Team

Ying Cai

PhD Student

Ying studies how DNA damage is regulated in the Zygote and how this affects CRISPR efficiency.

She majored in clinical medicine in Dalian Medical University. Her passion for reproduction pushed her further to study Obstetrics and gynecology in Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Her curiosity about the oocyte and embryo prompts her to pursue PhD study in our lab! 

According to Chinese zodiac, she was born in the year of Cow!

Antonia Furrer

Lab Technician

Antonia completed her apprenticeship in 2009 at F. Hoffmann-La Roche with the main topics of Biochemistry, Cell Culture and Molecular Biology.

After gaining experience in different labs at university, industry, and PSI her interest in DNA damage repair brought her to the Cavazza lab.

She makes sure the lab stays in order and with a good vibe, supports team members in their research, and works on different side projects.

In her free time, you can find her at concerts & festivals, yoga sessions, and scuba diving.

Bernhard Magerl

PhD Student

Bernhard focuses on the origin and downstream consequences of aneuploidy in early embryogenesis. He uses the power of Light-sheet microscopy for live imaging of fluorescent embryos in combination with machine-learning algorithms to disentangle developmental trajectories.

Bernhard studied Molecular Biotechnology at the Technical University of Munich. In his Master thesis, he worked on a new suite of genetic markers for correlative light and electron microscopy, also applicable to volume EM.https://rdcu.be/dmwbx

In his free time, Bernhard enjoys mountain biking on the trails around Zurich or skiing.

Twitter   LinkedIn

Mikhael Poirier

Postdoc

Mikhael is investigating the efficacy and safety of CRISPR-based genome editing and its potential use in reproductive medicine.

He was first interested in assisted reproductive technologies during his master’s degree at the University of Montreal where he studied the impact of cloning and induced pluripotency on imprinted genes.

He continued his PhD studies at the University of Bonn, investigating the impact of early lactation in the cow on oocyte and embryo epigenome, as well as CRISPR-Cas9 editing at the zygote stage.

In his free time, Mikhael enjoys playing some flute or the ukulele and grilling at the park.

Markus Schliffka

Postdoc

Markus studies steroid hormones in the early mammalian embryo. In collaboration with the group of Katharina Gapp at ETH Zürich, he investigates the effects of the steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone and the role of their respective receptors in the preimplantation development of the cow and mouse embryo.

Markus completed his undergraduate studies in biochemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin. During his PhD at the Institut Curie in Paris, he focussed on the role of actomyosin contractility during early mouse development; investigating the roles of contractility in preimplantation morphogenesis and blastocoel formation.

 Twitter: x.com/MSchliffka

Martino Ugolini

Postdoc

Martino is studying how mammalian embryos manage to make sure that their first cell division is symmetric, and what are the causes and consequences when they happen to make a first asymmetric division.

 Before switching to studying bovine embryos, he has studied the role of piRNAs in c. elegans in the Cecere lab (Paris), the role of oxidative stress on aging in the short-lived killifish, the transcripts that are present in murine synapses, and how their composition changes over time (Cellerino lab, Pisa and Jena), the biophysical properties of the spindle’s microtubules (Brugués lab, Dresden) and, in his PhD, the role of transcription bodies, which are nuclear structures in which transcriptional activity is concentrated, during early zebrafish development (Vastenhouw Lab, Lausanne).

 When he is not in the lab you can find him playing his violin, at the cinema watching old movies or on the dance floor.

Tommaso Cavazza

Group Leader

Tommaso coordinates the lab and tries his best to keep everybody happy.

For more info on Tommaso's professional CV, click here.

Tommaso loves cycling, but lately he became very slow as he must carry his two kids in the bike trailer!

Former members

Dario Filippone (2023-24): Dario left the team to start a Bachelor in Applied Digital Life Science.