Université de Genève
Rue du Général-Dufour 24
1204 Genève
Switzerland

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Team Leader

Prof. Paolo Meda Phone: +41 22 379 52 10  Fax: +41 22 379 52 60  Contact

Project Staff

Dr. Xavier Montet Chef, clinical scientist / animal and clinical imaging  Phone: +41 22 379 52 57 84  Fax: +41 22 379 52 60  Contact

Dr. Norbert Lange Maître d’Enseignement et de Recherche / chemical synthesis of tracers  Phone: +41 22 379 33 35  Fax: +41 22 379 65 67  Contact

Dr. Smaragda Lamprianou Post doctoral assistant / planning and running biological experiments  Phone: +41 22 379 52 07  Fax: +41 22 379 52 60  Contact

Dr. Laurent Vinet Phone: +41 22 379 52 07   Fax: +41 22 379 52 60   Contact

Dr. Joan Goulley Post-doctoral fellow: animal experiments, pancreas biology.   Phone: +41 21 692 5922   Fax: Fax: +41 21 652 6933   Contact

Ms. Anne Charollais Technician / running in vitro and molecular biology experiments   Phone: +41 22 370 52 05  Fax: +41 22 379 52 60  Contact

Ms. Dorothée Caille Technician / running in vivo and morphology experiments   Phone: +41 22 370 52 05  Fax: +41 22 379 52 60  Contact

Institute Presentation

The University of Geneva was founded in 1559 and is the second largest university in Switzerland with its more than 13,000 students. One-third of the student body comes from abroad, and close links are maintained with academic institutions over the world. In 2006, 262 individuals graduated with a Ph.D, 55% of which were female. The University of Geneva is in the Top-100 (32nd) Universities worldwide according to a ranking in 2006 by Newsweek and it has a long standing tradition of excellence in β-cell research. There are about 370 research groups in the Faculty of Medicine and the Section of Basic Medicine is composed of six Departments. The University Medical Center benefits from a high quality environment and equipment with modern core facilities, 4 of which are devoted to imaging from subcellular organelles to whole animals.
The Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism was created in 2003, with 14 research groups, each specialized in complementary areas in fundamental cellular physiology, and supported by state-of-the-art core facilities. Four clinical affiliates are also cross appointed to nurture translational research. Undergraduate as well as postgraduate teaching is a central task of departmental members and currently 14 Ph.D students and 15 post doctoral fellows are actively involved in research.
Our lab has long term expertise in the cell biology of the pancreatic islet, with special interest in the direct mechanisms for islet cell interactions that involve junctional proteins of the beta cell membrane. We are studying these questions in both in vitro and in vivo models, using in combination a variety of morphological, biochemical, molecular biology, biophysical, physiological and genetic methods. In this context, we have expertise in beta cell imaging at the subcellular, cellular, tissue and organ levels,  using a variety of state-of-the-art morphological approaches. In the last years, we have been involved in the characterization of a variety of transgenic mouse models, which called for the development of a project for the ismaging of beta cells in situ, and if possible in vivo. In this context, we have set a small animal phenotyping facility that comprises optical equipment for in vivo imaging of laboratory rodents. Both islet cell and imaging expertise are relevant to the BetaImage project.