Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis (ETH Zurich, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, CH)

Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis is Professor of Genome Evolution at the ETH Zurich Department of Biology, and a faculty member at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology (IMSB), Switzerland. She joins ETH Zurich after a tenure at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. 

Her research is centered on how new genes emerge and integrate into biological networks — a process often referred to as de novo gene birth. She uses a combination of computational modelling and experimental biology to explore the transition from non-coding sequences to functional genes (“proto-genes”), especially in yeast systems. 

Prof. Carvunis studied life sciences and bioinformatics in France, completing her Ph.D. in 2011. She then pursued post-doctoral work and later established her independent research programme, focusing on systems biology of genome innovation.

Her appointment at ETH Zurich (announced July 2025) strengthens the institution’s efforts in evolutionary systems biology and genomics.

 

Jesper Olsen (University of Copenhagen, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, DK)

Jesper Velgaard Olsen is a Professor of Proteomics and Deputy Head of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (CPR) at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 

He studied analytical chemistry at the University of Southern Denmark, completing an MSc under Prof. Roman Zubarev. He then undertook a PhD in molecular biology/biochemistry in the group of Prof. Matthias Mann, where he helped develop high-resolution mass spectrometry-based proteomics. 

Following a post-doctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, where he developed quantitative phosphoproteomics for signalling pathway analysis, he returned to Denmark in 2009 to lead his own group at CPR. 

At CPR, his research focuses on cutting‐edge mass spectrometry methods to dissect protein composition, post-translational modifications, signalling networks and single-cell proteomics. For example, his group recently developed innovative workflows enabling high-throughput deep proteome and phosphoproteome profiling and new approaches to study protein dynamics in single cells.

Prof. Olsen has been recognised with major awards, including the KFJ Pre-clinical Prize for his contributions to mass-spectrometry-based proteomics.

In his role as Deputy Head of CPR, he also leads training and education efforts, supporting the next generation of protein researchers and the development of proteomics technologies.