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SUMMARY:Inaugural Lectures SV - Markus Jeschek\, Yoon Kim
DTSTART:20261118T161500
DTEND:20261118T183000
DTSTAMP:20261001T160712Z
UID:c55e30dc8d43dd47a6cf624f982dd8295d46272826f8220f69096a94
CATEGORIES:Inaugural lectures - Honorary Lecture
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Markus Jeschek \nProf. Yoon Kim  \nDate: Wednesday Nov
 ember 18\, 2026\nProgram: \n\n	16:15 - 16:25 Introduction by the Dean and 
 ISIC Director\n	16:25 - 16:55 Prof. Markus Jeschek\n	17:00 - 17:05 Introd
 uction by IBI Director\n	18:05 - 18:35 Prof. Yoon Kim\n	17:40 - 17:45 Cl
 osure\n	17:45 Apéritif in SV Hall\n\nLocation: SV1717\nRegistration: Clic
 k here\n\n============================================\nProf. Markus Jesch
 ek\n\nFrom sequence to function and back – Data-driven engineering of sy
 nthetic microbes for sustainable biotechnology\n\nAbstract\nDue to their v
 ersatile metabolism\, microbes offer attractive solutions to critical prob
 lems of our time. They can grow on renewables or waste materials\, and are
  able to sustainably produce various industrial chemicals\, which are othe
 rwise derived petrochemically.\n\nIn our research\, we genetically enginee
 r microbes to render them fit for new industrial applications. This hinges
  critically on a central question: “How do we need to change the genetic
  makeup of microbes to achieve desired functional improvements?” To answ
 er this question\, we develop high-throughput technology to experimentally
  assess the effect of millions of mutations on key functional properties o
 f microbes. The resulting data is then mined using machine learning to mod
 el the relationship between genetic sequence and resulting biological func
 tion in a data-driven approach. The goal is to exploit the synergy between
  experiment and computer to enable the design of synthetic microbes with t
 ailored functions “á la carte”.\n\nAbout the speaker\nMarkus Jeschek 
 studied at TU Munich and received his PhD from ETH Zurich in 2016 under Sv
 en Panke. After a brief Postdoc\, he became Junior Group Leader at ETH Zur
 ich in 2017\, and was an SNSF-funded guest scientist at Northwestern Unive
 rsity\, USA in 2019 (with Michael C. Jewett). In 2022\, he was appointed W
 2-Professor of Synthetic Microbiology at the University of Regensburg\, Ge
 rmany. He joined EPFL as Lonza Chair of Sustainable Biosynthesis in 2025\,
  where he heads the Laboratory of Synthetic and Applied Microbiology (LSAM
 ). His work was awarded with different honors such as the ETH Medal (2016)
  and the Chorafas Award (2017) for outstanding doctoral theses\, and an ER
 C Starting Grant in 2023.\n\n============================================\
 nProf. Yoon Kim\n\nDecoding and Engineering Signaling Across Excitable Mem
 branes\n\nAbstract\nCell membranes are not passive barriers\; they are act
 ive signaling platforms that sense the environment and control how cells b
 ehave. My research investigates how membrane proteins convert physical and
  chemical cues into electrical and biochemical signals\, and how these pro
 cesses can be engineered to understand and treat disease. We study ion cha
 nnels and other membrane proteins that regulate cellular excitability\, me
 chanosensing\, and communication between cells. By combining structural bi
 ology\, protein engineering\, neuroscience\, and cancer biology\, we defin
 e the molecular principles that govern membrane signaling and use them to 
 build new tools for controlling cell activity. We are particularly interes
 ted in how these mechanisms shape interactions between neurons and cancer 
 cells. Ultimately\, this work aims to establish general rules for membrane
  signaling and translate them into new technologies and therapeutic strate
 gies.\n\nAbout the speaker\nDr. Yoon Seok Kim is an Assistant Professor of
  Bioengineering at EPFL\, where his laboratory investigates how membrane p
 roteins\, cellular mechanics\, and bioelectric signaling shape nervous-sys
 tem function and disease. His research has established structural principl
 es governing ion selectivity\, enabled molecular and optogenetic strategie
 s for controlling cellular activity\, and uncovered mechanotransduction pa
 thways through which neuronal signals promote glioma growth. He completed 
 his Ph.D. at Stanford University with Karl Deisseroth and Brian Kobilka\, 
 and his postdoctoral training with Michelle Monje\, developing a program s
 panning bioengineering\, neuroscience\, and cancer biology.\n 
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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