gunawardena – Professor, Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS), Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona
\r\n• Muzlifah Haniffa – Head of the Cellular Genomics Programme and Deputy Director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Professor of Clinical Dermatology at the University of Cambridge
\r\n• Anshul Kundaje – Associate Professor of Genetics and Computer Science at Stanford University
\r\n• Prisca Liberali – Professor at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETHZ & Senior Group Leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
\r\n• Ewa Paluch – Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience and Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge
\r\n• Steve Quake – Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics, Stanford University
\r\n• Sussane Rafelski – Sr. Director, Quantitative Biology at the Allen Institute for Cell Science
\r\n• Kevin Tsia – Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Program Director of the Biomedical Engineering Program at the University of Hong Kong
\r\n• Bo Wang – Chief AI Scientist, Vector Institute & Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
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\r\nGenerously supported by\r\n
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\r\nThe 2027 edition of the CROSS program calls upon researchers at EPFL and the University of Lausanne to submit proposals for joint projects that bring the natural sciences and engineering together with the social sciences and humanities.
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\r\nThrough this annual call for projects, CROSS provides competitive grants to support new seed research endeavors that have the potential to grow into full–scale interdisciplinary research projects.
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\r\nThe 2024 CROSS call is open to all topics.
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\r\nPROPOSALS:
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\r\nProposals must come from joint UNIL-EPFL teams, which bring together specialists in the human and social sciences on the one hand, with specialists from life sciences, natural sciences or engineering on the other. Up to six projects will be selected, with a maximum of CHF 60,000 awarded per project.\r\n
In this seminar, I will discuss our efforts to design conformationally constrained helical macrocyclic peptides and outline the principles that enable effective targeting of protein–protein interactions beyond classical stapled peptides. In the second part, I will show how a subtle isosteric backbone modification—thioamidation—can be used to impart oral bioavailability to bioactive macrocyclic peptides. I will further illustrate how conformational restriction enhances membrane permeability and highlight the critical role of metabolic stability in achieving oral bioavailability.
","image_description":"Prof. Jayanta Chatterjee","creation_date":"2026-03-30T19:14:23","last_modification_date":"2026-03-30T19:24:00","link_label":"Publications Prof. Jayanta Chatterjee","link_url":"https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=r0aQPNIAAAAJ&hl=en","canceled":"False","cancel_reason":"","place_and_room":"BCH 3118","url_place_and_room":"https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BCH%203118","url_online_room":"","spoken_languages":["https://memento.epfl.ch/api/v1/spoken_languages/2/?format=json"],"speaker":"Prof. Jayanta Chatterjee, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India","organizer":"C. Heinis","contact":"C. Heinis","is_internal":"False","theme":"","vulgarization":{"id":2,"fr_label":"Public averti","en_label":"Informed public"},"registration":{"id":3,"fr_label":"Entrée libre","en_label":"Free"},"keywords":"cbseminar","file":null,"icalendar_url":"https://memento.epfl.ch/event/export/120241/","category":{"id":1,"code":"CONF","fr_label":"Conférences - Séminaires","en_label":"Conferences - Seminars","activated":true},"academic_calendar_category":null,"domains":[],"mementos":["https://memento.epfl.ch/api/v1/mementos/9/?format=json","https://memento.epfl.ch/api/v1/mementos/5/?format=json","https://memento.epfl.ch/api/v1/mementos/14/?format=json"]},{"id":71426,"title":"7T MRI Seminar: Leveraging the potential of UHF scanners for fMRI studies","slug":"7t-mri-seminar-leveraging-the-potential-of-uhf-sca","event_url":"https://memento.epfl.ch/event/7t-mri-seminar-leveraging-the-potential-of-uhf-sca","visual_url":"https://memento.epfl.ch/image/32772/200x112.jpg","visual_large_url":"https://memento.epfl.ch/image/32772/720x405.jpg","visual_maxsize_url":"https://memento.epfl.ch/image/32772/max-size.jpg","lang":"en","start_date":"2026-04-21","end_date":"2026-04-21","start_time":"10:00:00","end_time":"11:30:00","description":"Hosted by Frédéric Grouiller, CIBM MRI HUG-UNIGE Section head, we are pleased to invite you to attend the CIBM 7T MRI Seminar on April 21st at 10:00 CEST by Caroline Le Ster from the CEA Neurospin, Paris who will be sharing on “Leveraging the potential of UHF scanners for fMRI studies”.
\r\nAbstract
\r\nThere is a growing availability of 7T scanners, with approximately 100 systems currently installed worldwide. These ultra-high-filed (UHF) scanners are particularly relevant for neuroimaging, where anatomical and functional images can be acquired with higher spatial and temporal resolution than on conventional scanners. However, UHF scanners remain difficult to operate, and understanding their specific limitations is essential. These systems indeed face several challenges arising from MR physics and biological effects that must be addressed within engineering constraints. Leverage the potential of UHF scanners, for instance through field monitoring, is therefore important to make the most of these scanners and benefit from the intrinsic SNR gain.
\r\nfMRI particularly benefits from the increase in magnetic field strength, enabling studies to be performed at higher resolution than at lower fields. In order to maintain reasonable acquisition times despite larger imaging matrices, several acceleration strategies have been developed, e.g. multi-slice EPI (SMS-EPI), three-dimensional EPI (3D-EPI) and non-Cartesian sampling schemes. In addition, functional contrasts also benefit from the field increase, including improved spatial localization of the BOLD contrast and the possibility to exploit VASO contrast.
For more than two decades leading professional organizations have called for a reform of the mathematics education of biology and life sciences students. Reflecting the growing importance of mathematics in life sciences research, such reform should bridge the gap between the mathematics students learn and the mathematics used in research.
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\r\nIn this talk, Steve Bennoun, UCLA, will present how the study of modeling and dynamical systems can be used to create a first-year course that introduces mathematical concepts used in life sciences research in a contextualized way.
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\r\nStudents first learn to write models for important biological systems such as hormone levels, epidemiological models, and predator-prey models.
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\r\nTaking a geometrical approach, students learn how to determine the long-term behaviors of models by studying phase plane trajectories and the stability of equilibrium points.
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\r\nThis enables the study of the concept of “biological switch” or how a cell can start or stop the production of a protein. This is followed by the important notion of qualitative change in a biological systems, or bifurcation.
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\r\nStudents learn in particular about Hopf bifurcations or how a system can start or stop oscillating. The second part of the course moves somewhat away from the geometrical approach and focuses on how to determine the stability of equilibrium points using the linearization of a model, motivating the study of the necessary notions from linear algebra by studying discrete-time models.
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\r\nThis talk will end with a discussion focusing on research by Sanders et al. (2021) suggesting that such a course supports students success and can reduce equity gaps.
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\r\nlunch&LEARN sessions are intended for anyone who teaches at EPFL.
\r\nThis session is hybrid and can be attended in person or followed via zoom.
\r\nMost sessions are recorded and can be found on the Center LEARN's YouTube channel.
\r\nTo get in touch with the team, to suggest a session, or to make inquiries, please send an email to lunchLEARN@groupes.epfl.ch