A portrait of Britta Engelhardt in the magazine of the University of Bern
Britta Engelhardt has been interviewed for the the magazine of the University of Bern "Uni aktuell". She talks about her research on MS, her engagements and career so far.
Research Prize of the Swiss MS Society for Prof. Britta Engelhardt
A particular highlight of this year's "MS State of the Art Symposium" was the presentation of the second research prize of the Swiss. MS Society. The award, endowed with 100,000 Swiss francs, honors personalities for outstanding contributions to MS research. The 2025 winner is Prof. Dr. Britta Engelhardt, Professor of Immunobiology and Director of the Theodor Kocher Institute at the University of Bern.
TKI Retreat 2024
We celebrated 20 years of research and teaching under the leadership of Britta Engelhardt at the TKI with a two days educational retreat in Eggiwil that also included introductions to Swiss traditions like making of “Züpfe”, Emmentaler Cheese and Alphörner.
Congratulations to Prof. Britta Engelhardt for the Keynote Lecturer Award
During the 5th Cutting Edge Pathology Congress taking place in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain from August 28-31, 2024 Britta Engelhardt received the Journal of Comparative Pathology Education Trust ESVP/ECVP KEYNOTE LECTURER AWARD.
Adrian has successfully defended his Phd thesis
On July 9th, 2024 Adrian Madarasz has successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Pathways and Dynamics of Erythrocyte Efflux in Murine Models of Hemorrhagic Stroke”.
The TKI congratulates him to this achievement!
Camillo Golgi Lecture
Britta Engelhardt was invited to give the prestigious «Camillo Golgi Lecture» at the 10th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Helsinki on June 30th, 2024.
12th InterAcademy Workshop: KAST/UniBern
On June 27th to June 28th 2024 at the Gurten Park im Grünen, in Bern, the Theodor Kocher Institute co-organized the 12th InterAcademy Workshop: KAST/UniBern Networking Conference for Scientific Leaders with the topic Vascular and Neuroimmune Interactions. During this two-day workshop, several leading scientists from Asia, Europe and the United States presented research related to vascular biology, lymphatic clearance mechanisms of the central nervous system and meningeal biology. The event was co-organized by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology represented by Prof. Gou Young Koh and Prof. Aree Moon and the University of Bern represented by Prof. Britta Engelhardt and Dr. Steven Proulx.
Javier has successfully defended his Phd thesis
On June 6th, 2024 Javier Pareja has successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Unveiling the cellular and molecular pathways of CD8+ T cells migration across the CNS barriers”.
The TKI congratulates him to this achievement!
Congratulations to Dr. Steven Proulx on achieving his Habilitation in Neuroimmunology!
Irene has successfully defended her Phd thesis
On January 10th, 2024 Irene Spera has successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Advanced imaging approaches to investigate cerebrospinal fluid outflow pathways in mice”.
The TKI congratulates her to this achievement!
Kristina has successfully defended her Phd thesis
On January 10th, 2024 Kristina Berve has successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Mechanisms of myeloid cell recruitment and polarization in the CNS during immune surveillance and neuroinflammation”.
The TKI congratulates her to this achievement!
ENTRAIN Symposium 9th of January 2024
We congratulate Kristina Berve for obtaining funding and oragnizing a final meeting for the students of the ITN ENTRAIN at the TKI with Dr. Robert Thorne (Denali Therapeutics, South San Francisco, USA) as Keynote Speaker.
ENTRAIN Symposium 9th of January 2024 - Endothelial – Macrophage Interactions in the CNS during Disease
The director of the TKI explains how to increase female leadership
Sasha Soldati has successfully defended his PhD thesis
The TKI congratulates Sasha Soldati for the successful defense of his PhD thesis entitled "Targeting T-cell migration to the central nervous system in the context of multiple sclerosis.” and for successfully completing the PhD Program Cell Migration.
Malpighi Medal awarded to Prof. Britta Engelhardt
Prof. Britta Engelhardt was awarded the Malpighi Medal of the European Society of Microcirculation at the 32nd ESM Meeting in Aarhus, Denmark in April 2023.
The Malpighi Medal is the most prestigious award of the ESM given to an individual of internationally outstanding reputation in any field of microcirculation research. Britta Engelhardt received this award for her contributions on central nervous system microcirculation.
Awards at the iPSZürich 2023
We congratulate Dr. Sarah Guimbal, PostDoc in the group of Britta Engelhardt, for winning the Best Poster Award at iPSZürich 2023 with her poster entitled «New molecular underpinnings of blood-brain barrier dysfunction in multiple sclerosis».
We congratulate Ms. Pelin Kasap, PhD student in the group of Britta Engelhardt, for winning the Best Presentation Award at iPSZürich 2023 with her presentation entitled «An isogenic in vitro model of the human neurovascular unit to explore blood brain barrier dysfunction in neuroinflammation».
The multinational staff at the TKI stands with the people of Ukraine
Sharing our professional and personal diversity is both a privilege and an enrichment, making us both better scientists and persons.
The war in Ukraine must stop!
Sinergia grant with participation of the Theodor Kocher Institute approved December 2022
As the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis continues to increase, so does the pressure to find suitable treatment options – and with it the need to decipher the physiologic underpinnings of these pathologies. This includes the metabolite clearance and immune surveillance functions of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), as well as immune privilege established by the brain barriers, which are disturbed during neuroinflammation. In this Sinergia project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, we will investigate how CSF dynamics and brain barriers change with age, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration. The project consortium includes the teams of Britta Engelhardt and Steven Proulx (Theodor Kocher Institute, University of Bern), Bert Müller (Biomaterials Science Center, University of Basel), and of Vartan Kurtcuoglu (Institute of Physiology, University of Zurich) as coordinator. For more details please follow the link.
Free Communication Prize for Javier Pareja
We congratulate Javier Pareja, PhD student in the group of Britta Engelhardt, for winning the Free Communication Prize 2022 at the 5th Swiss Vascular Research Symposium for the presentation entitled: Brain endothelial antigen presentation detains CD8+ T cells at the blood-brain barrier leading to its breakdown
Poster Prize for Sasha Soldati
We congratulate Sasha Soldati, PhD student in the group of Britta Engelhardt, for winning the Poster Prize 2022 at the 5th Swiss Vascular Research Symposium for the Poster entitled: Vitamin D regulates - cell migration across the blood-brain barrier
Best Poster Award for Amandine Brenna!
We congratulate Amandine Brenna, PhD student in the group of Britta Engelhardt, for winning a Best Poster Award at the 24th International Symposium on Signal Transduction at the Blood-Brain Barriers” in Bari.
Successful PhD Defense
On June 8, 2022 Josephine Mapunda has successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Imaging the central nervous system immune privilege: The role of CNS barriers in regulating trafficking of immune cells and immune mediators in the CNS.” The TKI congratulates her to this achievement!
Best Poster Award for Pelin Kasap!
We congratulate Pelin Kasap, PhD student in the group of Britta Engelhardt, to the Best Poster Award at the iPSZürich Symposium 2022.
Vortrag «Blut-Hirn Schranke bei MS»
Britta Engelhardt hielt auf Einladung der Schweizerischen Multiple Sklerose Geschellschaft einen Vortrag in deutscher Sprache über die «Blut-Hirn Schranke bei MS» der hier in gekürzter Form angeschaut werden kann.
Federico has successfully defended his PhD thesis
The TKI congratulates Federico Saltarin for successful defense of his PhD thesis entitled «Investigations on the extravasation of melanoma cells across the blood brain barrier».
First European CSL Research Acceleration Initiative Awardees Announced
Four medical researchers have been the first in Europe awarded a CSL Research Acceleration Initiative partnership, including an investment of up to 400,000 CHF per program over two years, to fast-track the discovery of innovative biotherapies that address unmet patient needs.
Daniela has successfully defended her Phd thesis
The TKI congratulates Daniela Ivan for successful defense of her PhD thesis entitled «Myeloid cell recruitment to the CNS during neuroinflammation - migration pathways and functional polarizations»
Good-bye to Dr. Hideaki Nishihara from the «Human B-Lab Team»
Good-bye to Dr. Hideaki Nishihara from the «Human B-Lab Team» that has grown under his guidance! We will keep up the good work on the human brain barriers and look forward to our future collaborations.
Ursula Zingg has left the TKI for her retirement
Thank you for everything Ursula and we will miss you..
Congratulations to Sidar Aydin
We are pleased to announce that Sidar Aydin has successfully passed his PhD thesis defence at the TKI. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Adrian Madarasz, promoted MD (= Dr. med. or Doctor Medicinae)
We are happy to announce that Adrian Madarasz finished his medical doctoral thesis. The Medical Faculty of the University of Bern officially confirmed his title as Dr. med. on September 2, 2020.
Adrian is now performing an MD PhD at our Institute.
No traditional TKI Christmas Party this year
No traditional TKI Christmas Party this year. We have missed you all. We wish all previous TKI members and friends and everybody who visits our homepage a wonderful Holiday Season and all the best for the New Year! Take care!
Science Filmmaking Marathon Zurich
Two TKI scientific collaborators, Kristina Bervé and Daniela Ivan, participated in a Science Filmmaking Marathon which took place in Zurich.
The objective of this marathon was to learn how to use different storytelling and filmmaking tools to communicate scientific results and make science more accessible for the broader audience.
During the three days of the marathon, together with 3 other PhD students of different backgrounds, from ETH and University of Zurich, and helped by a trainer, we made a 4 minutes documentary related to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Our short film, `NO DENIAL`, highlights a recent discovery made by a team of researchers from the University of Bern and ETH Zurich who studied the mechanisms behind SARS-Covid-19 viral infection and underlines the necessity of a closer collaboration between scientists and media to educate the general public.
The movie will be available online at this website - https://www.sciencefilm.ch/scientists-as-filmmake-2020 starting from tonight until Sunday (5-8th of November) at any time.
If you want to help us promote our movie and the message we want to send 😊, you can link our film to your social media accounts (i.e. Twitter/ Facebook).
With this movie, we are participating in this year´s 3rd Global Science Film Festival, so, keep your fingers crossed for us 😉🤞.
Thanks a lot for reading this long message and we wish you a great end of the week!
All the best,
Daniela and Kristina
Ruth Lyck has been nominated Associate Professor
The TKI congratulates PD Dr. Ruth Lyck to the nomination as Associate Professor of the University of Bern.
Focusing her research orignially on immune cell migration across the blood-brain barrier, Dr. Lyck has recently shifted her research focus on melanoma cell migration across this tissue barrier in the context of tumor metastasis to the brain. Dr. Lyck has worked part time during her entire career first due to family reasons and lately due to her additional function as the coordinator of the Microscopy Imaging Center (MIC) of the University of Bern. She is thus an excellent female role model for scientists in the future.
We enjoy the visit of Dr. Christian Uhl from the Department of Neurosurgery, Charité Berlin, Germany
His Zoom Seminar talk today entitled "Role of the EphB4-receptor in mediating resistance to antiangiogenic treatment in malignant glioma"
first TKI ZOOM Seminar with Prof. Roy O. Weller and Prof. Roxana Carare
First TKI ZOOM seminar with Professor Roy O. Weller and Dr. Roxane O. Carare, University of Southhampton, UK.
Their presentations "connections between the brain and the immune system" and "clearance of amyloid and interstitial fluid from the aging brain" were truly inspiring!
Affiliation of Prof. Daniel Legler with the Theodor Institute
Prof. Dr. Daniel Legler, head of the Biotechnology Institute Thurgau at the University of Konstanz, has been appointed as associate professor at the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern affiliated with the Theodor Kocher Institute by March 1st, 2020. For several years, Daniel Legler is engaged in the PhD program Cell Migration coordinated by Prof. Dr. Britta Engelhardt. Moreover, Daniel Legler is a member of the expert commission Cell Biology of the Bern Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB) and co-organizer of the annual Cytomeet dedicated to the Swiss scientific community interested in mechanisms of cell migration.
Successfull Mid-term of Josephine Mapunda
Josephine Mapunda is happy that the virtual mid-term exam is successfully suceeded.
TKI - first online lab meeting
The TKI lab is now up and running virtually
Mariana Dias, winner of the GCB Award for Best PhD Thesis
Awards
January 31, 2020 | On occasion of the «GCB Symposium 2020», held on January 30, 2020, at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Department of Physiology, University of Bern, the «GCB Award for Best PhD Thesis» for the year 2019 was conferred on Mariana Mota Castro Dias, PhD in Neuroscience, for her PhD thesis entitled «The role of the brain-barrier tight junctions in neuroinflammation».
Two PhDs finalized at TKI by the end of 2019
Mariana Dias and Luca Marchetti finished their PhDs at the TKI in 2019
ProDoc Cell Migration Retreat 2019
This years ProDoc Cell Migration Retreat took place from August 29 to August 30 at the Hotel Appenberg in the beautiful Emmental near Bern
ENTRAIN - New EU project
PhD position at the Theodor Kocher Institute for early stage researchers (ESR) for three years, funded as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN).
For further details of the individual projects in ENTRAIN, please follow the link www.itn-entrain.eu.
CNB Science Slam 2019
Event for researcher and students
And the winner is - Mariana Dias with her friends Daniela Ivan, Josephine Mapunda, Luca Marchetti, Federico Saltarin and Viviane Schallenberg from the Theodor Kocher Institute and David Francisco from Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit
BtRAIN - coming to an end
On January 18, 2019, the Final Network Meeting of BtRAIN took place in Milano.
BtRAIN has educated a unique group of students in brain barriers research and has established a tight network amongst its members that will last beyond this program.
Mit Marie Curie in Bern doktorieren
Britta Engelhardt is the coordinator of the Marie Sklodowska Curie Training Network BtRAIN funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 Programme. At the University of Bern this program is a tight collaboration between the TKI and the Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit.
JUSTBRAIN Success Story video
2013/07/17 Justbrain Project: Download the JUSTBRAIN Success Story video
European Journal of Immunology - TKI Coverstory in September issue
Coverstory in September issue of European Journal of Immunology
