Biochemistry Department Biochemistry Department

Arolla 2025 Program

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Day 1 | 25 August 2025    
         
    15:00-17:30 Registration  
         
    18:30-19:45 Dinner
         
  Session 1: Ina Sonnen    
    20:00-20:15 Andy Oates Opening of the workshop
    20:15-20:45 Laurent Banchoin  Reconstituting the Dynamic Steady States of Actin Networks
    20:45-21:00 Feyza Nur Arslan Mechanical Regulation of the Segmentation Clock
    21:00-23:00 Poster Session I  

Day 2 | 26 August 2025    
  Session 2: Guillaume Salbreux   
    9:00-9:30 Hanh Vu To grow or not to grow: How do planarian flatworms know they have reached the right size?
    9:30-10:00 Andy Oates Clocks and timers in developing embryos
   

10:00 -10:30

Charlotte Aumeier EMBO Young Investigators

 Motor Proteins Shaping the Microtubule Landscape
    10:30-10:50 Coffee Break
    10:50 Meeting Picture
    11:00-11:30 Hernan G.  Garcia Using Physics as a Microscope to Dissect Transcriptional Dynamics in Development
    11:30-12:00 Martin Schrimpf Brains and Machines
    12:00-12:30 Ina Sonnen Signaling dynamics in the control of vertebrate mesoderm segmentation
         
    12:45-13:45 Lunch
         
    14:00 Poster Session I  
         
  Session 3: Charlotte Aumeier  EMBO Young Investigators
    17:00-17:30 IIva Tolić A Universal Scaling Law for Mitotic Spindles Driven by Chromosome Crowding
    17:30-18:00 Alan James  Bridge Biocuration Matters: Harnessing AI to Model Biological Systems at PubMed Scale
    18:00-18:15 Shayan Shami Pour Investigating the Mechanochemical Basis of Cell Fate Decisions Using Multiplexed Protein Mapping of Developing Embryo
    18:15-18:30 Olivier Pertz Spatiotemporal antagonism between MAPK/ERK and BMP/SMAD1 signaling defines embryonic fate patterning in human stem cell colonies
    18:30-19:00 Colinda Scheele Natural tissue remodeling as trigger for tumor initiation?
         
     19:15-20:15  Dinner
       
  Session 4: Ivana Gasic  
    20:30-20:45 Olga Afonso Cytoplasmic flow is a cell size sensor that scales anaphase
    20:45-21:15 Jonathan  Rodenfels Energetics of Biological Systems

Day 3 | 27 August 2025    
     9:00 - 14:00 Hike (start 9:00 reception)
      Pic-nic lunch 
         
    14:00 - 16:45  Poster Session III  
   
  Session 5: Marcos González-Gaitán
    17:00 -17:30 Maria Brbic Generative AI for Unlocking the Complexity of Cells
    17:30-18:00 Akankshi  Munjal A mechano-chemical feedback via the extracellular matrix drives tissue elongation
    18:00-18:15 Priyanka Sasmal   Chimeras of Kinesin-6 and Kinesin-14 reveal head-neck-tail domain functions and dysfunctions that lead to aneuploidy in fission yeast
    18:15-18:30 Francois Fagotto  Alternative mechanism for cell intercalation: Disassembly of adhesive contacts via cadherin peeling and lateral diffusion during remodelling in mesenchymal tissue.
    18:30-19:00 Agathe  Chaigne Cutting it fine: mechanical regulation of microtubule abscission
         
     19:15-20:15  Dinner
       
  Session 6: Agathe  Chaigne  
    20:30-21:00 Kim Sangwoo Rigidity transitions during embryonic development
    21:00-21:15 Ana Almeida  Tubulin autoregulation tunes microtubule dynamics to support multicellular architecture

Day 4 | 28 August 2025    
  Session 7: Michel Steinmetz  
    9:00-9:30 Ivana Gasic Regulated protein biosynthesis: lessons learned from tubulin
   

9:30 -10:00

 Radhika Subramanian How the Aurora B kinase finds the spindle midzone in anaphase
    10:00 - 10:30 Zuzana Sumbalova Koledova Contractile fibroblasts form a transient niche of mammary epithelium undergoing branching morphogenesis
    10:30-11:00 Coffee Break
    11:00-11:30 Guillaume Salbreux From active surfaces to evo-devo-mechanobiology
    11:30-12:00 Basile Wicky Interfacing with biology using protein design
    12:00-12:30 Theresa Jakuszeit Different Ways Through the Maze: Immune Cell Chemotaxis in Complex Environments
         
    13:00-14:00 Lunch
         
    14:00-16:30 Poster Session IV  
         
  Session 8: Zuzana Sumbalova Koledova
    17:00-17:30 Nikolai Klena Axo-Ciliary Interactions and Functional Specialization of Beta Cell Primary Cilia
    17:30-17:45 Jonathan Jackson  Towards understanding the topological structure of the avian left-right organizer
    17:45-18:15 Marcos González-Gaitán An acid switch decouples BMP gradient formation from morphogenetic signaling
    18:15-18:30 Camilla Autorino  A closed feedback between tissue phase transitions and morphogen gradients drives patterning dynamics
    18:30-18:45  Argo Mukherjee Topological interactions drive the first fate decision in the Drosophila embryo
    18:45-19:15 Edo Kussell Gene regulation and phenotypic memory in fluctuating environments
         
    20:00-23:00 Gala-Dinner

Day 5 | 29 August 2025        
  Session 9: Hernan G.  Garcia  
    9:00 - 9:15 Filipe Nunes Vicente Actin crosslinking regulates cortical mechanics and cell polarity in a length-dependent manner 
    9:15 - 9:30 Yamini Vadapalli Actin and Microtubules cooperate in chromosome capture during oocyte meiosis
    9:30-10:00 Michel Steinmetz A unifying structural basis of microtubule-mediated signal transduction
    10:00 -10:15 Andy Oates/ Charlotte Aumeier  Conclusions and Next Arolla meeting
         
    10:15-11:15 Coffee Break
         
    11:30 End of Arolla 2025 meeting   
         
    12:11 Arolla, -> Sion, gare SBB  SBB.ch