Professor, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Ueli Schibler was born in 1947 in Olten, Switzerland,
studied biology at the University of Bern and obtained
his Ph.D. in 1975. During his thesis project, he
compared the secondary structure of pre-ribosomal
and ribosomal RNA during vertebrate evolution. From
1975-78 Schibler worked as a postdoctoral fellow
on mRNA 5Æ-capping and immunoglobulin mRNA processing
in Robert PerryÆs laboratory at the Fox Chase Cancer
Center in Philadelphia. He then joined the Swiss
Institute for Experimental Cancer Research [ISREC],
first as a junior group leader [1978-81] and then
as a senior group leader with tenure [1981-1984].
At ISREC, he investigated the tissue-specific expression
of alpha-amylase genes in collaboration with Otto
Hagenb¹chle and Peter Wellauer. These studies resulted
in the discovery of alternative promoter usage and
differential splicing. In 1984, Schibler joined
the Department of Molecular Biology at the University
of Geneva as a full professor. His Geneva research
team developed a tissue-specific in vitro transcription
system using nuclear proteins from solid rat tissues.
This simple biochemical assay system allowed the
rapid identification of cis-acting elements of model
genes and their trans-acting cognate transcription
factors. One of these transcriptional regulatory
proteins, DBP, was found to be expressed in a strongly
circadian fashion in the liver. This unexpected
finding motivated Schibler and his coworkers to
study circadian clocks in peripheral tissues. Recently,
they showed that even cultured fibroblast cell lines
contain cell-autonomous and self-sustained circadian
oscillators. Schibler is a member of several scientific
associations, including EMBO, European Academy of
Sciences, Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, Faculty
of 1000, and Union of Swiss Societies in Experimental
Biology. He received the Friedrich Miescher Award
of the Swiss Biochemical Society in 1983, the Cloëtta
Prize for Medicine in 1986, the Otto Naegeli Prize
for Medicine in 1996, and the Louis Jeantet Prize
for Medicine in 2000. |
