Two doctors to share professorship at newly created Research Center
The University Council has appointed Tobias Derfuss and Jens Kuhle as Professors of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis in the Faculty of Medicine. The professorship will be divided between the two doctors. Four professors have also been promoted.
11 February 2025
Professor Tobias Derfuss and Professor Jens Kuhle have been successfully working together at the University Hospital Basel (USB) for many years. The new and shared professorship will enable the two neurologists to optimally add to their complementary research areas in the field of neuroimmunology. The professorship is being created as part of the newly founded Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel RC2NB.
Research on the role of B cells and autoantibodies
Effective March 1, 2025, Professor Tobias Johannes Derfuss will become clinical professor of neuroimmunology at the USB, where he has been Deputy Head of Department for the Clinic of Neurology since January 2023. Prior to that, he was a senior physician at the same clinic from 2010 to 2022, where he headed the neurological polyclinic and led a research group for clinical neuroimmunology at the DBM. This was preceded by his time as an attending physician at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, where he also completed his habilitation.
He completed his medical studies at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and obtained a doctorate in clinical and molecular virology. His postgraduate training has included research stays at the Max Planck Institutes of Neurobiology and Psychiatry as well as extensive clinical continuing education in neurology, neurosurgery and neuroimmunology at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.
His academic focus lies on investigating the cellular and humoral immune response in neuroimmunological diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system and muscles. One particular focus is on B cell immunology and the characterization of autoantibodies. His research has brought about significant advances in the clinical and molecular understanding of neuroimmunological interactions. Together with Professor Jens Kuhle, he received the Swiss MS Society’s Research Prize for his research and was appointed an honorary member of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).
Research on blood-based biomarkers
Professor Jens Kuhle will become Clinical Professor of Neuroimmunology at the University Hospital Basel on March 1, 2025. He is currently Head of the Multiple Sclerosis Center and the Neuroimmunology unit at USB. He is also Research Group Leader for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Deputy CEO of the RC2NB.
He studied medicine and obtained his doctorate at the University of Tübingen, and completed his specialist training in neurology at the University Hospital Basel. In 2014, he completed his habilitation with a thesis on the prognosis of multiple sclerosis and quantification of neuroaxonal damage. He went on to obtain a PhD in neuroimmunology from Queen Mary University London in 2014. Since 2018, he has been a senior physician and member of clinic management for neurology at USB.
His research focuses on the development and validation of biomarkers for the quantification of disease activity and progression in multiple sclerosis and other neuroimmunological diseases, a field in which he is considered a world-leading researcher. As Principal Investigator of the Swiss MS Cohort Study (SMSC), he researches disease progressions and therapeutic strategies. He leads numerous clinical trials on innovative treatment approaches and is a member of international steering committees for studies dealing with MS therapeutic agents and registries.
Four promotions
The University Council has also announced four promotions that will take effect from the 2025 spring semester.
Professor Jennifer Keiser is being promoted to full professor in the Faculty of Science. Jennifer Keiser has been associate professor of neglected tropical diseases at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) since 2017. Her research focuses on infections caused by parasitic worms, along with the development of new and use of well-known medications to combat them.
Professor Yvonne Willi is also being promoted to full professor in the Faculty of Science. She has been associate professor of botany in the Department of Environmental Sciences since 2015. Professor Willi and her group at the department have developed a research profile in the field of evolutionary genetics and environmental change.
Also within the Faculty of Science, Professor Aurelien Lucchi is being promoted to associate professor. He was appointed tenure track assistant professor of data analytics systems in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science in 2022. Professor Lucchi is particularly interested in innovative optimization techniques with the potential to expand and deepen our understanding of artificial neural architectures and learning models.
In the Faculty of Psychology, Professor Rui Mata is being promoted to full professor. Rui Mata has been a tenure track assistant professor in Basel since 2014 and associate professor of cognitive and decision sciences since 2018. As part of his research, he investigates how adults of all ages make decisions.
