Professorship of Genome Biology, ETH Zurich

As clinical medicine shifts toward targeted, personalized therapies for widespread diseases such as cancer and diabetes, understanding how genetic variations drive disease is critical. To push the boundaries of personalized health and technology, we established the Professorship of Genome Biology at ETH Zurich, in cooperation with the Lotte und Adolf Hotz-Sprenger Stiftung. Housed within ETH’s Department of Biology, the professorship drives an independent, cutting-edge research program in human and mammalian genomics — developing the tools and data necessary to pioneer a deeper understanding of the complex traits and interaction networks underlying human disease.

By mapping the functional elements encoded in complex genomes, the research links genetic variation within the human population to individual disease susceptibility, pinpointing the precise cellular signatures and mutations that drive conditions such as cancer. The professorship develops and applies advanced computational tools to decode the distinctive cellular mutations of diseases and predict individual drug responses. This rigorous research translates raw genomic data into actionable insights, providing the molecular foundations necessary to successfully tailor medical treatments to individual genetic profiles.