Meet Carolina Nunes working on toxicology and brain models for the safety of patients
The Portuguese biologist gathered lab experiences in other European countries before she moved to Switzerland for a PhD studying the toxicology of brain models. During her postdoctoral research at the Bio Engineering lab of Andreas Hierlemann lab, she is part of a larger consortium to bring her findings closer to the patient. For the upcoming summer season, she will get a ‘Wickelfisch’ and practices dancing Forró for one of the many open-air dance floors in Basel.
What did you know about D-BSSE before you came here, and what was your motivation to come to ETH Zurich?
I’ve been working with human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) derives brain cultures for several years now. One of the best functional tests is to evaluate the electrical-activity changes through microelectrode array technology (MEA). Andreas Hierlemann’s group is known for working with and developing this technology, so I had already been exposed to some of the work developed here and at the spin-offs originating from the Hierlemann lab. The moment I received the advertised postdoc position (sent to me by different people), I thought it would be a nice experience to work in an engineering lab, even more since it is developing such important tools for phenotype evaluations of neuronal cells. Besides that, I was aware of the close proximity of the department to the pharmaceutical industry and translational biology, which I consider a great chance to increase my network and have access to new collaborations.
What were your expectations and were your expectations met since you arrived in Basel?
I arrived in Switzerland in 2017 to do my PhD at University of Lausanne. This means that I am far ahead of the initial shock and meanwhile have adapted to the new country and system. The biggest challenge is the language since I don’t know any German or Swiss German. I have already started German courses with the language center, so fingers crossed that this will help me to integrate faster into the Basel life! I appreciate the fact that D-BSSE and Basel share the characteristics of being quite international, that there are systems in place to help people that do not speak German, and that you can interact with many, many different nationalities which increases the cultural diversity.
“I appreciate the fact that D-BSSE and Basel share the characteristics of being quite international, that there are systems in place to help people that do not speak German, and that you can interact with many, many different nationalities which increases the cultural diversity.”Carolina Nunes, Bio Engineering Lab, D-BSSE, ETH Zurich
What were your first impressions…?
In the past, I always worked in rather small and not very culturally diverse departments and laboratories. It was very interesting to see how such big laboratories and departments can be managed. The fact that there are people from many different places, with different backgrounds, working together and spending time together is a very nice side of working at the D-BSSE. I am learning a lot, not just about my project and the work developed in the lab and in the department, but also about other cultures, ways of seeing life and working.
Which research will you pursue at D-BSSE?
I will be working at the interface of biology and engineering. I am involved in an InnoSuisse project that is a joint effort of our laboratory with knowledge in MEA analysis and neural differentiation of hiPSCs an SME that is developing high throughput microelectrode array technology and a big pharma company that adds broad knowledge in the targeted diseases, models and techniques and is instrumental in translating this work to help more patients and their families. We will be working on the development and characterization of hiPSC-based models of human neurodevelopmental disorders within the autism syndrome spectrum.
Which hobby or private interests do you hope to pursue in Switzerland?
As a person from the south of Europe, I prefer water in the liquid form rather that in the snow form. That said, nevertheless I would love to improve my winter sports skills, however I need to keep my expectations realistic. I’m very curious about the swimming and floating activities in the Rhine River during summertime. I will get a “Wickelfisch” bag and be ready for the summer!
Besides that I enjoy dancing Forró (a dance originated in the Northeastern Region of Brazil) and I already joined the very active community of dancers here in Basel. In summer, they also take advantage of the riverside places, and it will be super nice to be dancing outdoors.
Finally, every time I moved to another country I was able to learn the local language. This was made easy by the fact that I was always living in places that speak Latin-derived languages. Let’s see if, in one go, I can add not only one (German) but even two (Swiss-German) more languages to my portfolio!
Many thanks, Carolina, welcome to the D-BSSE and all the very best to you and your research!
Having left Portugal in 2016 with a Master’s degree in developmental and evolutionary biology and a couple of years of experience doing research in the hospital Instituto Português de Oncologia in Lisbon, Carolina moved to Madrid to learn Spanish while working in a start-up as a lab technician testing small new molecules against cancer and inflammatory diseases. With the change to Italy came also the change of field. For 5 months, Carolina was a EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) trainee at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Italy working with human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived brain models in toxicology. During the free time she lived the small Italian village life, ate amazing food and learned a bit of Italian (to find the restaurants and order the food). Then, during her first 5 years in Switzerland she proved to herself that she preferred summer and liquid water-related activities rather than frozen water (snow!)-related activities, learned French to express that preference and talk about how beautiful this country is while doing her PhD in neurotoxicology at the University of Lausanne. Since January 2023, Carolina is a postdoctoral researcher in the Bio Engineering Lab of Andreas Hierlemann.
Learn about the Bio Engineering Lab of Andreas Hierlemann.