Elena Delfino did her PhD in the laboratory of Pr Ramesh Pillai working on how chemical modifications installed at the 5' end of messenger RNA can modulate gene expression in mammals, in a physiological or in a disease context. This is a direction that offers a crucial counterpoint to the prevailing focus in the field, which has largely concentrated on gene expression regulatory mechanisms driven by factor binding or recognition of the 3' end of mRNA.

Elena defended her thesis [1] in Molecular Biosciences in September 2024 and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the same lab, finalising projects and publications.

Quote by Elena:

“I am incredibly honoured to be named as winner of the Laemmli Prize together with Angélique. This prize serves as a profound acknowledgment of the quality of my PhD thesis work, and the entire project for which I would like to sincerely thank my supervisor, Ramesh Pillai and all my dedicated collaborators.

My career goal is to establish my own independent research group as a PI. To achieve this, I am actively seeking an advanced postdoctoral opportunity in a new laboratory, which will allow me to broaden my expertise and perspective. The Laemmli Prize will be instrumental in supporting my transition to the next phase of my career.”

Angélique Perret did her PhD in the laboratory of Pr Thierry Soldati. Angelique’s doctoral thesis in Molecular Biosciences [2] focused on unravelling the role of sterols during infection by Mycobacterium marinum. Using a combination of genetic manipulation, transcriptomic and microscopy technics, she demonstrated that the host cell membrane composition, and more specifically sterol levels and localisation, is a key determinant of Mycobacterium marinum infection, and more broadly, of endo-lysosomal susceptibility to membrane damage, in both amoebae and mammalian cells.

Angélique recently joined the group of Maximiliano Gutierrez at the Francis Crick Institute in London as a postdoctoral researcher. She now works on the cell biology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, marking a transition from model organisms to cellular systems that are more directly relevant to human disease.

Angelique said: “I am deeply honoured to have been awarded the Laemmli Prize as recognition of the dedicated work carried out throughout my PhD journey. I would also like to acknowledge Thierry as my PhD would not have been the same without his invaluable mentorship, patience and passion for science.”

The Laemmli Prize is awarded in honor of Ulrich Laemmli, for an exceptional thesis in Life Sciences in a field related to molecular biology. The prize of 6’000 CHF is generously sponsored by the royalties of a patent endowed to Ulrich Laemmli’s former departments at UNIGE.

Congratulations!!

1. DELFINO, E. A Story of mRNA Caps: Investigating the Physiological Role of the Cap-specific Methyltransferase PCIF1 and the Decapping Enzyme NUDT2
Doctoral Thesis, 2024. doi: 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:182415


2. PERRET,A . From membrane microdomains to NPC: investigating the role of sterols during Mycobacterium marinum infection
Doctoral Thesis, 2025. doi: 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:186621