Prof. Wilhelm Krek

Administrative Assistant

• Prisca Iseli

Laboratory of Cell Signalling and Disease Biology

Cells in multicellular organisms such as us constantly communicate with each other and the environment around them. This discourse is essential for normal organism function and depends on sophisticated signaling networks that link surveillance with response, and allows the cells to perform a multitude of tasks such as growing in response to hormonal and nutritional cues, responding to stress and maintaining energy homeostasis. The unifying theme of our research is to understand how mammals manage flow of information between and within their cells to control the functioning of its component organs and tissues and to decipher how abnormalities in information management cause disease. Within this context, our research program is aimed at:

• decrypting the metabolic and signaling aspects underpinning the development of cancer, heart disease and obesity
• laying the foundation for the development of individualized therapies based on a mechanistic understanding of information mismanagement in disease states

In our laboratory, we employ a broad range of modern genomics, proteomics, life-cell imaging technologies, perform RNAi screens, model disease states in the mouse and interact intensely with clinical scientists.