Celine Labouesse

Dr. Céline Labouesse is a Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zürich. Her primary affiliation is with the Macromolecular Engineering Lab, where she leads research into mechanobiology and bioengineering applications. She is co-organizer of the Zurich Mechanobiology Seminar Series (with Z. Kechagia, M. Nava, and J. Mayner), focusing on interdisciplinary topics spanning mechanobiology, biophysics, biomechanics, and biomaterials.

Her research interests encompass mechanotransduction in cells and tissues, immunomodulatory biomaterials, and 3D models of skin tissue. Key projects include development of tunable hydrogels for drug delivery platforms, investigation of cellular mechanical memory in stem cells, and engineering 3D cancer models to replace animal testing.

Her articles highlight innovations in biomaterial design (e.g., bioactive sponges), cellular response mechanisms to hyperosmotic/hydrostatic stress, and protein isolation techniques for 3D scaffolds. Current funding sources include SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation) and Helmut Horten Stiftung. She has advised over a dozen graduate students and postdocs, with active collaborations across ETH departments and institutions like UZH and EMPA.

Lab activities focus on advancing biomaterials for biomedical applications, with particular emphasis on mechanosensitive systems. Recent work addresses extracellular matrix remodeling in fibrosis and optimizing hydrogel substrates for pluripotent stem cell maintenance.