Precision Medicine Research at Empa

25 June 2021, 14:00 - 17:30

online via Zoom

Novel materials can be beneficial for a plethora of health and health care innovations in and on the human body. We develop and carry out cutting-edge research on new materials and systems to protect and support the human body and its function under different environmental conditions and in different health states.

For this, we need to understand and steer materials-biology interactions on the level of biomolecules, bacteria, human cells and tissues from the nano- to the macroscale using state-of-the art and specifically designed analytical equipment. At Empa, we are capable of combining expertise of various imaging techniques, especially for the biomedical sector in collaboration with different Swiss hospitals.

Recent developments in imaging offer a new route to an improved diagnosis and a better analysis of a number of diseases. The global, longer-term vision of our research is to develop a holistic analysis workflow using such multi-level data integration for improved disease understanding in precision medicine. The major benefit of our multi-level data integration approach is a holistic understanding of diseases, which allows highly personalized treatments and follow-up procedures.

The Technology Briefing "Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT)" will help broaden the understanding of how we can improve collaboration with Swiss hospitals, through the support of the ETH Domain's Strategic Focus Area PHRT.

Program

14:00 Welcome and Introduction

Claudia Gonzalez, Empa Akademie

 

14:05 PHRT Personalized Health and Related Technology – A Program of the ETH-Domain.

Francois Curtin, Medical Director PHRT, ETH Zürich

 

14:45 Precision Medicine Research at Empa.

Alex Dommann, Head of Department «Materials meet Life»

 

15:10 Lab-on-Fiber: Fluorescence and Colorimetric Sensors for the Monitoring of Wounds and Other Diseases.

René Rossi, Head of Laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles

 

15:35 Assessing Bone Proteotype and Extracellular Matrix Properties for Improved Fracture Strength Prediction.

Johann Jakob Schwiedrzik, Group Leader Architectured Materials

 

16:00 Coffee break

 

16:30 A Mineralomics Approach to Personalized Medicine.
Elena Tsolaki, Postdoctoral Researcher at Empa

 

16:55 Multi-Modal, Multi-Scale X-Ray Analytical Imaging Methods to Enhance Precision Medicine.

Robert Zboray, Group Leader X-ray Imaging

 

17:20 Wrap-up, Closing

Alex Dommann, Head of Department «Materials meet Life»