Melanie Blokesch

Expertise Pathoecology & evolution of bacteria / horizontal gene transfer / regulatory circuits / inter-bacterial competitions / secretion system / phage & plasmid defense systems / host-pathogen interactions Melanie Blokesch holds a PhD degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany. After a postdoctoral stay at Stanford University (USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology) she joined EPFL as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2009 and was promoted to Associate Professor (tenured) in 2016 and Full Professor in 2021. Since 2022, she is serving as director of the Global Health Institute at EPFL.In 2018, Melanie Blokesch was nominated as Research Councillor of the the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) National Research Council (2019-2025). From 2019-2022, she also served as member of the Specialised Committee Interdisciplinary (FAID) & the Sinergia Evaluation Committee of the SNSF.Melanie Blokesch is an elected member of the European Academy of Microbiology (EAM; since 2018), the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO; since 2019), the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina (since 2021), and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM; since 2022).Among other awards and grants, Melanie Blokesch has been honored with the Prize for Junior Scientists of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2005, an ERC Starting Grant in 2012, the EPFL teaching award "Polysphère" for best teacher in the School of Life Sciences (academic year 2014-2015), the Research Award by the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM; Germany) in 2015, and an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2016. In 2017, Melanie Blokesch was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) International Research Scholarship.CV A detailed CV is posted on my laboratory's webpage, which you can find here:http://blokesch-lab.epfl.ch Education Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) | Microbiology 2004 – 2004 Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany Directed by Group of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. August Boeck Diplom Biologin Univ. (Dipl. Biol.) | Biology 2000 – 2000 Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany Professionals experiences Institute Director 2022–2025 School of Life Sciences - EPFLFull Professor 2021–2025 School of Life Sciences - EPFLAssociate Professor 2016–2021 School of Life Sciences - EPFLTenure-track Assistant Professor 2009–2016 School of Life Sciences - EPFLDistinctions, Awards, Grants, and Fellowships 2022: Elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM).2021: Elected member of the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina.2019: Elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).2018: Elected member of the European Academy of Microbiology (EAM).2018-2024: European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant (single PI; awarded 2016).2017-2022: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) International Research Scholar2017: Awardee ‘25 Frauen, deren Erfindungen unser Leben verändern' by Edition F, ZEIT online, Handelsblatt and Gründerszene, Berlin, Germany.2017-2021: Research grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation in the framework of the National Research Program 72 'Antimicrobial Resistance' (single PI).2016-2018: Swiss National Science Foundation individual grant (single PI).2015: EPFL teaching award "Polysphère" for best teacher in the School of Life Sciences.2015: Research Award, Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM), Germany.2013-2018: European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (single PI; awarded 2012).2013: Invited Speaker Meeting Grant, GMM4 meeting, Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS).2013-2015: Swiss National Science Foundation individual grant (single PI).2012-2013: Research grant, Novartis Foundation for Medical and Biological Research.2012: Teaching award, Teaching Section School of Life Sciences, EPFL.2012: Seed money, EPFL Cooperation & Development Center.2009-2012: Swiss National Science Foundation individual grant (single PI).2007-2008: Dean's Fellowship Award, Stanford University School of Medicine.2005-2007: Research Fellowship, German Research Foundation (DFG).2005: Prize for Junior Scientists, German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.2005: Thesis Award, Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM).2004: Student Travel Grant, ASM 104th General Meeting in New Orleans, USA. Teaching & PhD PhD Students Grazia Vizzarro, Ana Acedo Morato Past EPFL PhD Students Mirella Lo Scrudato, Patrick Martin Seitz, Noémie Matthey, Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr, Nina Vesel, Leonardo Filipe Lemos Rocha, Simon Bernhard Otto, Céline Fetz Courses Infection biology BIO-477 Infectious diseases (ID) are still a major problem to human health. But how do pathogens make us sick? How do they evolve and spread? The discovery and use of antibiotics and vaccination has changed the outcome of some IDs. But resistance mechanisms have evolved and are of major concern. Practical - Blokesch Lab BIO-666 How to look at tiny things: visualizing bacteria using epifluorescence microscopy. Awards Teaching award SV Teaching Section School of Life Sciences 2012 ERC Starting Grant European Research Council 2012 Research Award Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) 2015 Polysphére teaching award AGEPoly 2015 ERC Consolidator Grant European Research Council 2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholarship Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) 2016 Elected Member of the European Academy of Microbiology European Academy of Microbiology 2018 Elected Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) EMBO 2019 Elected Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Leopoldina 2021 Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) 2022 Elected Member of Academia Europaea Academia Europaea 2025