Philippe Reymond, Associate Professor
After completing a PhD in 1989 on IAA and ABA phytohormones in maize at the University of Lausanne, Philippe joined the group of Winslow Briggs at the Carnegie Institution of Washington (Stanford University) where he studied blue light photoperception. In 1992, he returned to the University of Lausanne and joined the group of Ted Farmer to investigate signal transduction in plant defense. In 1997, Philippe spent several months in Stanford to learn the DNA microarray technology and introduced it at the University of Lausanne. Appointed MER (group leader) in 2002, he started his independent research on plant-insect interactions. In 2012, he received the title of privat-docent from the University of Lausanne. In 2014, Philippe was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.
Caroline Darimont, lab technician
Caroline was involved in the Arabidopsis CATMA project and amplified more than 25’000 GSTs by PCR for realization of a full-genome microarray. She is providing technical support for different research projects. She specifically studies signaling of insect egg perception in Arabidopsis and the role of Lectin-like Receptor Kinases.
Iga Tomczynska, postdoc (2022-)
Iga obtained her PhD in Fribourg in the group of Prof. Felix Mauch, working on effectors from Phytophtora infestans. She then took a postdoctoral position with Prof. Brett Tyler at Oregon State University in Corvallis where she studied the dynamics of Phytophtora effectors in planta. In our group, Iga works on the activity of receptor kinases after perception of egg-derived phosphatidylcholine and downstream responses in Arabidopsis.
Louis-Philippe Maier, postdoc (2022-)
Louis carried-out his PhD in Tuebingen in the group of Prof. Georg Felix, studying how secreted proteins from Arabidopsis act as decoys for pathogen proteases. He is currently searching for novel egg-associated patterns that trigger immune responses in Arabidopsis.
Angel Fernandez, PhD student (2020-)
Angel obtained a Master of science from the University of Fribourg, studying the interactions between Phytophthora effectors and their targets in planta. His PhD is a joint project between our group and the group of Prof. Matthias Erb at the University of Bern. The aim is the identification of inhibitors of direct and indirect defenses in insects oral secretions, using Arabidopis and maize as model plant species.
Maria Mineiro, PhD student (2020-)
Maria obtained a Master of science from the University of Clermont-Ferrand, where she worked on crop protection. Her PhD project centers on the role of Glutamate-Like Receptors (GLRs) and calcium influx in insect egg-induced necrosis in Arabidopsis.
Marion Brechet, PhD student (2021-)
Marion studied Biology at the University of Lausanne. She did a Master project in the group of Sebastian Soyk, investigating the natural variation in bZIP transcription factor genes and their contribution to tomato domestication. Her PhD project is on how insect egg-derived phospholipids reach cell-surface receptor kinases and whether they are metabolized.
Léonie Mottet, Master student (2022-2023)
Léonie studied Biology at the University of Lausanne. For her Master, she studied the role of egg-derived phospholipids on defense responses in Arabidopsis. She is now research assistant.