معرفی
Beat Fierz is an Associate Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the School of Basic Sciences (SB), affiliated with the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC) and the Laboratory of Biophysical Chemistry of Macromolecules (LCBM). He holds additional roles as Director of the Doctoral Program in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (EDCH) and oversees doctoral education within the SCGC teaching unit. His research focuses on chromatin dynamics, epigenetic regulation, and chemical biology approaches to study histone modifications and protein interactions. He has supervised over 14 PhD students and teaches courses in advanced chemistry and chemical biology. His work bridges molecular mechanisms of chromatin structure with cellular processes like DNA repair and transcriptional regulation.
Research Interests: Dr. Fierz investigates how post-translational modifications of histones (e.g., ubiquitylation, acetylation) regulate chromatin compaction, silencing, and accessibility. He employs single-molecule techniques and chemical synthesis to reconstitute and analyze chromatin states, with applications in understanding epigenetic diseases, aging, and CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing dynamics. Recent studies highlight mechanisms of HP1α-mediated heterochromatin assembly and pioneer transcription factor invasion into compact chromatin.
Doctoral Program Leadership: As Director of the EDCH program, he oversees training in chemistry and chemical engineering, ensuring academic rigor and interdisciplinary collaboration. His lab collaborates extensively with EPFL's Chemical Biology NCCR and contributes to initiatives like the Chemical Biology Seminar Series.
Lab & Teams: The LCBM lab uses innovative tools like 'MagIC beads' and semisynthetic nucleosomes to study chromatin modifications. Current projects include exploring how ubiquitin signals modulate DNA repair proteins and how histone aging impacts chromatin stability. Collaborations span biophysics, biochemistry, and synthetic chemistry.
