Members
Prof. Teresa B. Fitzpatrick (Lab head) 
Teresa did her undergraduate and PhD studies at University College Dublin finishing in 1998, followed by a short fellowship at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund laboratories in Clare Hall, London (now part of Cancer Research UK). She then did a post-doc at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ, 1998-2002), after which she became a group leader there, pursuing projects on vitamin metabolism. In 2008, she was awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation professorship. In 2009, she moved to the University of Geneva as Associate Professor and was awarded a Full Professorship in 2015. She was Director of the Plant Biology Department from 2012-2017.
Dr. Peter Farkas (Post-doctoral fellow) 
After obtaining his Bachelor's degree in Biology at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, Peter joined the Fitzpatrick lab at the University of Geneva for his Master's studies in the Molecular Plant Science orientation. During this time, he investigated long-distance polyamine transport in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Continuing as a PhD candidate, his research shifted toward coenzyme regulation in plants, focusing on an enigmatic group of proteins known as PYRIDOXAL 5’-PHOSPHATE HOMEOSTASIS PROTEINs (PLPHPs). His work introduced these proteins as previously unrecognized contributors to vitamin B6 balancing in Arabidopsis, supporting root development under light, as well as amino acid and plant hormone homeostasis. Peter earned his PhD in 2024, and is now continuing this line of research as a postdoctoral fellow in the Fitzpatrick lab.
Dr. Maria Faustino (Post-doctoral fellow) 
Maria earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Aveiro University in Portugal, where she began her research on Plant Phytochemistry, followed by a Master’s in Biochemistry focused on halophytic grasses. During her PhD, conducted jointly at ITQB NOVA in Oeiras, Portugal (part of the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, with Margarida Oliveira) and Ghent University in Belgium (with Dominique Van Der Straeten), she focused on biofortifying rice with vitamins B1 (thiamin) and B2 (riboflavin), gaining expertise in systems biology, pathway modeling, and vitamin analysis. In September 2024, Maria joined the Fitzpatrick lab to explore the role of B-vitamins in plant symbioses.
Dr. Mengping Li (Post-doctoral fellow) 
Mengping obtained her PhD degree at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2021. Her studies revealed key players implicated in the crosstalk of photosynthetic reactive oxygen species and salicylic acid signaling under stress conditions in Arabidopsis at Chanhong Kim's lab in Shanghai. Mengping joined the Fitzpatrick lab in late February 2023 to investigate aspects of vitamin B1 metabolism in plants.
Dr. Eduardo Muñoz Diaz (Post-doctoral fellow) 
After obtaining its bachelor's degree in biotechnology at Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche in Spain, Eduardo carried out his master's studies in Molecular Plant Science at the University of Hamburg, Germany. In 2024, he obtained his PhD at the Laboratoire Génome et Développement des Plantes in Perpignan, France, within the team of "the nucleolus and rRNA genes". In his PhD thesis titled "Analysis of the response of the nucleus of Arabidopsis thaliana to heat stress", Eduardo characterized the nuclear proteome of Arabidopsis thaliana under heat stress as well as the behaviour of the nucleolus upon high temperatures. He joined the Fitzpatrick lab in January 2025, where he is involved in the characterization of the role of PLP homeostasis proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Dr. Bruno A. Salgueiro (Post-doctoral fellow)
Bruno completed his PhD in Biochemistry in 2024 from the Universiade Nova de Lisboa -ITQB-NOVA in Portugal. His thesis was entitled "Unveiling the structural basis of the complex between the virulence factor SARS-CoV2 Nsp1 and the host DNA polymerase-alpha: a step forward for the development of new antiviral drugs". Throughout his scientific career, he has developed advanced expertise in techniques such as protein purification and characterization, amperometric assays, potentiometric titrations, protein crystallization, and structural analysis. Additionally, he has experience in Cryo-Electron Microscopy (single particle analysis), enhancing his capabilities in the structural characterization of macromolecules. He joined the Fitzpatrick lab in August 2025, contributing to projects on vitamin B metabolism in plants utilizing his expertise in these areas.
Dr. Simon Strobbe (Post-doctoral fellow) 
Simon obtained his PhD in 2019 based on research conducted in the laboratory of Functional Plant Biology (Ghent University), under the supervision of Dominique Van Der Straeten. His PhD thesis is entitled: “Vitamin metabolism in plants: from B-vitamin biology towards crop biofortification”. This work included assessment of the potential of biofortification in the eradication of vitamin deficiencies, as well as the application of metabolic engineering to augment folate (vitamin B9) content in potato tubers and thiamin (vitamin B1) levels in rice seeds. He has a specific interest in crop improvement to address our current and future agronomical challenges, including both crop nutritional properties as well as stress resilience and sustainability. He joined the Fitzpatrick lab in October 2023, where he will investigate the role of B-vitamins in plant symbioses.
Leslie Acevedo (Doctoral fellow) 
Leslie got her Bachelor’s degree in biology in Mexico. She did a Bachelor thesis in the laboratory of Joseph Dubrovsky at the Institute of Biotechnology in the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), about the involvement of threonine catabolism in the maintenance of the root apical meristem. She obtained her Master’s degree at the same Institute in the laboratory of Patricia Leon. There she worked on how an apocarotenoid signal produced in the plastid regulates the transcription of plastid ribosomal genes encoded in the nucleus functioning as a retrograde signal, affecting plastid protein translation, chloroplast biogenesis and laminar leaf development. Leslie joined the Fitzpatrick lab as a PhD student in September 2023 and is investigating aspects of regulation of vitamin B6 metabolism in plants.
Marina Roura (Doctoral fellow)
Marina studied Biotechnology at the University of Barcelona (2017–2021). From 2020–2021, she worked in the lab of Ricard Albalat, investigating metallothioneins from the tunicate Oikopleura dioica and their role in heavy metal tolerance. In 2021, she spent two months as an Erasmus student at Cardiff University in Hilary Rogers’ lab, studying strawberry ripening and post-harvest processes. She then completed a Master’s in Molecular and Cellular Plant Biotechnology at the Polytechnique University of Valencia, working in Cristina Ferrandiz’s lab at the Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMCP), where she studied the NGATHA gene family’s role in rice gynoecium development (2022–2023). In October 2023, she joined the Fitzpatrick lab as a PhD student, investigating vitamin B1 metabolism in plants.
Dr. Benoît Maillot (Scientific adjoint) 
Benoît studied at the University of Strasbourg (2001-2006) obtaining a Masters degree in Structural Biology, Genomics and Bioinformatics. He studied HIV-1 integrase in complex with two cellular partners for his PhD (2006-2010). He then became a researcher at the European Radiation Synchrotron Facility in Grenoble (2011-2014) and worked as a consultant for biotech company Global BioEnergies in Strasbourg (2015-2018). He joined the lab of Prof. Jean-Claude Martinou at the University of Geneva in Switzerland in 2019 working on the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier and joined the Fitzpatrick lab in July 2021.
Ivan Dalvit (Lab assistant) 
Ivan did his Bachelor in Biology at the University of Geneva (2012), followed by a Master in Molecular Plant Science (MPS) focused on vitamin B1 plant transporters in the Fitzpatrick lab (2015). He then joined the lab in 2016 as a lab assistant.
Mireille de Meyer (Technician)
Mireille obtained a diploma in medical sciences from the Laboratory Technicians College in Geneva (1992). After this, she was employed for 5 years as a technician in an endocrinology research laboratory at University Hospital Geneva, working on thyroid hormones. She moved to the University of Geneva working with Claude Penel, on peroxidase expression in Arabidopsis thaliana (1999-2009). Since then, she works as a technician predominantly focusing on plant molecular techniques in the Fitzpatrick lab.
Former Lab members & current location
Dr. Kai Wang, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology, China.
Dr. Zeguang Liu, China.
Ms. Maria Lackmann, University of Bonn, Germany.
Ms. Céline Roux, Annemasse, France.
Ms. Lara Land, Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr. Marco Mellon, Padua, Italy.
Dr. Priscille Steensma, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Dr. Zeenat Noordally, Norfolk County Council, England.
Dr. Marta Pesquera, Amphasys, Luzern, Switzerland.
Dr. Lottie Chapman, Food Security, England.
Mr. Celso Trichtinger, Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr. Manuel Hofmann, CSL Behring, Bern, Switzerland.
Dr. Vera Gorelova, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Dr. Jared Fudge, Jared Fudge Scientific Ltd, London, England.
Dr. Michael Moulin, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Dr. Elisa Dell'Aglio, Università degli Studi de Milano, Italy.
Dr. Graham Robinson, GIRACT, Geneva, Switzerland.
Ms. Denise Touré, Ivory Coast.
Dr. Maite Colinas, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
Dr. Jacopo Martinis, ExcellGene SA, Monthey, Switzerland.
Dr. Svetlana Boycheva, University of Konstanz, Switzerland.
Dr. Markus Kaufmann, Givaudan AG, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Dr. Nicolas Szydlowski, Université de Lille, France.
Dr. Elisabet Gas, The University of Georgia Athens, U.S.A.
Dr. Cyril Moccand, Nestlé AG Lausanne, Switzerland.
Dr. Lucille Pourcel, SwissProt, Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr. Maja Raschke, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland.
Dr. Olca Titiz, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland.
Dr. Lukas Bürkle, Stratec Biochemical, Birkenfeld, Germany.
Dr. Thomas Raschle, SGS, Basel, Switzerland.
Dr. Marina Tambasco Studart, Redbiotec AG, Zurich, Switzerland.
Mrs. Nadine Müller, Zurich Switzerland.
Ms. Alexandra Gisler, Federal Office for Agriculture, Bern, Switzerland.
Mr. Sandro Steiner, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Mr. Francesc Puig, Spain.
Mr. Pedro Surriabre, University of Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Ms. Holly Victoria Shaw, Actelion Basel, Switzerland.
Ms. Xiaohua (Emma) Yang, France.