April 18, 2024
Roxana Manaila (lab of Prof. Huwiler / Prof. von Gunten) received the prize for the best poster presentation given by the Swiss Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology (SSPT) at the Spring Meeting 2024 (Bern, April 18, 2024).
February 15, 2024
Giselle Hevia Hernandez (lab of Prof. Stephan von Gunten) received a prize for the best poster (category Experimental Pharmacology), given by the Swiss Society of Experimental Pharmacology (SSEP), at the LS2 Annual Meeting 2024 (Lausanne, February 15, 2024).
November 8, 2023
Lukas Mürner (lab of Prof. Stephan von Gunten) received a poster presentation award by the Society for Glycobiology (SfG) at the 2023 SfG Annual Meeting (Big island of Hawaii, HI, USA, November 5-8, 2023).
April 20, 2023
Dr. Redona Hafizi (lab of Prof. Andrea Huwiler) received at the SSPT Spring Meeting The Bürgi Prize 2023 for the best original publication addressing a problem in the fields of Experimental or Clinical Pharmacology: Sphingosine kinases 1 and 2 differentially regulate erythropoietin synthesis in mouse renal interstitial fibroblast-like cells. (Bern, April 20, 2023).
February 17, 2023
Marjolaine Hugonnet (lab of Prof. Stephan von Gunten) received a prize for the best poster (category Pharmacology), given by the Swiss Society of Experimental Pharmacology (SSEP), at the LS2 Annual Meeting 2023 (Zurich, February 17, 2023).
September 11, 2022
Bisera Stepanovska-Tanturovska (lab of Prof. Andrea Huwiler) received a poster presentation award and Roxana Manaila (lab of Prof. Andrea Huwiler) received an oral presentation award at the 14th Meeting of the Sphingolipid Club (Pozzilli, Italy, September 7-11, 2022).
June 10, 2022
Timothée Louis Fettrelet (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon & Porf. Shida Yousefi) received a Faculty Prize from the University of Lausanne for the master project "Single-Cell Characterization of Eosinophils".
April 28, 2022
Dr. Darko Stojkov (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received a prize for excellent poster presentation, given by the Swiss Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology (SSPT), at the SSPT Spring Meeting 2022 (Bern, April 28, 2022)
April 21, 2022
Chiara Pozzato (lab of Prof. Georgia Konstantinidou) received a prize for best presentation, given by the Swiss Society of Experimental Pharmacology (SSEP), at the LS2 Annual Meeting 2022 (Zurich, April 21, 2022)
Juli 13, 2021
Bisera Stepanovska-Tanturovska (lab of Prof. Andrea Huwiler) received a short talk award at the Lysophospholipid and related Mediators Converence at FASEB-Meeting (Zoom, July 13 -15, 2021)
June 18, 2021
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon received Doctor Honoris Causa for his outstanding achievements in the fields of Pharmacology and Immunology and establishing successful scientific collaboration all over the world, South Ural State Medical University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation (June 18, 2021)
April 15, 2021
Kim Klapan (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received a prize for an excellent poster presentation at the SSPT Spring Meeting (Bern, April 15, 2021)
Oktober 1, 2020
Der PHOENIX Pharmazie Wissenschaftspreis 2020 geht an Professor Hans-Uwe Simon und sein Team.
August, 2019
Professor Andrea Huwiler received the "British Pharmacology Society Award" at the FASEB Conference on Lysophospholipids (Lisbon, Portugal, 2019)
June 26, 2019
Darko Stojkov and Poorya Amini (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received the Bern Immunology Club (BIC) Prize «Best paper 2018» for the following paper " Neutrophil extracellular trap formation requires OPA1-dependent glycolytic ATP production" (Bern, June 26, 2019)
April 11, 2019
Darko Stojkov (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received a prize for best young investigator presentation at the SSPT Spring Meeting (Bern, April 11, 2019)
November 2, 2018
Quentin Haas (lab of Prof. Stephan von Gunten) received a Prize for the best Poster at the Immunotherapy Meeting 2018 (La Havana,Cuba, November 2, 2018)
June 27, 2018
Darko Stojkov (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received the Bern Immunology Club (BIC) Prize «Best paper 2017» for the following paper "ROS and glutathionylation balance cytoskeletal dynamics in neutrophil extracellular trap formation" (Bern, June 27, 2018).
April 19, 2018
Quentin Haas (lab of Prof. Stephan von Gunten) received the "Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research Prize" for the best oral presentation on occasion of the SSPT Spring meeting 2018 (Bern, April 19, 2018).
February 12-13, 2018
Quentin Haas (lab of Prof. Stephan von Gunten) received a Prize for the best poster, given by the Swiss Society of Experimental Pharmacology (SSEP) 2018 (Lausanne, Feb 12-13, 2018) for his Poster entitled "Glycan-Checkpoint Inhibition unleashing CD8+ T cells against Cancer".
April 20, 2017
Bisera Stepanovska (lab of Prof. Huwiler) received a "Novartis Institute for Biomedical research certificate" for an excellent poster presentation on occasion of the SSPT Spring Meeting 2017 (Bern, April 20st, 2017).
Sep 9, 2016
Simone Wicki (lab of Prof. Dr. Kaufmann) received one of two “FEBS Journal Poster Awards" on occasion of the 9th Swiss Apoptosis Meeting (Bern, Sep 8-9 2016) for her poster entitled ‘Loss of XIAP facilitates switch to TNFa-induced necroptosis in mouse neutrophils’.
April 28-29, 2016
Fabiola Schorer-Cortinas (lab of Prof. Dr. Stephan von Gunten) received a "Best Poster Award" on occasion of the Swiss Society for Allergology and Immunology (SSAI) Meeting 2016 (Montreux, April 28th-29th).
April 21, 2016
Fabiola Schorer-Cortinas (lab of Prof. Dr. Stephan von Gunten) received the "Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research Prize 2016" for Best Oral Talk on occasion of the SSPT Spring Meeting 2016 (Bern, April 21st, 2016).
March 2, 2016
Der Schweizerische Nationalfonds vergibt dieses Jahr 40 Förderungsprofessuren an ausgezeichnete Nachwuchsforscherinnen und -forscher. 13 davon gehen an die Universität Bern – so viele wie noch nie zuvor. Erstmals liegt der Anteil geförderter Wissenschaftlerinnen zudem über 50 Prozent.
Kurze Beschriebe der Projekte der Förderungsprofessorinnen und -professoren finden Sie auf folgenderWebsite: www.medienmitteilungen.unibe.ch
Es freut uns, dass unser Institut eine dieser renommierten Förderungsprofessuren unterstützen darf: Frau Prof. Georgia Konstantinidou wird ab Sommer 2016 ihr Projekt Exploring requirements for the maintenance of oncogenic KRAS-induced lung and pancreatic tumors bei uns umsetzen. Wir freuen uns auf die Zusammenarbeit.
January 2016
PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten wird per 1.2.2016 der Titel eines assoziierten Professors verliehen. Wir gratulieren Herrn Dr. von Gunten zu dieser Anerkennung!
Seine Antrittsvorlesung findet am 11. März 2016 um 16:00 Uhr im Seminarraum des Instituts für Pharmakologie, Inselspital INO F703 statt.
December 17, 2015
Fabiola Schorer-Cortinas (lab of PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten) received a "Best Poster Award" on occasion of the 1st Type 2 Immunity Meeting (Bern, December 16, 2015).
September 17, 2015
Die Medizinische Fakultät der Universität Bern hat am 16.9.2015 Herrn Prof. Dr. med. Hans-Uwe Simon zu ihrem neuen Dekan gewählt. Herr Prof. Simon wird das Amt am 1.8.2016 antreten und bis 31.7.2020 begleiten. Gleichzeitig nimmt er in diesem Zeitraum die Aufgaben des Direktors des Instituts für Pharmakologie wahr.
July 9, 2015
Christoph Schneider (lab of PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten) gives an interview on occasion of the ceremony for his EACPT-EPHAR Young Investigator Award in Madrid, Spain.
http://eacpt.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/2015-eacpt-scientific-award-and-joint.html
Direct link to the video on the EACPT YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/vTCiUvyeZN4
June 24, 2015
Camilla Jandus and Kayluz Frias Boligan (lab of PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten) win the Berne Immunology Club (BIC) Award for the publication in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (2014) entitled "Interactions between Siglec-7/9 receptors and ligands influence NK cell-dependent tumor immunosurveillance".
June 11, 2015
Christoph Schneider (lab of PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten) wins the EPHAR / EACPT Joint Young Investigator Award in TRANSLATIONAL PHARMACOLOGY by The Federation of European Pharmacology Societies (EPHAR) and the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (EACPT) for work published in Science Translational Medicine, 7:269ra1, 2015. Awards ceremony takes place at The XII EACPT Congress, Madrid (Spain), June 30, 10:00.
http://eacpt.blogspot.ch/2015/06/announcement-of-first-joint-eacpt-ephar.html
April 23, 2015
Kayluz Frias Boligan (lab of PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten) received a "Best Poster Award" on occasion of the Swiss Society of Pharmacology (SSPT) 50yrs Anniversary Meeting.
April 22, 2015
The Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, moves to its new location at Inselspital, Floor F. The official celebration will take place at the Langhans Auditorium, Inselspital, on June 3, 15:00 - 19:00. Everybody is invited.
April 2, 2015
Research by Christoph Schneider et al. (lab of PD Dr. von Gunten; "The human IgG anti-carbohydrate repertoire exhibits a universal architecture and contains specificity for microbial attachment sites." Science Translational Medicine, 7:269ra1, 2015) is discussed in the April issue of the magazine The Scientist http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/42461/title/Getting-Your-Sugar-Fix/ and was selected as research highlight in Nature Immunology (2015) 16: 228.
February 26, 2015
Medienmitteilung der Universität Bern:
Allergiezellen: Aggressiv nach aussen, innen friedlich
http://www.medienmitteilungen.unibe.ch
January 7, 2015
Medienmitteilung der Universität Bern:
Analyse von Antikörpern zeigt: bessere Impfstoffe und Tumordiagnosen sind möglich
http://www.medienmitteilungen.unibe.ch
December 8, 2014
Dr. He Liu (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received the Dr. Lutz Zwillenberg price 2014 during the Dies academicus of the University of Bern (December 6, 2014). She received the price in recognition of her research work on pathogenic mechanisms contributing to melanoma tumorigenesis. More information can be obtained from the following website: http://www.diesacademicus.unibe.ch/content/ diesacademicus2014/preise/zwillenbergpreis/index_ger.html
September 15, 2014
Yuniel Fernandez-Marrero (lab of Prof. Thomas Kaufmann) and Dr. He Liu (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received poster prizes during the 8th Swiss Apoptosis Meeting (Bern, September 10-12, 2014). More than 70 posters were evaluated by an international jury headed by Prof. Boris Zhivotovsky (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm).
September 10, 2014
Dr. Elisabeth De Graauw (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received a poster prize during Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society of Dermatology and Venerology (Basel, September 4-6, 2014).
June 11 2014
Frau Dr. Susanne Radonjic-Hoesli, Institut für Pharmakologie der Universität Bern, wurde auf dem Jahreskongress der Europäischen Akademie für Allergie und Klinische Immunologie (EAACI; Kopenhagen, 7.-11. Juni 2014) für ihre Arbeit zur Regulation der Zytolyse eosinophiler Granulozyten mit einem EAACI-Preis für das beste Poster ausgezeichnet.
April 4 2014
PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten received a prize for best oral presentation at the 7th International Immunoglobulin Conference 2014, Interlaken (CH), April 4-5.
March 27 2014
The Scientific Exchange Programme between Switzerland and the New Member States of the EU (Sciex-NMSch) has granted a prestigious PostDoc fellowship to Dr. Erika Moravcikova from Charles University Prague (CZ). Dr. Moravcikova, working in the group of Dr. Evzen Krepela, will join the lab of Prof. Thomas Kaufmann at the Institute of Pharmacology for a period of 12 months to pursue a collaborative research effort on lung cancer.
Press release from crus.ch: http://www.crus.ch/sciex-news/news/close-up.html?L=2&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=772&cHash=5b8446b07b5422f00bcaa221912cc396
March 17 2014
New trinational research unit on apoptotic cell death
February 2014 saw the kick-off of a new trinational research unit "New insights into the BCL-2 family: from biophysics to Function", composed of 10 subprojects in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and including a project led by Prof Dr. Thomas Kaufmann, principal investigator at the Institute of Pharmacology. Funded initially for 3 years by the German Research Foundation, the Austrian Science Fund and the Swiss National Science Fondation, the research project focuses on the regulation of programmed cell death (apoptosis) by the BCL-2 family. More specifically, the unit will study how individual BCL-2 family members interact with each other during apoptotic cell death and what the implications might be for possible therapeutic treatments of cancer and autoimmune disorders.
Medienmitteilung der Universität Bern:
Trinationale Forschung unter einem D-A-CH: Innovativen Krebstherapien auf der Spur
March 10 2014
PD Dr. Thomas Kaufmann, Institute of Pharmacology, was appointed as Associated Professor of the University of Bern. The election of the Medical Faculty took place on February 19.
February 12, 2014
Dr. Elisabeth De Graauw (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) received a poster prize during the LS2 Annual Meeting (Lausanne, February 4-5, 2014). Dr. De Graauw is interested in cellular and molecular mechanisms leading to autoimmune skin diseases. The project is performed in collaboration with the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Bern, Inselspital.
September 11, 2013
Medienmitteilung der Universität Bern:
Krebstumore zur Selbstverdauung zwingen
http://www.medienmitteilungen.unibe.ch
August 15, 2013
Medienmitteilung der Universität Bern:
Verbesserte Wirksamkeit von Chemotherapie bei Krebs
http://www.medienmitteilungen.unibe.ch
July 17, 2013
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, was elected as President of the International Eosinophil Society (IES); http://www.eosinophil-society.org/.
June 18, 2013
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, was elected as a member of the the Scientific Executive Board of SystemsX.ch: The Swiss Initiative in Systems Biology (2013-2015).
May 29, 2013
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, was elected as a member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS).
Januar 31, 2013
PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten has been elected Secretary of the Swiss Society of Experimental Pharmacology (SSEP). For more information visit: http://www.swisspharmtox.ch/SSEP/index.html
November 30, 2012
Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon has been elected as Vice-Chair of the Immunopharmacology Section of The International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR). For more information please visit: http://www.iuphar.org/. Currently, he also serves as Vice-President of the International Eosinophil Society (IES); http://www.eosinophil-society.org/.
September 28, 2012
PD Dr. Stephan von Gunten together with Prof. Tchavdar Vassilev, Bulgarian Academy of Science received a Joint Research Project (JRP) grant in context of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Bulgarian-Swiss Research Programme (BSRP) and Swiss contribution to EU enlargement (http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/eur/vbgr/erwbgr.html). Thirteen of 47 submitted applications to the SNSF by 15 March 2012 were approved (success rate of the submitted projects was 27.6%).
August 31, 2012
Dr. He Liu (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) and Nohemy Echeverry (lab of Prof. Thomas Kaufmann) received poster prizes during the 7th Swiss Apoptosis Meeting (Bern, August 30-31, 2012). Dr. Liu was selected for the 1st and Nohemy Echeverry for the 3rd prize. Both projects focussed on research questions related to tumorigenesis and anticancer treatment.
August 14, 2012
Dr. Stephan von Gunten received the "Venia docendi" in the field of "Pharmacology". His inaugural lecture (Antrittsvorlesung) will be presented on October 2, 2012, 16:00 pm, in the lecture hall of the Institute of Pharmacology.
August 1, 2012
Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon has been appointed as Vice-Dean of Research of the Medical Faculty of University of Bern. It is planned that he serves in this position until July 2016.
April 19, 2012
Dr. He Liu (lab of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon) and Dr. Camilla Jandus-Marone (lab of Dr. Stephan von Gunten) received research prizes during the Spring Meeting 2012 of the Swiss Society of Pharmacology & Toxicology (SSPT). Dr. Liu was selected for the “Best Oral Presentation Award” and Dr. Jandus-Marone obtained one of the three distributed “Best Poster Awards”.
February 17, 2012
Fifty years ago, our institute moved in our current building at the Friedbühlstrasse 49 in Bern. Therefore, we are planning a little birthday, which includes a small symposium on May 8, 2012 (for more information: http://www.pki.unibe.ch/content/agenda/meetings/). The topic of the symposium is “Pharmacology in academia: Today and tomorrow”. Everybody is cordially invited and there is no registration required.
September 17, 2011
Nohemy Echeverry from the group of Prof T Kaufmann, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, received the Best Poster Award during the 19th ECDO Euroconference on Apoptosis (Sep 14-17, Stockholm, SWE). She presented the latest findings on tissue expression, subcellular localisation and molecular function of the cell death regulating protein Bok.
May 3, 2011
SNF-Prof. Thomas Kaufmann received the "Venia docendi" in the field of "Experimental Pharmacology". His inaugural lecture (Antrittsvorlesung) will be presented on October 4, 2011, 16:00 pm, in the lecture hall of the Institute of Pharmacology.
April 28, 2011
Dr. Nicola Andina (former PhD-student of the Institute of Pharmacology) received the Bürgi prize for his scientific contributions during his PhD study in Bern. He identified new molecules that regulate apoptosis in neutrophils and eosinophils under inflammatory conditions. The Bürgi prize is given biennially for excellent scientific work within the field of or related to Pharmacology that was generated by a PhD student in Switzerland.
January 22, 2011
Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon (Institute of Pharmacology) and Prof. Werner Strick (Clinic of Psychiatry, University of Bern) organize a meeting of the Swiss Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology (SSPT) on Psychopharmacology (Bern, Jan. 27, 2011). This meeting is part of a series called "Progress in Pharmacology" focusing each year on another topic of Pharmacology. For more information, please contact our website:
http://www.pharmacology.unibe.ch/SSPT2011
November 3, 2010
Forschungspreis 2010 der Universität Bern: Der mit CHF 30'000.– dotierte Forschungspreis geht dieses Jahr an Dr. Stephan von Gunten vom Institut für Pharmakologie. Er ist massgeblich an der Erforschung eines körpereigenen Regulationsmechanismus beteiligt, der die Aktivität des Immunsystems kontrolliert. Es handelt sich um regulatorische Rezeptoren an der Oberfläche von Abwehrzellen – die so genannten Siglec-Rezeptoren (sialic acid binding immunoglobulin-like lectins) –, die externe Signale ins Zellinnere leiten und so die Abwehrtätigkeit hemmen. Denn nicht immer ist die Reaktion des menschlichen Immunsystems angebracht. So kommt es bei allergischen und autoimmunen Erkrankungen zu einer schädlichen Überreaktion. Eine Stimulation der Rezeptoren könnte helfen, eine solche überschiessende Immunantwort zu verhindern. Neue Erkenntnisse aus der Forschungsgruppe von Stephan von Gunten deuten nun darauf hin, dass auch Tumore das natürliche Bremssystem der Siglec-Rezeptoren ausnutzen, um tumorspezifische Abwehrzellen aktiv zu hemmen. Von Guntens Ziel ist es, diese Interaktion zwischen Tumoren und Abwehrzellen sowie die natürlichen Kontrollmechanismen des menschlichen Abwehrsystems besser zu verstehen. Dies könnte zu neuen und schonenderen medikamentösen Strategien in der Verhütung und Behandlung von Tumoren führen.
October 4, 2010
Eosinophile Ösophagitis (EoE) ist eine erst seit wenigen Jahren bekannte, chronische Entzündung der Speiseröhre, welche zu erheblichen Schluckbeschwerden führt und zunehmend mehr Patienten befällt. Forscher des Instituts für Pharmakologie der Universität Bern unter der Leitung von Professor Hans-Uwe Simon haben, in Zusammenarbeit mit der Schweizerischen EoE Forschungsgruppe (Leiter: Professor Alex Straumann, Olten), in den letzten 10 Jahren wesentlich dazu beigetragen diese Krankheit besser zu verstehen und erste Therapieformen zu entwickeln. Die Forscher berichten nun erstmals über eine wirksame Therapie bei dieser Erkrankung. In einer von ihnen initiierten und durchgeführten, plazebo-kontrollierten, klinischen Studie beobachteten sie, dass die lokale Applikation von Budesonid, einem Medikament welches üblicherweise in der Behandlung von Asthma eingesetzt wird, sowohl die Beschwerden der Patienten als auch die zugrunde liegende Entzündung in der Speiseröhre signifikant verbesserte. Dabei wurden auch neue Biomarker entwickelt und getestet, die die Entzündung charakterisieren und deren Schweregrad anzeigen. Die Resultate stellen einen Meilenstein für die zukünftige Therapie dieser neu entdeckten Erkrankung dar. Weitere Studien müssen nun zeigen, wie die allergische Entzündung langfristig kontrolliert werden kann, da durch die Behandlung mit Budesonid die Erkrankung zwar kontrolliert werden kann, die Patienten aber nicht geheilt sind. Das Institut für Pharmakologie der Universität Bern ist gegenwärtig an der Entwicklung verschiedener Arzneimittel, die an Zellen oder Zellprodukten des Abwehrsystems angreifen, beteiligt.
Quelle: Gastroenterology 2010; doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2010.07.048
Movie: http://www.pharmacology.unibe.ch/Filme/GASTRO-D-10-00943R1_Simon.mov
September 20, 2010
Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon (Institute of Pharmacology) and Prof. Thomas Brunner (Institute of Pathology) organize a high-profile international meeting in the fields of Apoptosis and Autophagy (Bern, Sept. 30 - Oct. 1, 2010). The meeting is free of charge and accompanied by an International Training Course organized by Prof. Thomas Kaufmann (Institute of Pharmacology) and PD Dr. Nadia Corazza (Institute of Pathology). For more information, please contact our website: http://www.pharmacology.unibe.ch/SAM2010/
September 14, 2010
Today, a contract was signed, in which the Universities of Ljubljana and Bern agreed an exchange program for the academic years 2011-2014. Besides History of Art, Slavonic Language, and Political Sciences, this program (ERASMUS) newly contains the exchange of students and University teachers in the fields of Pharmacology and Pharmacy. Interested individuals may contact Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon.
August 27, 2010
Dr. Susanne Hösli received a stipend within a MD-PhD program, which was initiated by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMW) in 1992. This program is supposed to develop clinician-scientists able to perform translational research at a high level after returning back into the clinics. Dr. Hösli will start in the laboratory of Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon on October 1, 2010.
May 9, 2010
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, was elected as a member of the Council of the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum. The Collegium is an international group for the study of scientific and clinical problems in allergy and related branches of medicine and immunology (www.ciaweb.org).
January 27, 2010
Anita Daehler, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, received a prize of the Bern Immunology Club (BIC) for her long-term support in organizing the annual summer schools entitled “Immunology, Inflammation, Inspiration” that are offered to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows of the University of Bern and other Swiss universities. The summer school in 2010 will be in Kandersteg (August 8-10). More information about the upcoming school is available on our website.
January 26, 2010
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, was elected as a member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina). The Leopoldina is one of the oldest and most prestigious academies in the world.
October 1, 2009
Dr. Barbara Geering, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, received the L’Oréal fellowship “For Women in Science”. The fellowship supports a project that investigates molecular mechanisms that contribute to the removal of apoptotic neutrophils. For more information, please contact the following website: http://www.akademien-schweiz.ch/.
August 3, 2009
The Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, organizes its 8th International Summer School on August 9-11, 2009 in Bönigen (CH).
For more information: please consult our “Agenda”
July 22, 2009
Prof. Dr. Thomas Kaufmann and co-workers identified a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family (XIAP) as a molecular target that switches signalling pathways leading to apoptosis. Genetic or pharmacological inhibition of XIAP results in a more efficient cell death.* These data have obvious implications for anticancer therapy. Drugs targeting XIAP and/or other members of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family appear to be promising in this respect as they may allow efficient cancer cell killing. Prof. Kaufmann is a SNF professor and his laboratory is currently located at the Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern.
*Nature. Published online 22 July 2009; doi:10.1038/nature08229
February 13, 2009
Dr. Shida Yousefi, Institute of Pharmacology, was appointed as Associated Professor of the University of Bern. The election of the Medical Faculty took place on February 11. Shida Yousefi also recently received the "Berner Immunologie-Preis" for the best original publication in 2008 (S. Yousefi et al., Nature Medicine 2008). This price was founded by the Bern Immunology Club (BIC).
February 09, 2009
Dr. Sébastien Conus, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, received the Pfizer Research Prize in the field of Rheumatology and Immunology on February 05, 2009, at the ETH in Zurich. The Pfizer Research Prize represents a prestigious prize, which honours excellent research of young scientists. Dr. Conus received this prize for the discovery of a new signalling pathway leading to cell death of neutrophils. Pharmacologic inhibition of this death pathway results in accelerated and prolonged inflammatory responses.
January 14, 2009
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, was recently appointed in the Scientific Advisory Board of HELMHOLTZ Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ) in Leipzig (Germany) (http://www.ufz.de). Researchers of the UFZ are interested in the causes and consequences of changes of the environment. The UFZ is one of the 15 prestigious institutes of the HELMHOLTZ-GEMEINSCHAFT.
December 8, 2008
Work performed in the Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, was selected for a special report on 100 astonishing discoveries form the past year- the breakthroughs that are transforming our understanding of the world (S. Yousefi et al., Nature Medicine 2008). The 100 top science stories of 2008 have been published by the science magazine DISCOVER. Please read the story on the "DNA Catapult in Your Gut":
http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jan/082
November 10, 2008
Dr. Sébastien Conus, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, received the Ludwig Heilmeyer Medal in Silver from the German Society for Progress in Internal Medicine. The recognition occurred during the 30th Ludwig-Heilmeyer-Symposium, Cologne (D), November 6-8, 2008. Dr. Conus received this award for the identification of a novel death pathway operating in neutrophils.
September 12, 2008
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, was newly appointed in the Editorial and Advisory Board of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology. He currently serves in the Editorial Board of 12 international journals.
September 1, 2008
Dr. Barbara Geering, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, received the Novartis-Poster-Price (2nd prize) during the Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society of Experimental Pharmacology (SSEP, Zurich, August 29, 2008). She demonstrated an unexpected pro-apoptotic role of PI3K in TNF-alpha-mediated apoptosis in neutrophils.
August 20, 2008
Recently published work* performed in the Institute of Pharmacology of the University of Bern was highlighted in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (pdf). It was also reflected by multiple other media. For more information, please consult the following websites:
German:
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/artikel/964576&_z=798888
http://www.myscience.ch/news/dns-schleuder_toetet_bakterien
http://www.wissenschaft-aktuell.de/artikel/Immunzellen_schleudern_DNA_auf_Bakterien1771015585200.html
http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/medizin_gesundheit/dns_schleuder_toetet_bakterien_ab_115872.html
http://www.journalmed.de/newsview.php?id=22414
http://www.scienzz.de/ticker/art10102.html
http://www.juraforum.de/jura/news/news/p/4/id/251323/f/196/
http://www.analytik.de/meldungen/2117.html
http://www.vbio.de/informationen/alle_news/e17162?news_id=5685
http://g-o.de/wissen-aktuell-8662-2008-08-13.html
http://www.organische-chemie.ch/chemie/2008aug/dns.shtm
English:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uouh-wbc081308.php
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/35045/title/DNA_defense
http://louis8j8sheehan8esquire.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/catapults-louis-j-sheehan
http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=081308-1
http://www.kommunikation.unibe.ch/lenya/kommunikation/live/medien/mitteilungen/news/2008/eosinophile.html
French:
http://www.pourlascience.com/index.php?ids=kWneqwlLPKIALpGzaOeS&Menu=Pls&Action=3&idn3=6857
*Nature Medicine. Published online 10 August 2008; doi: 10.1038/nm. 1855
July 25, 2008
Recently published clinical studies performed in collaboration with the Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, were reflected in the newspaper "Der Bund" (issue of July 25, 2008). Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon organized and supervised a study, which was performed together with the Department of Dermatology, Inselspital, University of Bern. We reported in the J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. (121, 2008, 122-128) that patients benefit from B cell depletion using a monoclonal antibody directed against CD20 (rituximab; Roche). The group of Prof. Simon is involved in multiple clinical studies investigating the effect of biopharmaceuticals in patients suffering from hypereosinophilic syndromes, eosinophilic esophagitis, or atopic eczema.
July 15, 2008
On June 12, 2008, the board of the Swiss Cancer League elected Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, as a member of its Scientific Committee for the period June 1, 2008, to May 31, 2011. This election was confirmed in the board of OncoSuisse on June 20, 2008.
July 8, 2008
A new course in Biomedicine (B.Sc.) has been established at the University of Fribourg (CH). The Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, will provide teaching in General Pharmacology within this course.
June 15, 2008
The Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, organizes its 7th International Summer School on August 10-12, 2008 in Bönigen (CH).
For more information: please consult our “Agenda”
June 3, 2008
Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, organizes together with Prof. Dr. Thomas Brunner, Institute of Pathology, University of Bern) the 16th Euroconference on Apoptosis (Bern, September 6-9, 2008). The meeting is associated with a training course for young scientists interested in the field. For more information: http://www.ecdo.eu/bern/index.html
May 5, 2008
Prof. Dr. Thomas Kaufmann was newly recruited as a SNF professor. He started the new appointment at the Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, on May 1, 2008.
April 19, 2008
PD Dr. Shida Yousefi, Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, received the Prize for the Best Poster during the Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society of Allergology and Immunology (SSAI, Fribourg, April 17-18, 2008). She demonstrated that activated eosinophils release mitochondrial DNA, a mechanism, which contributes to anti-bacterial defence.
