Carmen Sandi

Carmen Sandi is a Full Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the School of Basic Sciences, where she leads the Behavioral Genetics Laboratory (LGC). Her roles span academic leadership, teaching in Life Sciences Engineering, and membership in doctoral program committees, including the Neuroscience Doctoral Program (EDNE). She oversees research focused on stress physiology, mitochondrial biology, and social behavior, with an emphasis on how these factors influence mental health and neurodegenerative disorders. Sandi has supervised over 20 doctoral theses and teaches courses like 'Neuroscience: Behavior and Cognition'.

Her research explores the interplay between stress, brain mitochondrial function, and behavior, with recent studies addressing topics such as mitochondrial networks in the brain, the impact of peripubertal stress on neural circuits, and the role of glutathione in motivation. Collaborations include work on therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases and anxiety disorders. Sandi’s lab (https://lgc.epfl.ch/) integrates molecular, behavioral, and computational approaches to understand brain resilience and vulnerability to environmental challenges.