{"id":77939,"date":"2026-01-05T13:24:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=77939"},"modified":"2026-02-06T16:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:35:00","slug":"a-lab-away-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/connections\/a-lab-away-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"A lab away from home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When EMBL\u2019s Molecules to Ecosystems<\/em> programme began in 2023, it included a concerted effort to attract and fund scientists to a mutually beneficial scientific exchange in the form of sabbaticals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative intended to bring \u2018non-traditional\u2019 scientific allies together at EMBL to enable cross-fertilisation of knowledge and expertise. It launched formally as part of EMBL\u2019s programme that broadened the organisation\u2019s strategic vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea was to develop a formal exchange programme that would attract high-level scientists, particularly non-traditional allies, such as mathematicians, ecologists, technologists and physicists, for example,\u201d said Juergen Deka, EMBL\u2019s Head of External Scientific Training. \u201cNot many comparable programmes privately arrange the logistics as we do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applications for sabbaticals are growing, as are the length of stays and the number of EMBL sites hosting scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe hope is that EMBL gets exposed to science and scientists it doesn\u2019t normally encounter, and in exchange, these scientists benefit from EMBL\u2019s multi-site and multi-faceted research and services environment,\u201d said Aditya Sankar, Scientific Visitor Programme and Training Lead. \u201cIt offers a period of reflection, where scientists can reinvent or reinvigorate their own research in a new setting characterised by talented scientists, new technologies, and fresh perspectives. They\u2019re able to gather new insights that help influence the speed, scope, and significance of their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sabbatical fellowships usually last between three months and a year. In addition to visiting a particular group, participants can interact with scientific service providers,  as well as other EMBL researchers and colleagues across all sites. Fellows deliver background and reflection seminars at EMBL at the start and end of the fellowship, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process for a fellow begins with a conversation or contact with an EMBL scientist who agrees to host them on a sabbatical. After discussions on the nature and potential benefits of a visit, the candidate and the host jointly submit a formal application seeking funding to a review committee that represents all EMBL sites. Only a few applicants are selected each year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach \u2018call\u2019 for applications gets revised to incorporate developing priorities and fellows’ needs in a bid to accommodate more diversity among participants,\u201d  Sankar said. \u201cIn the future, we\u2019re hoping to continue seeing longer sabbatical stays with strong participation in EMBL life and activities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

EMBL has hosted 13 sabbatical fellows since 2023. Each one has engaged with the EMBL community in its own way, introducing their own expertise in the process. Two new sabbatical fellows will join us in 2026, including a first awardee for EMBL Grenoble. Here are just a few experiences shared by current awardees on a sabbatical at EMBL:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developing a more holistic view of cerebral malaria research at EMBL Barcelona<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Christopher Moxon<\/strong> brings an unusually broad perspective to cerebral malaria research. Because Moxon works as a paediatric infectious disease specialist at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow and at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Malawi, his research group<\/a> is split between the two locations. He is currently at EMBL Barcelona on a sabbatical in Maria Bernabeu<\/a>\u2019s group, where the collaboration is strengthening the bridge between clinical insight and cutting-edge model systems, advancing the understanding of cerebral malaria in translational ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"two
Christopher Moxon’s cerebral malaria research is benefiting from a sabbatical in Maria Bernabeu’s group at EMBL Barcelona. Credit: Carla Manzanas\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt my own group, we study cerebral malaria across scales,\u201d Moxon said. \u201cOur lab uses multi-omics approaches and systems biology tools to integrate insights from patients down to the cellular level. Ultimately, we want to identify treatment targets to improve outcomes for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moxon and Bernabeu began collaborating a couple of years ago and jointly supervised an EIPOD postdoc<\/a>, Olawunmi Oyernide. The synergy was clear: the combined range of their expertise \u2013 from cells to tissues \u2013 allowed them to develop a more holistic view of cerebral malaria pathogenesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIntegrating Maria\u2019s cutting-edge in vitro<\/em> model with my group\u2019s multi-omics approaches is very exciting and highly synergistic,\u201d Moxon said. \u201cThe model can be improved and its utility better understood through insights from our work in patients, and those patient-derived insights need to be validated and explored in a tractable model system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working in both Glasgow and Malawi is challenging but essential for Moxon\u2019s group to gain a deep understanding of the pathology and, crucially, to foster knowledge transfer across disciplines. The EMBL sabbatical programme strengthens this approach, helping both Moxon\u2019s and Bernabeu\u2019s groups deepen their collaboration, share data, and brainstorm new ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese months in Barcelona have exposed me to the very rich environment of EMBL Barcelona\u2019s unit meetings, seminars, and visiting speakers,\u201d Moxon said. \u201cI am also in touch with other EMBL group leaders and core facilities. I\u2019ve just had a truly inspiring visit to Heidelberg that sparked ideas through discussions with group leaders there, notably discussions relating to imaging clinical samples with Yannick Schwab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the sabbatical progresses, Moxon is looking forward to translating these new ideas into concrete research directions. He believes that emerging tools, such as spatial transcriptomics and AI-enhanced analytical methods, will fundamentally expand what is possible to investigate in human disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese approaches are transforming our ability to understand the heterogeneity of human pathology,\u201d Moxon said, \u201cand I think we will see major advances in identifying human-relevant mechanisms and treatment targets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting epigenetics and immune memories at EMBL Rome<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Luigia Pace<\/strong> is an Italian immunologist whose research focuses on T-cell memory in the context of infection and cancer. After a PhD in Immunology at the University Tor Vergata in Rome, she carried out postdoctoral research at the Curie Institute in Paris and at the TWINCORE Institute in Germany. In 2018, she returned to Italy thanks to a Harvard-Armenise fellowship to establish her research group, first at the Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM) in Turin, and later at the IRCCS Fondazione del Piemonte per l\u2019Oncologia in Candiolo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"two
Luigia Pace is an Italian immunologist who has been on a sabbatical with the Boulard Group at EMBL Rome. Credit: Rossana DeLorenzi\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pace\u2019s research focuses on how epigenetic mechanisms and chromatin structure influence T-cell differentiation and the formation of immune memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have always embraced a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach, working closely with other research groups and specialised facilities,\u201d Pace said. \u201cAlso, these have been multicultural environments that encourage open exchange and sharing of ideas. Through my interactions with experts in epigenetics, I began to notice intriguing parallels between epigenetic regulation and the mechanisms that shape immune responses. This insight inspired a project through which we were able to demonstrate that immunological memory is driven by an epigenetic process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pace reached out to colleagues at EMBL Rome because it is one of the prominent European centres to study epigenetics and is equipped with specialised facilities to generate mouse models with targeted epigenetic modifications. Her group began collaborating with the Boulard Group at EMBL Rome, as well as several EMBL facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the launch of EMBL\u2019s Molecules to Ecosystems <\/em><\/a>programme and the introduction of transversal themes that encourage collaborative, multidisciplinary projects, an opportunity emerged to develop a joint project with Mathieu Boulard (EMBL Rome) and Kyung-Min Noh (EMBL Heidelberg). Their collaboration explores the epigenetic basis of T-cell memory following bacterial infection<\/a> and received internal funding from the Infection Biology Transversal Theme<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When EMBL opened a call for sabbaticals, it offered the opportunity to work more closely with her collaborators and take part in EMBL\u2019s scientific life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI participate in all the activities within the Boulard Group and, more broadly, across the campus. But I also love walking through the corridors and talking to people,\u201d she said. \u201cThat’s how the best ideas are born \u2013 by bringing together different perspectives to approach scientific questions that are ultimately very similar, even if they apply to different systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sabbatical not only consolidates her collaboration with EMBL Rome but also expands her network across EMBL sites. Pace visited the EMBL Heidelberg campus in December and will visit EMBL-EBI in Hinxton, UK, in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conferring on population-scale genomics and machine learning to better understand human disease<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Originally from South Africa and now based in Sydney, Australia, Natalie Twine<\/strong>\u2019s career has taken her across the globe. She currently leads a genomics team at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia\u2019s national science agency, which focuses on population-scale genomics, cloud-based platform development, and machine-learning approaches to understanding human disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"bioinformatician
Natalie Twine\u2019s career has taken her across the globe, including to a sabbatical at EMBL-EBI with the Freeberg Group. Credit: EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After giving a presentation at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Twine connected with EMBL-EBI Team Leader, Mallory Freeberg<\/a>, whose expertise in large-scale human genomics complemented Twine\u2019s own research. EMBL\u2019s sabbatical fellowship, supported by a career-development award from CSIRO, offered an ideal opportunity for Twine to come to EMBL-EBI and build on this shared scientific focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her sabbatical, she has been developing a scalable framework for analysing data from the UK Biobank<\/a>, a large biomedical research project that collects health, lifestyle, and genetic information from half a million participants in the United Kingdom. Twine\u2019s work focuses on identifying gene-gene interactions within these data across a large range of diseases. These interaction results will be integrated into the Ensembl Variant Effect Predictor (VEP)<\/a>, EMBL-EBI\u2019s tool for identifying genetic variants and facilitating variant prioritisation and interpretation, for example, to understand human disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most rewarding aspects of Twine\u2019s time at EMBL-EBI has been the collaboration and networking opportunities. These have included interactions with EMBL-EBI\u2019s services, research groups, and training team, as well as with other organisations on the Wellcome Genome Campus, including the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Being on-site has enabled the kind of spontaneous discussions and collaborations that are difficult to generate remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about the <\/em>EMBL Sabbatical Visitor Programme and the next call for applicants<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now in its third year, EMBL’s sabbatical fellowship programme is attracting non-traditional allied scientists. The participants see opportunities for collaboration, top-notch technology, and leapfrogging research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":77941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17595],"tags":[497,36,43,3684,514,996,27],"embl_taxonomy":[19173,19183,9762,9796,9788,2906,19015,5172,2070],"class_list":["post-77939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connections","tag-barcelona","tag-embl-ebi","tag-heidelberg","tag-infection-biology","tag-rome","tag-scientific-visitor-programme","tag-training","embl_taxonomy-bernabeu-group","embl_taxonomy-boulard-group","embl_taxonomy-embl-barcelona","embl_taxonomy-embl-heidelberg","embl_taxonomy-embl-rome","embl_taxonomy-embl-ebi","embl_taxonomy-mallory-freeberg","embl_taxonomy-scientific-visitor-programme","embl_taxonomy-training-and-development"],"acf":{"vfwp-news_embl_taxonomy":[5172,2070,9788,9762,9796,2906,19173,19183,19015],"featured":true,"show_featured_image":false,"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"article_intro":"

EMBL Sabbatical Fellowship Programme continues to attract participants as scientists see opportunities for collaboration, top-notch technology, and research advancement<\/p>\n","related_links":false,"source_article":false,"in_this_article":false,"press_contact":"None","article_translations":false,"languages":""},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"18a7a17b-e276-4afd-b0ca-8ddac1883d45\";i:2;s:36:\"71aeb1fd-6b3c-4f66-bae8-a09e9fbedf58\";}","parents":[],"name":["Bernabeu Group"],"slug":"bernabeu-group","description":"What > Tissue biology and disease modelling > Bernabeu Group"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"a6e35bb0-c32d-4c9b-aadb-a19b6c7b060f\";i:2;s:36:\"ab8b3518-df35-4bcc-bf75-c900199c507a\";}","parents":[],"name":["Boulard Group"],"slug":"boulard-group","description":"What > Epigenetics and neurobiology > Boulard 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