Team

After witnessing a demonstrative dissection of a goat brain, and being naturally drawn by its complexity, I began my studies with a Bachelor in Biology at the University of Strasbourg (France). I continued with an international master in Neuroscience, where I was ranked 1st upon graduation and contributed in a journal club publication in Cell Adhesion & Migration. Although still based at the University of Strasbourg, this program offered courses in neighboring Basel (Switzerland) and Freiburg im Breigsau (Germany). This cross-border exchange offered exposure to a diversity of researchers and their labs. Through the Master’s lab rotations, I was initiated to electrophysiology and the patch-clamp technique on the mouse retina in Dr. Michel Roux's lab, at the Institute for genetics and molecular and cellular biology. I continued my Master training in electrophysiology at Prof. Stoop's lab, where I became proficient in double whole-cell patch-clamp and contributed to the elucidation of the mechanisms behind the role of oxytocin in the amygdala, where I contributed to a publication in Science. For my ongoing PhD work, I work on understanding how connected neuronal networks in the lateral amygdala encode for emotional memories. In addition, I have developed Matlab and R scripts capable of analyzing electrophysiological data.

Dr. Lütjens joined Ron’s group in September 2013. Prior to this, Dr. Lütjens worked for 11 years at Addex Pharmaceuticals, holding different positions within the Biology department, lastly as VP Biology. While at Addex, he established the biology capabilities and built the company’s small molecule allosteric modulator biology platform. He played a pivotal role in all of Addex’ small molecule allosteric modulator programs, including research collaborations with Merck & co. and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. The latter partnership has led to the successful progression of the first mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator into man. Prior to joining Addex, Dr Lütjens completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neuropharmacology at the Scripps Research Institute, in La Jolla, CA, where he focused on understanding molecular changes involved in addiction disorders. Dr Lütjens obtained his degrees in Biology from the University of Geneva, his master’s at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research and his Ph.D. thesis at the Glaxo Institute for Molecular Biology in Geneva and the Institute for Cellular Biology and Morphology in Lausanne. Dr. Lütjens is co-author of multiple peer-reviewed publications and co-inventor on patents covering screening methods or chemical compounds.

Erwin van den Burg studied Biology at the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands. Following this, he obtained his PhD degree at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and this was followed by postdoctoral research projects in France (CNRS, Gif sur Yvette), The Netherlands (Radboud University) and Switzerland (Hôpital de Cery, Prilly / Lausanne). He was a junior group leader in the lab of professor Inga Neumann at the University of Regensburg, Germany, before returning to the Stoop lab in Lausanne, where he pursues his research interest in the neurobiology of stress and anxiety. A further interest of his concerns the popularisation of biological sciences by means of research, publication and education.