Joerg Huelsken

Joerg Huelsken is an Associate Professor at the School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he leads the Huelsken Lab at the Institut de Recherche en Ingénierie Moléculaire et en Imagerie Cellulaire (ISREC). He holds multiple teaching appointments within EPFL’s graduate programs, including roles in the Doctoral Program in Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences (EDMS) and the School of Life Sciences (SSV). His research is centered on cancer biology, particularly tumor heterogeneity, cancer stem cells, metastasis, and the role of the microenvironment and signaling pathways such as Wnt and integrin in disease progression.

His research interests span cancer stem cells, metastatic niches, organoid models, Wnt/β-catenin signaling, integrin-mediated adhesion, and hematopoietic stem cell regulation. His lab employs cutting-edge approaches including patient-derived organoids, single-cell transcriptomics, and in vivo mouse models to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor initiation, progression, and therapy resistance. A major focus is understanding how cancer cells adopt stem-like states in response to therapy, particularly immunotherapy, and how the niche supports metastatic colonization.

The trends in his recent publications reflect a strong integration of basic molecular mechanisms with translational applications. His work bridges developmental biology, stem cell regulation, and oncology, with recurring themes of signaling crosstalk, cellular plasticity, and microenvironmental control. He has developed platforms for personalized cancer treatment using organoids and statistical modeling, and his team investigates metabolic dependencies in metastasis-initiating cells. His research has been published in high-impact journals such as Nature, Cell Stem Cell, Nature Communications, and Cancer Cell.

• Metabolic dependencies of metastasis-initiating cells in female breast cancer (Nature Communications, 2023)
• IFNγ-induced stem-like state of cancer cells as a driver of metastatic progression following immunotherapy (Cell Stem Cell, 2023)
• Platform combining statistical modeling and patient-derived organoids to facilitate personalized treatment of colorectal carcinoma (Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, 2023)

Prof. Huelsken has supervised numerous PhD students at EPFL, including Maxim Norkin, Candice Young, Angela Madurga Alonso, Mathieu Girardin, and Zuzana Tatárová. His lab is actively involved in teaching, offering courses such as Cancer Biology II and practical lab modules. He also contributes to institutional education through roles in the EDMS and SSV-ENS programs.

The Huelsken Lab operates at EPFL’s SV campus, focusing on interdisciplinary research that combines molecular oncology, stem cell biology, and systems approaches to understand and target the root causes of cancer progression and therapy resistance.