Prof. Aleksandar Vještica
After undergraduate studies at University of Belgrade in Serbia, Aleksandar obtained a PhD from the National University of Singapore under mentorship of Snezhana Oliferenko. He then moved to Sophie Martin’s group where he discovered how fungal zygotes prevent re-fertilization. Currently he is an Assistant Professor at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and continues to study the mechanisms of zygotic specification and development.
✆ +41 21 692 41 40
@ Aleksandar.Vjestica[at]unil.ch
Current members
Dr Claudia Salat Canela
Clàudia obtained a bachelor diploma in Biotechnology at URV, Tarragona and a master’s degree in Biomedical Research from UPF, Barcelona. She joined Elena Hidalgo and José Ayté’s groups for her doctoral studies, where she focused on the role of MAP kinases in regulating transcription and cell polarity upon stress in fission yeast. Currently, as a post-doctoral researcher, she is interested in the molecular mechanisms driving zygotic fate in fission yeast, with a particular interest in RNA-binding proteins and membrane-less organelles.
✆ +41 21 692 41 41
@ claudia.salatcanela[at]unil.ch
Dr Celso Martins
Celso Martins received his bachelor and master degrees in Biology and Microbiology at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He then obtained a PhD in Cristina Silva Pereira’s lab at ITQB NOVA studying the impacts pollutants exert on fungal communities. Celso joined the lab to study how re‑fertilization blocks affect the adaptive fitness in fungi.
✆ +41 21 692 41 41
@ celso.martins[at]unil.ch
Ayokunle Araoyinbo
Following his B.Sc in Microbiology at Adekunle Ajasin University in Nigeria, Ayo obtained his Masters at Leeds Beckett University, UK. His initial work focused on functional and molecular characterisation of the adenosine nucleotide transporters in budding yeast. Ayo then became CBMnet fellow and worked on developing yeast strains to metabolise distillery waste. He joined the Vjestica’s group to study how molecular signaling drives zygotic specification in fission yeast.
✆ +41 21 692 41 41
@ ayokunleoluwaseun.araoyinbo[at]unil.ch
Anđela Brančić Tričković
Anđela Brančić Tričković received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Molecular Biology and Physiology at the University of Belgrade, Serbia. Her master thesis characterized prostate cancer cell lines through bioinformatics analysis of genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic data. Anđela joined the Vještica lab to study how fertilization triggers zygote-specific transcription.
✆ +41 21 692 41 41
@ andela.brancictrickovic[at]unil.ch
Associated staff
Arianna Ravera
Arianna is a data analyst who received her bachelor degree from Politecnico di Torino in Italy and a master degree from the joint program with Uppsala University, Sweden. After working as a consultant in industry, she joined the University of Lausanne as an Image Processing Engineer in 2022. In the Vještica lab, Arianna has been implementing machine learning tools to automate image analyses of fission yeast.
✆ +41 21 692 62 68
@ arianna.ravera[at]unil.ch
Dr Julien Dorier
Julien was trained as a physicist and obtained both MSc and PhD from EPFL in Switzerland. After joining the University of Lausanne, he worked on models for chromatin organization and gained skills in sequencing analyses. Julien works with the Vještica team to develop and automate machine learning tools for segmentation and tracking of fission yeast cells.
✆ +41 21 692 40 70
@ Julien.Dorier[at]unil.ch
Alumni
Valentin Zufferey
Valentin Zufferey received his bachelor and master degrees from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
In 2021, Valentin joined the Vještica lab to study the how fission yeast prevent consecutive fertilization events. A year later, Valentin moved on to apply his skills in image analysis at the Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV), Switzerland.
✆ +41 21 692 41 41
@ valentin.zufferey[at]unil.ch
Camille Schmidt
Camille Schmidt joined the lab as a master student at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
During her time in the lab, Camille developed a tool to inactivate a protein of interest specifically post-fertilization. She then moved to Jolanda van Leeuwen’s group at University of Lausanne.
✆ +41 21 692 41 41
@ camille.schmidt[at]unil.ch
