Honorary Lecture | Hilal Lashuel | Decoding Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Journey Through Complexity, Collaboration, and Reverse Engineering Disease Mechanisms
Event details
| Date | 12.09.2025 |
| Hour | 16:00 › 19:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Hilal Lashuel |
| Location | |
| Category | Inaugural lectures - Honorary Lecture |
| Event Language | English |
Program
16:00 Welcome and introduction | Andy Oates, Dean School of Life Sciences; Director Institute of Bioengineering
16:15 Lecture: Decoding Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Journey Through Complexity, Collaboration, and Reverse Engineering Disease Mechanisms | Hilal Lashuel
17:00 Ceremony
17:15 Aperitif in Hall SV
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are among the most devastating illnesses of our time. They affect millions of individuals and families around the world, yet we still lack effective ways to diagnose these conditions early or stop or slow their progression.
For the past 20 years, the Lashuel lab has been dedicated to understanding how these diseases develop at the molecular level and how we can develop better ways to diagnose and treat them. What began as a reductionist quest, driven by a fascination with the biophysics of protein misfolding and aggregation at the single-molecule level, evolved into exciting multidisciplinary collaborative efforts to deconstruct and reconstruct the biology and neuropathological complexity of neurodegenerative disorders. This transformation was shaped by three key forces: advances in imaging, microscopy, and mass spectrometry that revealed the structural and biochemical diversity of pathology in the brain; a deeper appreciation of clinical heterogeneity, gained through engagement with patients and their families; and access to groundbreaking technologies developed by colleagues at EPFL. Together, these elements reshaped our scientific approach.
In this lecture, I will reflect on how these factors have reshaped our scientific approach and enabled us to confront the complexity of neurodegenerative diseases and reverse engineer their mechanisms, from molecules to aggregates, and from models to human pathology. Together, these efforts are catalyzing a paradigm shift in how we understand, diagnose, and treat neurodegenerative diseases—one that embraces their biological and clinical diversity and opens the door to more effective therapies and diagnostics.
Free registration required by September 5, 2025.
16:00 Welcome and introduction | Andy Oates, Dean School of Life Sciences; Director Institute of Bioengineering
16:15 Lecture: Decoding Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Journey Through Complexity, Collaboration, and Reverse Engineering Disease Mechanisms | Hilal Lashuel
17:00 Ceremony
17:15 Aperitif in Hall SV
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are among the most devastating illnesses of our time. They affect millions of individuals and families around the world, yet we still lack effective ways to diagnose these conditions early or stop or slow their progression.
For the past 20 years, the Lashuel lab has been dedicated to understanding how these diseases develop at the molecular level and how we can develop better ways to diagnose and treat them. What began as a reductionist quest, driven by a fascination with the biophysics of protein misfolding and aggregation at the single-molecule level, evolved into exciting multidisciplinary collaborative efforts to deconstruct and reconstruct the biology and neuropathological complexity of neurodegenerative disorders. This transformation was shaped by three key forces: advances in imaging, microscopy, and mass spectrometry that revealed the structural and biochemical diversity of pathology in the brain; a deeper appreciation of clinical heterogeneity, gained through engagement with patients and their families; and access to groundbreaking technologies developed by colleagues at EPFL. Together, these elements reshaped our scientific approach.
In this lecture, I will reflect on how these factors have reshaped our scientific approach and enabled us to confront the complexity of neurodegenerative diseases and reverse engineer their mechanisms, from molecules to aggregates, and from models to human pathology. Together, these efforts are catalyzing a paradigm shift in how we understand, diagnose, and treat neurodegenerative diseases—one that embraces their biological and clinical diversity and opens the door to more effective therapies and diagnostics.
Free registration required by September 5, 2025.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Deanship School of Life Sciences
Institute of Bioengineering
Contact
- Manuelle Mary