Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine

Research at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (IBMM) focuses on the structure (Fotiadis, Kukulski, Lemmin), function (Abriel, Albrecht, Fotiadis, Gertsch, Peinelt, Lemmin) and pharmacology (Abriel, Gertsch) of membrane proteins such as transporters, ion channels, and membrane receptors. A strong emphasis is put on the roles of these membrane proteins in human disease. We combine chemical synthesis (Lochner), chemical biology/analytics (Gertsch) with electrophysiology (Abriel, Peinelt), structural biology (Fotiadis, Kukulski) and computational biology (Lemmin). Both human ex vivo (Albrecht) and genetically-modified mouse models ( Abriel, Gertsch) serve to study these transporters in different diseases like cancer (Peinelt), cardiac disorders (Abriel), preeclampsia (Albrecht) and neuropsychiatric disorders (Gertsch).

The IBMM directorate is composed of Dimitrios Fotiadis (Managing Director and Co-Director Finances), Jürg Gertsch (Deputy Managing Director and Co-Director Infrastructure and Research), Christine Peinelt (Co-Director Teaching) and Wanda Kukulski (Co-Director Safety, Quality, and Equal Opportunities).

The IBMM has hosted and supported the activities of the NCCR TransCure from 2010-2022 as leading house to apply excellence in membrane transporter research to the treatment of human diseases. It has advanced the frontiers of membrane transporter and ion channel research by combining the expertise of scientists from biology/physiology, structural biology and chemistry in multidisciplinary projects that ranged from fundamental to early-stage drug discovery research.

The specific focus areas of the individual research groups of the IBMM is shown in the section "Research"

News and Events

New adjunct professor at the IBMM

We welcome Prof. Dr. Dr. med. Martin Müller from the Lindenhof-Hospital, Bern as adjunct professor at our institute!

Prof. Dimitrios Fotiadis is the «Teacher of the Year» Bachelor’s program 2023

We congratulate Prof. Dimitrios Fotiadis from the IBMM who received the «Teacher of the Year» Bachelor's degree program award for the year 2023.

Winner of the Bike to Work Challenge 2024

The lucky winner of this year’s Bike to Work Challenge is the IBMM1 team from the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. Our heartfelt congratulations to Daniel Harder, Noor Ayoub, Julian Imhof und Jean-Marc Jeckelmann on winning!

International Medical Cannabis Conference University of Bern 2025

We are delighted to invite you to participate in the upcoming International Medical Cannabis Conference Bern (IMCCB-25), scheduled for February 13-14, 2025, at the University of Bern in Switzerland.
Building on the success of previous Swiss cannabis congresses, IMCCB-25 aspires to bring together a diverse assembly of leading researchers, clinicians, industry professionals, and other experts and opinion leaders from around the world.

Congratulations to the Gertsch group for the 3.2 Mio Sinergia grant

Congratulations to the Gertsch group for the 3.2 Mio Sinergia grant to study how food affects health in primates starting in February 2024.
Prof. Jürg Gertsch (responsible applicant) and his colleagues Prof. Erica Van de Waal (Geneva), Assistant Prof. Claire Bertelli (Lausanne) and Prof. Yossi Tam (Jerusalem. Israel) obtained the Sinergia grant “The Food-Medicine Continuum in Vervet Monkeys: Investigations on the Interplay between Diet Quality, Stress Coping, and the Endocannabinoid System» to study the impact of food on social stress in wild and urbanized vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in South Africa.” This 4-year interdisciplinary study aims to identify molecular components in food that impact metabolism and stress through the gut-brain endocannabinoid system. The research team believes that an understanding of non-human primate food choices during stress could have implications to improve human nutrition. This project not only will shed light on primate ecology, but also provide a basis for novel nutraceutical interventions in humans.

We congratulate Prof. Wanda Kukulski on being awarded the Lelio Orci Award 2023

Prof. Wanda Kukulski from the IBMM is the recipient of the Lelio Orci Award 2023 in acknowledgement of her groundbreaking work in the area of intracellular membrane trafficking. We extend our warmest congratulations to her for this significant accomplishment. The Lelio Orci Award, initiated by Lelio Orci, who was a Professor at the University of Geneva, aims to honour outstanding scientists for their research achievements in the field of Cellular Biology.

Artikel im Aargauer Tagblatt / Schweiz am Wochenende mit Prof. Christiane Albrecht

Es gibt nur ein Organ, das uns temporär begleitet: die Plazenta.
Sie spielt nicht nur während der Schwangerschaft eine zentrale Rolle für das gesunde Wachstum des Ungeborenen, sondern setzt auch bedeutende Weichen für unser späteres Leben.

Exploring protein conformations with deep learning

The Lemmin Group is grateful for the support of the Novartis Foundation through the FreeNovation grant. We are excited to push the boundaries of AlphaFold and embark on captivating research into the uncharted realm of protein conformational ensembles.

Physiology and ICMT joint Meeting 2023

More than 80 participants shared their science during the Physiology and ICMT joint Meeting 2023 (hosted by Prof. Hugues Abriel and Prof. Christine Peinelt). We congratulate all young scientists prize winners and thank all speakers, participants and sponsors.

Sabbatical Prof. Christine Peinelt 2023

During her 3-month sabbatical Prof. Christine Peinelt was hosted by Prof. Andrea Fleig and Prof. Reinhold Penner (Cancer Research Center, Queen`s Medical Center) and investigated cannabinoids in ion channel signaling. The Queen`s Medical Center, Oahu, Hawaii was founded by Queen Emma (left) and King Kamehameha IV (right) to serve the people.

We congratulate our former Marie-Curie Fellow María Constanza Maldifassi to her new position

We congratulate our former Marie-Curie Fellow María Constanza Maldifassi to her new position as assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York! Her latest work shows how nicotine promotes prostate and colorectal cancer progression. Coni, we wish you all the best for your future!

Artikel in der Basler Zeitung zum Thema Synthetische Biologie mit Prof. Dimitrios Fotiadis

Bakterien und Nanoreaktoren, die verseuchte Gewässer reinigen, oder Materialien, die sich selbst reparieren.
Daran arbeiten Forscherinnen und Forscher der Synthetischen Biologie. Das Potenzial ist enorm – doch der Weg dorthin steinig.

IBMM publication on membrane contact sites

Organelles exchange lipid molecules at contact sites, but how specific proteins arrange to facilitate the transfer of lipids has been unclear.
The Kukulski lab now revealed the architecture of an ER-mitochondria lipid transfer protein complex in situ, suggesting a direct pathway for lipids between two different membranes. This work was done together with researchers from the MRC-LMB in Cambridge and the University of Fribourg.

New principle investigator at the IBMM

The IBMM warmly welcomes
Ass. Prof. Thomas Lemmin.

Thomas is a recipient of the prestigious Eccellenza professorial fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). His expertise lies at the intersection of molecular dynamics simulations, protein modeling and design, and artificial intelligence.

We wish Thomas all the best at the IBMM and look forward to working with you.

IBMM supports project in Poland to help Ukrainian children and mothers

The IBMM has collected money to help a project by the Polish Ukrainian Foundation for the Development of Medicine to support newly established Kindergartens and work places for Ukrainian women who fled from the war in Ukraine to Lublin. Krystyna Skalicka-Wozniak from the Medical University of Lublin is the sponsor of this project. She has a long-standing collaboration with our institute through research and teaching activities. You can still donate money to the ongoing project: https://ga-society.org/a-humanitarian-appeal-help-ukrainian-refugees-in-poland/

The IBMM congratulates his colleague Prof. Hugues Abriel and wishes him an excellent start as new Vice-Rector for Research at UNIBE

The Cantonal Government has elected a new Vice-Rector to the Executive Board of the University. As of 1st January 2022, Prof. Dr. Hugues Abriel will take over the Vice-Rectorate Research.

Wir gratulieren allen Marie Skłodowska-Curie StipendiatInnen und heissen Dr. María Constanza Maldifassi am IBMM willkommen!

Sieben Forschende kommen dieses Jahr als Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellows an die Universität Bern. Die jährlich von der Europäischen Kommission vergebenen «Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships» sind für erfahrene Forschende eine Gelegenheit, ihre Karriere durch einen Auslandaufenthalt voranzutreiben.

neue Telefonnummern ab 1. Mai 2021

Am Wochenende des 1. Mai 2021 werden die Telefonnummern aller Mitarbeitenden, die über die Rufnummer +41 31 631 xx xx kommunizieren, geändert zu +41 31 684 xx xx. Die letzten 4 Ziffern bleiben für alle identisch. Die interne Wahl wird zudem von 4 auf 5 Stellen erweitert. Alle Mitarbeitenden sind für Anrufe aus dem öffentlichen Telefonnetz über die bisherige Rufnummer während 24 Monaten weiterhin erreichbar. Die Änderung wird vorgenommen, weil der bisherige Rufnummernbereich nicht mehr ausreicht.

Promotion to Ordinarius for Prof. Dimitrios Fotiadis

We congratulate our colleague Prof. Dimitrios Fotiadis for his promotion to Ordinarius per 1st of February 2021. Prof. Fotiadis received his PhD and habilitated in biophysics at the Biozentrum at the University of Basel, Switzerland. He was tenured as Extraordinarius at the University of Bern in 2013. Currently, he is the PI of different research projects related to structure biology and structure-function relationships of different transmembrane transporters (NCCR TransCure, Synergia, SNSF projects). Prof. Fotiadis is Co-Director of finances and Managing Director of the IBMM.

Pfizer Forschungspreis für PD Dr. med. Jin Li

Vier von insgesamt fünfzehn Pfizer-Forschungspreisen gehen dieses Jahr an Berner Medizinerinnen und Mediziner der Universität Bern und des Inselspitals, Universitätsspital Bern. Die ausgezeichneten Arbeiten befassen sich mit Leukämie, Herzrhythmusstörungen und der Fiebergrenze bei krebskranken Kindern und Jugendlichen.

PD Dr. med. Jin Li, Institut für Biochemie und Molekulare Medizin (IBMM) und PD Dr. Ange Maguy, Institut für Physiologie der Universität Bern, erhalten je einen Preis im Bereich Herzkreislauf, Urologie und Nephrologie.

We are extremely pleased to announce that the first IBMM-spin-off Synendos raised CHF 20 Million in Series A Financing: congratulations to Group Gertsch and Andrea Chicca for this success!

Synendos Therapeutics (Synendos), a University of Bern NCCR TransCure spin-off biopharmaceutical company announces it has raised CHF 20 million in a Series A financing. Synendos is developing a new class of small molecules aimed at restoring the natural functioning of the endocannabinoid system in the brain with the potential for treating a wide range of Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders.

Engineering a novel cell-based model for assessing materno-fetal drug transfer during pregnancy

Prof. Christiane Albrecht at the University of Bern's Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (IBMM) and colleagues at Charles University in the Czech Republic and Curio Biotech SA, will engineer a cell-based model to screen if drugs can pass from the mother to the child during pregnancy. The researchers will develop and validate a three-dimensional system consisting of cells of the mother's placenta and the child's umbilical vein. The cells harvested directly from the patients are more relevant to the human body than reused cells, and the method will be a cheap and fast way to safely screen if new drugs reach the foetus and have toxic effects on the unborn child.

Prof. Wanda Kukulski, new Professor of Biochemistry at the IBMM

Today, May 1st, 2020, the IBMM is extremely happy to announce the start of Prof. Wanda Kukulski as a new Professor of Biochemistry. Wanda Kukulski studied Biology II at the University of Basel and obtained her Ph.D. in biophysics at the Biozentrum in Basel. In 2015, she was hired as a group leader at the prestigious MRC-LMB (Cambridge, U.K.), where she started her research on how the architecture of cellular membranes is linked to their function. Wanda Kukulski is well known for combining fluorescence microscopy with electron tomography to obtain novel insights into molecular membrane biology.

As a new group leader at the IBMM, Prof. Kukulski will also be one of the principal investigators of the Swiss National Science Foundation-funded NCCR TransCure. We wish Prof. Kukulski the best of luck with her projects. We are happy to count on her expertise for the development of cryo-electron microscopy capacities at the University of Bern.

New Professorship for Pharmaceutical Biology at the IBMM

We congratulate our colleague Prof. Jürg Gertsch for his nomination as Professor (Ordinarius) of Pharmaceutical Biology since August 1st, 2019. Jürg Gertsch studied Neuroscience and Biochemistry at the Biocentre Basel and in the UK and obtained his Ph.D. in 2002 at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (ETH Zürich). Since 2009, he is a faculty member at the IBMM, where he obtained a tenured Professorship (Extraordinarius) in 2013. He is one of the co-directors of the IBMM since 2014. The research of Prof. Gertsch focuses on the endocannabinoid system and cannabinoids. This endocannabinoid system is recognized as a promising drug target and is currently investigated by numerous research groups and companies, among others, the start-up Synendos Therapeutics, co-founded by Prof. Gertsch. Some of the basic science projects of the Gertsch's group are parts of the Swiss National Science Foundation-funded NCCR TransCure. The new nomination of Prof. Gertsch is part of the new full curriculum in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Bern.

NCCR TransCure spin-off Synendos Therapeutics wins BaseLaunch

In December 2018, the BaseLaunch accelerator program for healthcare startups has selected four projects among over 100 applications received from Switzerland and Europe to receive non-dilutive funding in a competitive two-phase selection process. Among them, was the project by Andrea Chicca and Jürg Gertsch from the IBMM on the development of selective endocannabinoid reuptake inhibitors (SERIs) for neuropsychiatric disorders. The project was initiated by the NCCR TransCure research project “cellular endocannabinoid transport.” Over the last years, they and their collaborators have successfully identified a new drug target and generated solid IP protection on first and second generation SERIs and their medical uses. Their startup Synendos Therapeutics now aims to bring the lead SERI into a phase I clinical trial and the spin-off company will be incorporated at the Swiss Innovation Park in Allschwil in Basel. BaseLaunch is managed and operated by BaselArea.swiss and provides non-dilutive funding, access to Healthcare Partners and knowledge from highly experienced advisors. BaseLaunch is supported by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Novartis Venture Fund, Pfizer, Roche and Roivant Sciences as well as by other public and private partners.
Synendos has recently also won the Venture Kick Stage I.

New Sinergia Project at the IBMM

The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) has granted a Sinergia Project to Dimitrios Fotiadis (University of Bern, Medical Faculty) together with the laboratories of Philippe Plattet (University of Bern, Vetsuisse Faculty) and Rainer Riedl (Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften - ZHAW) entitled “Morbillivirus cell entry machinery: mechanisms, structures and drug discovery”.

Convergent Evolution of Cannabinoids: High hopes for a "better THC" from Liverworts

The research team in Switzerland, led by Professor Jurg Gertsch, have been exploring the medical uses of "perrottetinene" found in the rare liverwort, which only grows in Japan, New Zealand and Costa Rica.

More links:
- Media Relation University of Bern - Scientific American - Science Daily - Inverse - The Telegraph

The IBMM is pipetting in Nigeria

Research equipment is expensive and often unaffordable by teaching labs in African countries.
The IBMM has shipped more than 100 functional Gilson-type research pipettes to Nigeria.

October 24, 2018: End of Phase 2 TransCure Symposium

The NCCR TransCure thankfully acknowledges the retiring Professors Matthias Hediger, Wilhelm Hofstetter and Bruno Stieger for their work. For this event, the three honoured professors and their guests will give talks on their latest research. Join us on Wednesday, October 24th, 2018. Registration at admin@transcure.unibe.ch by October 8th, 2018.

Key receptor involved in neuronal signalling visualized

Proteins called GABAA receptors have a pivotal role in neuronal inhibition, and are targets of several drugs. Structures of the most abundant GABAA receptor in humans are now reported. Erwin Sigel has worked for decades on questions related to structure-function of GABAA receptors and functionally elucidated the benzodiazepine binding site. Read Erwin Sigels commentary in News and Views in Nature.

New IBMM Managing Director as of April 1st, 2018

We are pleased to announce that for the two-year term of April 2018 until March 2020 Dimitrios Fotiadis will serve as Managing Director and Jürg Gertsch as Deputy Managing Director of the IBMM.

Christine Peinelt has been elected as Co-Director Teaching and Hugues Abriel will serve as Co-Director in charge of Safety, Quality and Equal Opportunities. Congratulations and all the best for the new and important tasks!

July 4, 2017: IBMM Minisymposium GABAA receptors

Erwin Sigel hat in seiner langen Forschungskarriere hauptsächlich an GABAA Rezeptoren gearbeitet und sich insbesondere für die Funktion von allosterischen Modulatoren interessiert. So war er bei der Aufklärung der molekularen Mechanismen von Benzodiazepinen beteiligt. Erwin Sigel hat durch seine Lehr- und Forschungstätigkeit an der Universität Bern mehrere Generationen von Nachwuchsforschern nachhaltig beeinflusst.
Anlässlich seiner Pensionierung lädt das IBMM zum Minisymposium mit Gästen aus dem In- und Ausland.

A new approach to combatting anxiety states, pain and inflammation

Endogenous cannabinoids (endocannabinoids) play an important role in the brain and immune system. Bern researchers from the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) "TransCure" have now found a new way to influence the endocannabinoid system. Anti-inflammatory, analgesic as well as anxiolytic effects could be achieved in an animal model.

Kleine Nachwuchsforscherinnen erobern das Labor

Anlässlich des «UN Day of Women and Girls in Science» am 11. Februar lud der NCCR TransCure Mädchen im Alter von fünf bis zehn Jahren dazu ein, Laborluft zu schnuppern. Wissenschaftliche Experimente brachten die jungen Forscherinnen zum Staunen und Strahlen.

New IBMM Managing Director as of October 1st, 2016

We are pleased to announce the seamless transition in leadership of the IBMM directorate from Matthias A. Hediger to Hugues Abriel. The change in management has been planned for some time, as Matthias Hediger has served as director of the IBMM since 2005. In 2010 Matthias Hediger established the NCCR TransCure, an interdisciplinary research network of 19 research groups affiliated at Universities in Bern, Zurich, Lausanne and Basel. This network is now being led by Hugues Abriel. The appointment of Prof. Abriel as the Managing Director of the IBMM will warrant the future commitment of the institute toward the success of NCCR TransCure. Prof. Hediger will continue to be an active member of both the IBMM and NCCR TransCure until his retirement in 2019.

Wie pathogene Darmbakterien die Magensäure überleben

Krankheitserregende Darmbakterien aktivieren Schutzmechanismen, um im sauren Milieu des Magens zu überleben. Berner Forscher des Nationalen Forschungsschwer-
punktes (NFS) «TransCure» haben nun die Struktur des zentralen Proteins eines bakteriellen Säure-Resistenz-Systems entschlüsseln können. Dadurch werden wichtige Einblicke in die «Überlebenstricks» von Darmbakterien gewonnen.

Synthetic Biology in Bern

Synthetic biology is an emerging and rapidly evolving engineering discipline. Within the NCCR Molecular Systems Engineering, Bernese scientists have engineered a chemically switchable version of the light-driven proton pump proteorhodopsin – an essential tool for efficiently powering molecular factories and synthetic cells.

New Professor at IBMM

On July 1, 2016 Prof. Christine Peinelt starts working as full Professor (Extraordinarius). Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of store-operated calcium channels (ORAIs/STIM) in non-excitable cells. She will greatly contribute to the research programs at NCCR TransCure and IBMM.

Membranprotein in Bern erstmals entschlüsselt

Die Struktur von Membranproteinen hoch aufzulösen und in 3D darzustellen, ist für Strukturbiologen eine grosse Herausforderung. In Bern ist dies nun zum ersten Mal gelungen.

«Türsteher» der Zellen helfen bei Medikamentenentwicklung

Matthias A. Hediger forscht an Transportproteinen, um neue Therapieansätze gegen Krankheiten wie Krebs oder Diabetes zu entwickeln. Er erklärt im Interview das grosse Potenzial dieser Proteine und warum interdisziplinäre Forschungsnetzwerke so wichtig sind.

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