https://www.p-lab.science/home daily 1.0 2025-02-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/28b4ef3e-30ee-4226-9659-9b870aa11d52/Cd+R20291+sigD%40007-1_2-3.gif home - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.p-lab.science/team daily 0.75 2026-01-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/36b12371-6da6-4681-8b6a-56b264432e5a/IMG_3323.jpg team The group at the Plateau de Beauregard, September 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/1638791552153-BERH7U6HPN8TN4HG1IS0/Alex+-+Persat_lab-01196.jpg team Alex Persat Associate Professor in Life Sciences Vice-Dean for Education alexandre.persat@epfl.ch - @alexpersat PhD Stanford University MS Stanford University BS Ecole Polytechnique https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/a0e5c215-9227-4377-a0f3-e67dea924388/persatlab_Zainebe+lab1.jpg team Zaïnebe Al-Mayyah Lab technician - zainebe.al-mayyah@epfl.ch MS UNIL BS UNIL https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/7596f7c3-c4b0-4601-836d-3ed47ab8dde8/persatlab_Laure+lab2.jpg team Laure Le Blanc Postdoctoral fellow - laure.leblanc@epfl.ch PhD Institut Pasteur MS ESPCI https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/78f0ccc8-8c28-4a57-9956-ce659c6dfe15/persatlab_Miro+lab2.jpg team Miro Plum Postdoctoral fellow- miro.plum@epfl.ch PhD University of Basel MS University of Uppsala BS University of Bonn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/b9088c0a-a181-4e5b-b0a9-a17240b34786/persatlab_Lucas+lab3.jpg team - Make it stand out Lucas Meirelles EMBO Postdoctoral fellow - lucas.meirelles@epfl.ch PhD Caltech MS São Paulo State University BS São Paulo State University https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/0337b832-e334-4002-9d06-18156fb54522/keitaro-2.png team - Make it stand out Keitaro Kasahara Postdoctoral fellow - keitaro.kasahara@epfl.ch PhD Aachen University MS Keio University https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/d2c263d8-5945-4a4b-873b-eb030b1ce006/_MG_9833_low.jpg team - Make it stand out David Scheidweiler SNSF Postdoctoral fellow - david.scheidweiler@epfl.ch PhD EPFL https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/e2b056c4-08fd-4850-87ff-7ea2993355af/Persat_lab-013131.jpg team Sourabh Monnappa PhD student (with the Sakar lab) - sourabh.kuppandajafri@epfl.ch MS TU Dresden BS Siddaganga Institute of Technology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/0da6be0b-d3f7-4b1c-89f6-dcfc963b1f1c/persatlab_Gani+lab2.jpg team Chia-Ni (Gani) Tsai PhD student - chia-ni.tsai@epfl.ch MS National Taiwan University BS Kaohsiung Medical University https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/52afd837-5e09-463f-872a-4332aa5452a6/Hanyi-photo.jpg team Hanyi Huang PhD student - han-yi.huang@epfl.ch MS National Taiwan University BS National Taiwan University https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/b1331ca7-feab-48b0-a298-7332183af0de/persatlab_PoLong+lab1.jpg team Po-Long Hsiao PhD student - po-long.hsiao@epfl.ch MS National Taiwan University BS National Taiwan University https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/1e92b64e-432c-422e-ae90-bb61e9d17fd5/IMG_3150+Large.jpg team - Make it stand out Alice Pellegrino PhD student - alice.pellegrino@epfl.ch MS EPFL BS Politecnico di Torino https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/dce10120-51e9-43ee-b2be-3f1cea66e0cd/Jann.jpg team Jann Ledergerber PhD student - jann.ledergerber@epfl.ch MS ETH BS EPFL https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/e45413a1-6768-48da-9269-e490f883c362/IMG_3201.jpg team - Make it stand out Dea Müller PhD student - dea.muller@epfl.ch MS ETH BS University of Zürich https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/d1406a81-2e50-4d0a-a83e-5558ac10e624/Marin+Large.jpg team Marin Ollagnon PhD student - marin.ollagnon@epfl.ch MS ETH BS University of Geneva https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/9c2cec3a-887e-4a56-98a1-ba0237b107f0/persatlab_Tania+lab2.jpg team Tania Distler PhD student - tania.distler@epfl.ch MS TU Dresden BS U of Heidelberg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/1570711511369-L5WTBD8N3ZSH20251H5C/FB_IMG_1570072018660.jpg team Elke Holderbeke Administrative assistant elke.holderbeke@epfl.ch BS Georgetown University MS University of Edinburgh https://www.p-lab.science/contact daily 0.75 2017-02-17 https://www.p-lab.science/new-page daily 0.75 2017-02-16 https://www.p-lab.science/new-page-1 daily 0.75 2017-02-16 https://www.p-lab.science/publications daily 0.75 2026-03-10 https://www.p-lab.science/research daily 0.75 2023-10-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/1667495101095-6Q10A7YWN4UJJD7JVPQJ/Artboard+1%40300x.png research - Mechanobiology of infections During infections, pathogens experience a variety of mechanical forces including flow and contact with soft matrices. Our lab is developing new infection models based on tissue-engineered organoids to investigate pathogens in more realistic environments, and ultimately determine how mechanics impact pathogen physiology. Reference: Rossy, PloS Bio 2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/1667495263856-ZFWYS50BGRTE15VRWJ3M/kiwi+biofilm.jpg research - Biofilm morphomechanics Biofilms are multicellular bacterial structures that confer protection to resident microbes. As a result, they are a preferred lifestyle for many bacteria. Biofilm resilience is the main cause of chronic and recurring infections, contributing to antibiotic resistance. We investigate how the mechanics of biofilms and of the surrounding environment play a role in the physiology of resident bacteria. We engineer new methods to mechanical probe biofilm dwelling cells at high temporal and spatial resolution, allowing us to rigorously identify the contribution of forces in maintaining resilience against antimicrobials. References: Cont, eLife, 2020 Rossy, Nature Communications, 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a580fa414fb5112de3f1d8/1667495769386-QA5JBINHNMKAI5E144UD/Fig2_Twitching_cpdA-_100x_jpeg.gif research - Bacterial mechanosensing As they transition from swimming to surface-attached states, bacteria mechanically experience solid materials. But do they feel this contact as we do when touching a surface? We explore this question by rigorously investigating how bacteria sense and respond to surface contact. We found that the pathogen Pseudomona aeruginosa responds to surface contact by upregulating acute viruelnce factors. P. aeruginosa uses long and thin filament called type IV pili to simultaneously navigate and sense surfaces. We are currently identifying the mechanicsms by which P. aeruginosa transduces a mechanical input from pili to a cellular response. References: Kühn, PNAS 2021 Tala, Nature Microbiology 2019 https://www.p-lab.science/open-positions daily 0.75 2026-03-23 https://www.p-lab.science/masters-projects daily 0.75 2025-04-10 https://www.p-lab.science/funding daily 0.75 2025-04-08 https://www.p-lab.science/read-me-om daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377097104716-HDI53XJVV0DKZ24A3T68/51e453dee4b06abd3403c22e.png Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377096775448-0L7B4Q54H1VLOGFF1DPR/synthetica+%2820130821%29.jpg Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377096507573-1MU42OOOOGIM9URAJ9D9/515c4225e4b0afec1218b21e.png Read Me https://www.p-lab.science/store daily 0.75 2023-02-16