Marek Basler newly elected EMBO member
Prof. Marek Basler of the Biozentrum, University of Basel, has been elected as a new member of the renowned European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). Basler is now one of a select group of more than 2,000 leading life scientists in Europe and beyond who have so far been honored by EMBO for their outstanding research achievements with this lifetime membership.
04 July 2023
On July 4, 2023, EMBO announced the newly elected members, including Prof. Marek Basler from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. Including Marek Basler, a total of 33 scientists have been recognized for their achievements with an EMBO Membership since the foundation of the Biozentrum. In total, 60 new EMBO members from 17 European countries, including 5 researchers from Switzerland, and 9 associate members were elected this year.
“These remarkable scientists have unravelled molecular secrets of life, deepened our understanding of health and disease, and are paving the way for further discoveries and innovations. Their achievements reinforce the critical role that life science research plays in the lives of citizens across Europe and the world”, says EMBO Director Fiona Watt. Marek Basler points out: “This membership is a great honor for me and represents a significant recognition of the collective efforts and dedication of everyone in my lab.” The new EMBO members will be formally welcomed at the Members’ Meeting in Heidelberg between 25 and 27 October 2023.
New EMBO member Marek Basler
Marek Basler was appointed Assistant Professor of Infection Biology at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, in 2013 and promoted to Associate Professor in 2018. He studied at the Institute of Microbiology in Prague and subsequently received his PhD. 2007 he started conducting research as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, Boston, for six years.
His scientific achievements have already been recognized with several awards such as the EMBO Gold Medal and the Friedrich Miescher Prize. In 2014, he received a "Starting Grant" from the Swiss National Science Foundation, the equivalent of the "ERC Starting Grant", as well as an "ERC Consolidator Grant" in 2019. Marek Basler is also part of the National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR) “AntiResist”.
Research on a bacterial nano-speargun
Marek Basler investigates tiny bacterial injection apparatus used by bacteria to inject a cocktail of toxins into other cells. The so-called Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) in nanoscale works like a speargun and is used by various bacteria including pathogens to inject deadly toxins into neighboring cells.
In recent years, Basler and his team have elucidated many important functions of this nano-speargun as well as its molecular structure. His work has been able to demonstrate the wide use of the nano-speargun in the microbial world and has advanced research in many areas of microbiology, such as disease development and composition of microbial communities.
European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
The European research network EMBO was founded in 1964 with the goal of furthering biological sciences in Europe. Each year, EMBO elects new members on the basis of their outstanding scientific achievements and supports the career of the researchers. Today, EMBO has more than 2000 members.
