Fiona Doetsch newly elected EMBO member
Professor Fiona Doetsch from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel has been elected as a new member of the prestigious European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). With this life-long EMBO membership, the neuroscientist and stem cell biologist joins a group of more than 1,800 of the best researchers in Life Sciences in Europe and around the world.
07 July 2020
On Tuesday, July 7, the EMBO announced the election of Professor Fiona Doetsch, research group leader at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, as a new member. This year, 63 scientists from 25 different countries, including three from Switzerland, have been selected to join the EMBO community, which now exceeds 1,800 members and associate members. With the election of Fiona Doetsch, 28 Biozentrum researchers have been recognized for their scientific achievements with an EMBO membership.
“The new members have contributed to the success of research in the life sciences in Europe and around the world,” says EMBO Director Maria Leptin. “As EMBO members they can help to shape the future through EMBO’s work to support talented researchers, bring ideas together, and promote an international research environment conducive to excellent science.”
Neural stem cell research
Fiona Doetsch joined the Biozentrum as professor of Molecular Stem Cell Biology in 2014. Her research aims to decode the diversity of stem cell populations in the adult brain and to elucidate how physiological conditions modulate the maturation and behavior of neural stem cells. These immature nerve cells have the unique ability to self-renew and to develop into the different cell types of the nervous system. In the adult brain, neural stem cells reside in specialized niches and continuously give rise to new neurons throughout life. Unraveling how various signals affect neural stem cell behavior provides new insights into brain repair and disease.
Fiona Doetsch is an internationally renowned expert in the field of neural stem cells. The Canadian-born scientist studied biochemistry, and history and philosophy of science at McGill University in Montreal and obtained her PhD in Neurobiology from the Rockefeller University in New York. Prior to her appointment to the Biozentrum, she was a junior fellow at the Harvard University Society of Fellows, and an assistant professor and then associate professor at Columbia University, USA.
EMBO: Life-long membership
The European research network EMBO was founded in 1964 with the goal of supporting and promoting biological sciences in Europe. Each year EMBO elects new members to its ranks, honoring their excellent achievements in science with the award of a life-long membership. The members actively participate in the execution of EMBO’s initiatives.
