Research Groups
There are currently over 30 research groups at the Dunn School, with leaders drawn from across the world. Their diverse interests, backgrounds and expertise creates a dynamic and stimulating environment. Many groups share common research interests which fosters the vibrant scientific community found at the Dunn School.
Molecular dissection of centrioles, centrosomes and cilia
Centrioles organise the assembly of two important cell organelles: centrosomes and the cilia; our goal is to understand how these organelles function at the molecular level.
The Roberts lab will be joining the Dunn School in April 2023.
Motor Proteins and Intracellular Organisation
We are investigating the mechanisms by which motor proteins generate movement and spatial organisation within living cells. We are also interested in how defects in these mechanisms cause human pathologies. To address these topics, our work...
Transcriptional regulators of mammalian development
Our research exploits mouse genetics to investigate the key signalling cues and transcriptional regulators governing cell fate decisions in the developing mammalian embryo. In particular, we have been studying the TGF family of secreted growth factors, including the ligand Nodal, and its downstream effector Smad2,...
Flavivirus biogenesis and their strategies for host immune evasion
Dengue and Zika represent two of the major mosquito-borne flaviviruses that collectively have huge health implications worldwide. Dengue infects approximately 400 million people annually, often causing severe pathologies such as vascular endothelial leakage. Zika too has emerged as a global threat with...
Advancing understanding of HIV pathogenesis and vaccine design
Our current research spans the fields of HIV-1 dissemination, HIV-1 antibody-based vaccine design, and the molecular basis of allergy. We use a multi-disciplinary approach, which includes immunology, virology, chemistry, and cell biology together with cutting-edge imaging techniques to address fundamental...
Molecular Mucosal Immunology
The Slack lab is currently located at ETH Zurich. A group will begin to operate at the Dunn School of Pathology from Spring 2023.
The mammalian large intestine contains one of the densest microbial consortia found anywhere on the planet. While some of these microbes are genuinely beneficial, synthesizing vitamin K or helping...
Poxvirus evasion of innate immunity
Poxviruses are large DNA viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm and encode many proteins that aid evasion of host innate immunity. The most infamous poxvirus is variola virus that caused smallpox, a disease declared eradicated in 1980 by the WHO following widespread vaccination with the related orthopoxvirus, vaccinia virus (VACV)....
Mechanisms and prevention of antibiotic resistance and tolerance
We study how bacteria respond to antibiotics over a range of scales, from single-molecules to infection epidemiology. Our ultimate goal is to develop better ways to treat bacterial infections and new strategies to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Bacterial pathogenesis: molecular mechanisms to prevention
Human bacterial pathogens are a specialized subset of the array microbes we encounter as part of our flora. The group seeks to understand the basis of how pathogens colonise specific niches in the body, evade elimination by the immune system, and cause disease. We study Neisseria spp., which are leading...
Molecular pathology of post-translational modification
The group is interested in the molecular mechanisms by which pathological perturbations in the post-translational modifications of proteins (including proteolytic maturation, oligomeric assembly, ubiquitination, phosphorylation and fatty acyl modification) can lead to severe human disease. Conditions resulting from...