Alex Hajnal

Prof. Dr. Alex Hajnal is a Full Professor at the Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich. His research focuses on intercellular signaling mechanisms in Caenorhabditis elegans, particularly the roles of EGFR/RAS/MAPK, Notch, and Wnt pathways in cell fate determination, proliferation, and invasion. He also investigates applications in mammalian cell models and microfluidics-based screening strategies.

• Education: Ph.D. (1993) and M.Sc. (1989) from University of Zurich
• Postdoctoral work: Stanford University (1993-1997)

His research spans developmental biology, cancer biology, and systems biology, with a strong emphasis on conserved molecular mechanisms relevant to human disease. Recent work highlights nutritional regulation via vitamin B12 and one-carbon metabolism in cell fate decisions.

Scientific awards include the EMBO Young Investigator Award (2001) and Sassella Foundation Young Investigator Award (1998). He has secured grants like the Innosuisse Innovation Project (2024) for high-resolution C. elegans screening.

• PhD students: Ana Laranjeira, Svenia Heinze, Tea Kohlbrenner, Silvan Spiri, Evelyn Lattmann, Ting Deng
• Master’s projects: Apoptosis in germ cell development, machine learning for image analysis

Labs and teams at University of Zurich employ advanced techniques such as microfluidics and in vivo imaging. Collaborations extend to human cell signaling studies and computational modeling of developmental processes.