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22/09/2026: Postdoc Appreciation Week: Nesli Sen
In the context of Postdoc Appreciation Week 2026, the Graduate Campus conducted interviews with postdocs from across a range of UNIGE faculties. This portrait series recounts some of their journeys, research and aspirations. Here the interview of Nesli Sen - Doctorat - UNIGE.
28/08/2026: All the best, Maria Tettamanti!
Maria obtained her BSc and MSc (2021) in Molecular Medicine at the Medical University of Innsbruck. While working on the sphingolipid synthesis pathway under the supervision of Oliver Schmidt and David Teis, she developed a strong interest in biological lipid membranes. This ultimately led to her joining Robbie Loewith’s and Aurelien Roux’s labs as a shared PhD student to try and solve some mysteries surrounding plasma membrane monitoring by TOR signalling.
Maria studied how the plasma membrane (PM) is sensed and kept in balance through signalling by TORC2. Using a combination of yeast genetics, molecular and chemical biology, and advanced light microscopy. She investigated how PM stress is sensed by TORC2, with a special focus on the eisosomal PM domain. This mechanosensitive fungal membrane compartment, through its functional connection to TORC2 regulation, may hold key insights into how TORC2 senses and responds to changes at the PM.
19/08/2026: All the best, Kerstin Hinterndorfer!
Kerstin obtained her BSc degree as a joint student at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz in Austria and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice in the Czech Republic in 2018. In the context of the NCCR Chemical Biology master’s program she studied both at the University of Geneva and EPFL Lausanne. For her master’s thesis she was working in the Lab of Paul Guichard and Virginie Hamel as well as in the Lab of Robbie Loewith at the University of Geneva. During this time, she adapted expansion microscopy for the application in S. cerevisiae (see Gallery). For her PhD she fully moved to the Loewith lab, to focus her work on TORC2 signaling and its interaction with the plasma membrane.
22/08/2026: Prof. Robbie Loewith has been officially appointed as a Fellow of Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)’s Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities program. Congrats!
06/07/2026: New preprint is out! "Atonosomes, compartments involved in membrane tension decrease"
Elda Bauda, Aleksandr Aleksandrov, Maria Tettamanti, Julia Coronas Serna, Alice Gros, Nesli Sen, Margot Riggi, Paraskevi Linardou, Caroline Gabus, Geraldine Sylvano, Jean Daraspe, Sophie Martin, Omaya Dudin, Emmanuel Levy, Andreas Boland, Robbie Loewith
23/06/2026: We obtained an ERC Advanced Grant for the project: Sensory perception in BLAST fungus conidia by TOR!
12/06/2026: Congrats to Victor for his EMBO fellowship!
1/06/2026: Welcome on board Kentaro Sakata!
27/04/2026: Congrats to Nesli for Young Investigator Grant from Novartis Foundation for Medical-Biological Research for her project entitled “Mechanosensitive mTORC2 Signalling in Oligodendrocyte Differentiation” !
16/04/2026: New paper is out! "Structural basis for TORC2 activation"
Zou Louming, Tettamanti Maria, Gabus Caroline, Bergmann Ariane, Loewith Robbie, Tafur Lucas.
Mol Cell, 2026 Apr 1; 86 (8): 1560-1573.e5
27/03/2026: We obtained a SNSF grant for the project: Growth control by TOR signalling pathways!
25/03/2026: All the best, Atsuko Ikeda!
Atsuko obtained her B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Agriculture from Hiroshima University, Japan, where she specialized in lipid metabolism and yeast genetics with a particular focus on sphingolipid homeostasis.
In April 2024, she joined Prof. Robbie Loewith’s group at the University of Geneva as a postdoctoral researcher. Her project investigated non-vesicular ceramide transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and integrated yeast genetics, lipid biochemistry, and structural biology approaches, including single-particle cryo-EM, to elucidate how the ER protein Tricalbin contributes to lipid homeostasis. Her work has been supported by the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad.
12/02/2026: New paper is out! "Structure and function of the yeast amino acid-sensing SEAC–EGOC supercomplex"
Lucas Tafur, Lenny Bonadei, Yiqiang Zheng, Caroline Gabus & Robbie Loewith
15/01/2026: Happy retirement and thank you for everything, Caroline Gabus!
Caroline obtained her diploma as a medical technician in June 1982 from the École de laborantine de la Croix-Rouge suisse in Geneva. During her studies, she completed a practical course at the Département de Pathologie in the laboratory of Prof. Giulio Gabbiani, where she discovered the world of research laboratories.
Since then, she has never stopped doing academic research.
After receiving her diploma, she joined the Department of Virology in Science 2 (UNIGE) in Prof. Pierre-François Spahr's lab, where she was responsible for purifying the total genomic RNA of RSV (Rous Sarcoma Virus).
In 1985, she moved to Toulouse with Prof. Jean-Luc Darlix to establish a Laboratory of Retrovirology (LaboRetro – CRBGC – CNRS). In 1990, they moved to the École Normale Supérieure of Lyon to create a new human retrovirology laboratory, which included both P3 and P4 facilities. She studied the interactions between viral RNA and various chaperone proteins, such as the nucleocapsid protein of HIV (NCp7).
In 2009, she returned to Science 3 (UNIGE) in Dr. Stéphane Thore’s lab, and in 2015 she joined Prof. Florian Steiner's lab. Since 2020, she has been working in Prof. Robbie Loewith's lab, where she has specialized in the purification of recombinant proteins.
Now she will have more time to fully dedicate herself to what she loves outside the lab: ski touring, hiking, wine tasting, and sewing.
5/01/2026: Welcome on board Samia Barriot!
9/12/2025: Alumni of Distinction Award to Prof. Robbie Loewith from University of Calgary, Canada. In recognition of outstanding contibutions to research. Congrats!
Maria G Tettamanti, Paulina Nowak, Beata Kusmider, Jennifer M Kefauver, Vincent Mercier , Aurélien Roux , Robbie Loewith
PMID: 41233618, DOI: 10.1038/s44318-025-00618-7
3/11/2025: Welcome on board Victor Sanchez de Medina!
10/10/2025: Congrats to Dr. Jelena Gajic for her thesis defense!
Jelena completed her PhD in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Geneva, co-supervised by Prof. Robbie Loewith and Prof. Nicolas Winssinger (Department of Organic Chemistry). Her doctoral research focused on identifying selective modulators of the mTORC2 pathway that spare mTORC1, integrating small-molecule synthesis, biochemistry, cell biology, and chemical biology approaches.
1/10/2025: Welcome on board Ming-Han Fang!
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