Fides Zenk

Professeure assistante tenure track at EPFL's School of Life Sciences (SV) within the Brain Mind Institute (BMI), Fides Zenk leads the UPZENK research unit. She holds multiple roles, including teaching responsibilities in Neuro-X, Biomedical Engineering, and doctoral program memberships (Programme doctoral Biotechnologie et génie biologique, Programme doctoral Neurosciences). Her lab focuses on epigenetic regulation in developmental systems, using brain organoids and model organisms like Drosophila and axolotl. She advises five PhD students and collaborates across disciplines, including systems biology and regenerative medicine. Her work bridges molecular mechanisms with tissue-level organization in developmental and regenerative contexts.

Research emphasizes chromatin dynamics, cell fate decisions, and 3D genome architecture during embryogenesis. She develops multi-modal profiling techniques (e.g., Phospho-seq, CUT&Tag) to study epigenetic and proteomic interactions. Teaching includes courses on neuroscience foundations and single-cell biology. Her lab website: upzenk.epfl.ch.