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Annual Report 2010/2011
Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine
»Building up«
Editorial
Professor Dr. Rudi Balling, Director LCSB
of disease stratification from this, however, not neglecting
to look also at genomics, proteomics and transcriptomics,
which we do with our partners in the US, especially the
Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle, our most
important knowledge transfer partner. They have done a
great job in supporting us, complementing us, and even
promoting us in our development to what we are now.
International and interdisciplinary cooperation, building
partnerships with the best in the world is the key to being
successful in the rapidly changing landscape of biotechnology and Information and Communication Technology.
Building things up has always been my passion. This is why
I could not resist accepting the offer to become the first
director of LCSB and gain the chance to once again start
from scratch – literally I can say. The beautiful building
into which we have moved just now in August 2011 did not
exist in those first days. It is one of the examples what
a small but powerful country like Luxembourg can do. I
have never seen buildings made functional in such a short
time. »We can do it« seems a motto of this country and I
would like to adopt it for LCSB as well. And we do meet the
challenge. From one employee – myself in September 2009
– we have built seven research groups, led by young people
full of ideas, full of enthusiasm. I am proud of these highly
motivated investigators. Together we have already secured
more than 3,5 Mio € in external grants.
What is ahead of us? Genome wide omics and imaging will
provide us with a tsunami of data. LCSB´s challenge will be
to turn the available information into knowledge. This will
require major efforts in data acquisition, handling, storage
and of course data analysis. The future LCSB will be as
much a computer centre as it will be a biology centre,
both being in line with the priorities of the University of
Luxembourg.
I feel honoured that I was trusted to take up this important mission of building up systems biology in Luxembourg.
But how to fulfil such great expectations? My deep persuasion is: to be successful you need to focus.
Focusing has to be done on all levels: as a centre for
systems biomedicine by selecting a specific disease area.
I chose neurodegenerative diseases, more specifically
Parkinson’s Disease, with an attempt to meet the challenges of an ageing population, and to address the concerns
of people that they may lose the command of their body
and even more scarily of the function of their brain. Neurodegenerative diseases – one of the major challenges for
the general population as well as for research.
With LCSB we want to contribute one building block
for the future of Luxembourg. More have been created
with the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL), with
the CRP Santé and its Lung Cancer Programme (PPM).
Together we form a strong pillar through the Personalised
Medicine Consortium. Together we want to put Luxembourg on the map of biomedicine.
Systems biomedicine means that you consider the entire
system, employing all technologies to get at the cause of
disease and health. Again, one research institute cannot
do everything, focusing is needed. Aiming at the patient in
systems medicine, we chose metabolomics and imaging,
technologies to measure and visualise what is going on
inside the body. We hope to gain a better understanding
Yours.
Thanks for all the support and interest.
Rudi Balling
Director LCSB
1
The LCSB is accelerating biomedical research by closing
the link between systems biology and medical research.
Collaboration between biologists, medical doctors,
computer scientists, physicists and mathematicians
is offering new insights in complex systems like cells,
organs, and organisms. These insights are essential for
understanding principal mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and for developing new tools in diagnostics and
therapy.
Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s Disease,
metabolomics and disease network analysis are in the
focus of LCSB’s research. Within Luxembourg the LCSB
is building up strong partnerships with all major biological and medical research units. Key strategic partnership has been set up with the ISB in Seattle. The LCSB
fosters collaboration with industrial partners and will be
a focal point for developing a knowledge based economy
in Luxembourg.
Table of Content
Our Team Spirit must move with us to Belval!
4
Parkinson’s Disease and the Quest for a Cure
6
All set for Cell Culture
8
From the Lab to the Computer Model
10
Metabolism Detectives at LCSB
12
The Principal Investigators of LCSB
14
Planning, Building, Moving: LCSB in Belval
16
Education at LCSB: PhD Students
18
Cooperations: Research together efficiently
19
ISB in Seattle: Learn from the Best
20
The »Kanneruni«
21
Parkinson Symposium at LCSB
22
Media Coverage
23
Facts & Figures
24
Publications
28
2
3
Spirit of LCSB
Our Team Spirit must
move with us to Belval!
Rudi Balling on the establishment of the LCSB
and systems biomedical research for Parkinson’s patients.
Professor Dr. Rudi Balling foresees significant progress in the diagnosis of Parkinson´s Disease.
family commitments are faced with great challenges.
I believe that we should try to understand Parkinson’s on
a molecular, cellular and organismic level as a model for
neurodegenerative diseases. It would be an important step
in finding new diagnostic and treatment techniques - and
in the long term, fundamentally improve the condition of
patients, doctors, care takers and family members.«
Professor Dr. Balling in autumn 2009 you came to Luxembourg to build up the Luxembourg Centre for Systems
Biomedicine. What was that like?
Balling: »Incredibly exciting. Amazing opportunities
awaited me - as well as a blank sheet of paper, namely the
possibility to plan a new institute from scratch. When I
arrived, I was given an office, a co-worker and a computer.
That may not seem like much at first. But the background!
The political commitment with Luxembourg aiming at
being put on the biomedical research map, the perspective
of setting up a new laboratory building within the midst
of a new University campus, and the willingness of the
external environment to pull together - all that helped me
enormously at the start.«
A disease as a model?
»Yes, we want to understand neurodegenerative diseases of the brain: How does a disease like Parkinson’s flare
up? Where are the relays that need to be fixed in order to
prevent, undo or at least effectively minimise a flare-up?
That is why the institute has »Systems Biomedicine« in its
name.
You are a nutrition scientist, mouse geneticist, infections
researcher. Now you are dealing with Parkinson´s Disease.
Why?
Of course it will be impossible to understand the disease
down to the last detail. And we do not need to. What we
need is an ever improving overview over the basic disease
mechanisms. That will help us know what to take into consideration when working on better diagnostic and treatment techniques and the details we have to settle. We
will leave the more coincidental trial and error in medical
research and instead move closer to selectively influencing
vital set screws in the system cell-organism-disease.«
»The decision to orientate the LCSB toward Parkinson’s
Disease has two reasons. For one, there already exists
very good clinical research on Parkinson’s Disease here
in Luxembourg. For another, medical requirements speak
for more intensively dealing with this neurodegenerative
disease. Parkinson’s is triggered by a variety of factors:
age, genetic disposition and environmental factors play
important parts. It’s a highly complex interplay that, from a
scientific perspective, is demanding and exciting.
Sounds rather reductionist.
»You can only effectively change something if you have
understood the system in its main features. To some extent, we biologists should see engineers as role models: No
new wide-body aircraft, no rocket is ever launched before
Naturally, however, the scientific interest isn’t the only
driving force: Neurodegenerative diseases will hit more
and more people in our aging society. Supply systems and
4
And that’s where bioinformaticians and mathematicians come
in: They will analyse the data and, by modelling and simulating,
try to discover the important set screws in the system »energy
supply of neurons,« which biologists will then take a closer look
at experimentally. That way we proceed step by step: Experimental data generates better modelling, modelling data generates
better experiments.«
the functionality of all systems has been modelled and simulated
on a computer - thus before the system has been regarded upon
as a whole and works.
We have to keep explaining this research approach in terms
everyone can understand - otherwise acceptance issues are
inevitable. After all, an organism isn’t a plane; it has a completely different moral value. When we say that we analyse it as a
system, then that is merely an auxiliary construction of thought
to get a rough picture of its tremendous complexity.«
How does the patient benefit?
»I am confident that we will soon make progress in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s. Thanks to high throughput techniques, we will
identify markers - biological substances - that indicate certain
pathological processes in the body. That will improve the early
diagnosis of Parkinson’s. Another example: There is no typical
Parkinson’s patient, but many different specificities and subtypes. Therefore, patients react very differently to medication.
What helps one person may be ineffective in another case or, at
worst, even damaging. With the help of biomarkers, we can better diagnose which Parkinson’s type is linked to which specific
indisposition - and how the patient should be treated best.«
How do you intend to proceed, Mr Balling?
»First we have to find out why, with Parkinson’s Disease, neurons in the substantia nigra - a part of the midbrain - die off.
Why there and not in other parts of the brain? Then we need to
study the cause of this. What really happens inside the neurons
of the substantia? We have some first clues: Something isn’t
right with the energy supply in the neurons; the mitochondria,
namely the power plants of the cells, aren’t fully functional and
cannot provide sufficient energy. We want to understand the
system of energy supply in neurons; we want to find out which
system-related parts are out of order and what kind of effects
this has on other components of the cell.
Where do you see the future?
» I believe that we have already achieved what’s most important:
We have recruited great researchers who can think creatively.
From the secretarial office to the infrastructure, the PhD students to the senior scientist, at LCSB imagination, excitement
and optimistic spirit prevail. The close proximity of scientists
that cover many disciplines from mathmatics to the clinic will
then catalyse a huge load of exciting new ideas!«
For this, we use classic biological laboratory techniques. Our
cooperation partners, for example medical labs in Luxembourg,
provide us with samples that we analyse using gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, microscopy - and, in contrast to the
past, we can now collect significantly more data. We call it high
throughput: in our new laboratories in Belval, robots will take
care of pipetting or microscopy. It’s the only way we can collect
sufficient amounts of data for the systems medical approach.
5
Background
Parkinson’s Disease and the
Quest for a Cure
LCSB´s science is focused on Parkinson´s Disease. But what
are the implications of this illness with which Nico Diederich
is confronted in his daily work at the Centre Hospitalier de
Luxembourg and at the LCSB. An overview.
»When I was trying to put my coins in your coin machine,
I dumped $83.52 of coins on your floor. I sometimes can
be very shaky,« blogged Kate Kelsall in September 2006,
telling a story of her everyday life. It is a »thank you note
(...)« to her bank, honoring one of the employees for helping while acting »like it was a normal occurrence« – even
though both knew it was not. The today 61-year-old is one
of about five million Parkinson (PD) patients worldwide.
This makes Parkinson’s the second most common neurological disease of the elderly. But even though Deep Brain
Stimulation, medications and speech therapies make the
illness manageable – the hunt for better diagnosis and a
cure continues.
Described first by James Parkinson in 1817, a huge step in
the groundwork for Parkinson´s was made when the Swedish physiologist Arvid Carlsson got to the bottom of the
illness in the 1950’s: death by unknown causes of dopamine-containing cells in the substantia nigra within the basal
ganglia of the brain. Research progressed steadily since
then but still the disease affects one in 100 people over
the age of 60.
Kelsall herself was diagnosed at age 46. Ten years later,
the former director of finance was considered to be in an
advanced stage. »I am grateful that I seldom fall and have
never frozen. But I also realize that falling and freezing
could just be around the corner, and I need to be prepared
for this eventuality.« she wrote at the beginning of her
blog.
other abnormalities include autonomic dysfunction,
sensory difficulties or neuropsychiatric problems. »X-Xenophobia, Y-Yin, yang, yoga, Z-Zombie« – with these words
Kelsall ends her symptom-ABC, after listening to a presentation of a new doctor in town. »I counted 96 symptoms
and side effects that he spewed out in 75 minutes«.
cording to a study of the National Parkinson’s Foundation
in April, that is why people do not go to the doctor, even
though serious symptoms appear. It is an outraging situation. Therefore scientists like those at the LCSB search for
example, for reliable biomarkers. They are not only supposed
to help treating the disease but also to diagnose PD early.
In that case a medical device, a brain pacemaker, is
implanted. It sends electrical impulses to specific parts of
the brain, blocking the abnormal nerve signals that cause
PD symptoms. However it is not fully understood how DBS
works. For Kate Kelsall »DBS is not a black and white issue,
but one that includes many shades of gray.«
Some symptoms occur early before the first diagnosis,
such as a reduced ability to smell. For Dr. Nico Diederich,
head of the neurology department at the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg and Clinical Senior Researcher at the
LCSB, one of the most interesting symptoms described in
the last years has been a disturbance in the REM sleep,
called Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behaviour Disorder
(RBD). About two thirds of the patients are diagnosed with
parkinsonism about 20 years later.
Not knowing the cause of the specific cell death in the
brain complicates the situation, too. What is certain is that
the more cells that perish, the more difficult the therapy
becomes. As fast as she could, Kelsall tried everything in
her »quest for a PD cure«. She took medications – »sometimes as many as 13 pills a day« –, vitamins, got massaged
and more. But even though »some of these measures provided temporary relief, it was more like putting a Band-Aid on
a gun shot wound.«
It has been 15 years now since Kelsall learned that she
has Parkinson’s. She still suffers from it, but she tries to
not allow the illness to interfere with her life. She dances,
plays the accordion – and dedicates her blog »to spreading
awareness of the realities behind having it«. Meanwhile
Diederich and his colleagues try to improve the diagnosis,
develop therapy methods and work on new research approaches such as gene therapy and the role of mitochondria. They are two quests linked by one thing: the hope to
someday find the cause of Parkinson’s.
Kate Kelsalls medical history began with a shaking left
hand, a weak arm, dropping things and a soft and raspy
voice. Left with the question, what is wrong? After two
months of neurological testing Kelsall got her result: »I
have good news and bad news (...) The good news is that
you don not have a brain tumour, Lou Gehrig’s disease or
Wilson’s disease. The bad news is that it appears that you
have Parkinson’s Disease.« It was not the answer that she
wanted to hear.
At the same time it can not be denied that today’s treatments buy patients some time. »We can not heal it,
but thanks to medication we have a handle on it,« says
Luxembourg’s researcher Diederich, talking about motor
symptoms. The development of the most used medicine
was based on Carlsson’s research: L-Dopa is an orally administered medication, given either in a regular or a delayedacting form, which has a longer lasting effect. Inside the
brain, at the nerves, the prodrug is converted to dopamine,
replacing some of the missing chemical.
Still she was »lucky« that she was diagnosed and received
treatment so quickly »unlike others who go for years and
years, from doctor to doctor, without an accurate diagnosis and receive either no or inappropriate treatment.«
Diagnosing the illness is quite difficult. A direct test does
not exist and some metabolic disorders as well as other
factors can mask PD. This leads to a high error rate. Ac-
The symptoms of the illness are multifaceted: resting
tremor, balance problems, muscle rigidity and a flat facial
affect are all early signs. Next to these motor-symptoms
6
The problem: Levodopa’s response, as well as other medication, declines within years and sometimes stops completely.
»Some Patients that do not respond to pharmacologic
therapies anymore or suffer from extreme side effects
could be treated with Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS),« says
Diederich.
LCSB scientists investigate mitochondrial dysfunctions in dopaminergic
neurons. They might be one cause of Parkinson´s Disease.
7
Cell Biology
All set for Cell Culture
Sandra Koeglsberger - the technical assistant makes
Balling´s lab run.
To better understand Parkinson’s Disease, Rudi Balling´s team is
planning experiments with brain cells – and at the same time, it
is setting up a fully automated laboratory for cell-biological experiments
now, says Antony, to analyse cells at the LCSB that play
a key role in Parkinson’s: the dopamine-producing cells of
the substantia nigra, a specific region in the brain. These
die off in Parkinson’s patients and thus release the symptoms of the disease.
»There were only lab benches here, other than that, the
room was empty,« says Dr. Paul Antony , member of Rudi
Balling´s experimental biology research team. The room that is the central laboratory of the LCSB in early summer
2011. And it was empty a year before. »However, I had a
computer from day one,« Antony recalls his beginnings at
LCSB, »and that’s, what was most important!« What else
does a scientist need, apart from his laptop, clean bench,
incubator, centrifuge and specialised equipment, for a fully
automated cell culture lab? To design a research plan for
years to come and all the while not lose sight of the specific experiments? To hire competent co-workers and instruct doctoral candidates who do not yet have a lab place,
but need to make progress so that their three doctorate
years do not slip through their fingers? Paul Antony does
not speak about what it is you need for all this, apart from
the computer. But when you talk to him, you notice:
So what happens exactly? What are the reasons for the
cells‘ death? And what can we do against it? These are
the three central questions to which Paul Antony and the
other LCSB scientists want to know the answers. Antony
sort of stands at the beginning of the research chain. Because he studies them directly, the dopaminergic cells. For
that he needs a modern cell culture laboratory. To research
the many variables in gene mutations and environmental
influences that lead to Parkinson’s, one has to run so
many tests that the experiments need to practically work
automatically. The scientists want to see exactly what
happens in the cells before they die. They need specialised microscopes that can photograph cell cultures - also
automatically. Large data volumes are produced and a lot
of effort is put into being able to save everything correctly
and automatically in a computer, to keep it retrievable and
to evaluate it.
One needs a clear objective, the skill to inspire people and
get them excited about a good cause, as well as experience in scientific work.
Luxembourg-born Antony accumulated these skills during
his studies in Strasbourg and his doctorate in Tübingen,
Germany. Brain cells were also his subject of study then;
though at the time it was not for Parkinson’s, like now at
the LCSB. Antony first examined the Machado-Joseph
disease (MJD), a hereditary neurodegenerative disease, in
which - similarly to Parkinson’s - cells in certain regions
of the brain die off. At both stations, in Strasbourg as in
Tübingen, Antony was able to acquire important tools for
his research at LCSB: »In France, I took more math classes
than I could have in Germany. In Tübingen we studied
mostly genetics and molecular biology.« He needs all this
As already mentioned: In summer 2010 the laboratory was
almost empty. »By autumn 2011, we’ll be all set,« says
Antony. He has mastered a Herculean task in the past
twelve months. »Of course I couldn´t do it alone,« he admits humbly. His - few - co-workers have equally high skills
in their fields of specialty as he does. For one, there is
Aidos Baumuratov, specialist for microscopy. A computer
was also all he had when he started off. »He needed it to
screen the market for special microscopes,« says Antony,
»He picked the best one for our needs and ordered extra
8
equipment so that we could later observe the neurons
without causing them stress during experiments and
thus get erroneous results.«
Other members of the team are technical assistant
Sandra Koeglsberger, who is mainly responsible for the
cell cultures thriving and thus enabling precise results,
and Christophe Trefois. He is in fact a doctoral candidate under the supervision of LCSB director Rudi Balling.
In the lab, Trefois works for and with Paul Antony. »We
both benefit,« Antony confirms. Christophe Trefois is
a trained engineer. He first found interest in biology
during his doctoral work. In the laboratory, he learns
about cell culture technology and in return he shares
his knowledge of engineering: »I know how robots
function and how to programme them,« says Trefois. So
he uses his computer to search for the right cultivation
robot and orders testing devices that he then thoroughly examines in the lab. For the LCSB the goal is to
build up a perfect cell culture lab in autumn 2011 and
to investigate the causes of Parkinson’s with neurons
under optimal conditions.
Dr. Paul Antony - PostDoc in the Experimental Biology Group at LCSB and PhD student Christophe Trefois are testing a cultivation robot.
9
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
From the Lab to the
Computer Model
Reinhard Schneider´s Bioinformatics Core Unit and Antonio del
Sol´s Computational Biology make sure that laboratory data lead
to systems biological findings. These are supposed to enable
progress in diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.
Dr. Reinhard Schneider leads the Bioinformatics Core
Unit at the LCSB. He is familiar with the difficulty of this
rather abstract field of expertise: »Imagine planning a
big celebration for a milestone birthday. Your preparation
work will resemble that of a bioinformation scientist.« How
come? »You channel wide-ranging data through a process
using different computer programmes and work tools,
and at the end you hope a wonderful party will come out,«
Schneider explains: »First you make out a list of names
using your directory, then you look for any missing contact
information by doing a search on the internet. With your
computer’s word processor you write the invitation, while
an image editing programme makes that old picture from
your childhood look more flattering.« This continues up to
when you set up a list of digital songs for the DJ and pick
out the food on the caterer’s web site, the bioinformatician enumerates, »we do the same with the data from our
biology labs, we run them through different computer tools
and prepare them for the network analysis. We design those tools ourselves and perform research in this field. Our
own party is unravelling a piece of the mystery in a cell, life
form or disease.«
bioinformaticians work with. Computational biologists develop mathematical and computational tools based on experimental data in order to understand biological processes. The head of the department is Ass. Prof. Dr. Antonio
del Sol: »Our aim is to understand molecular networks that
control the biological processes,« says the scientist. This,
he says, is the key to a deeper understanding of diseases
like Parkinson’s. »Parkinson’s is triggered by perturbations,
failures, in the equilibrium of the molecular network,« del
Sol continues. Such failures could be gene mutations,
protein malfunctioning, reaction to toxins or completely
unknown factors. »Because there is an unbelievably big
amount of factors that can lead to failure, we have to feed
as much data from different sources into our network
analysis as possible,« del Sol is convinced. One of these
sources, for whom the central bioinformatics unit prepares
the data, are of course the LCSB laboratories. »However,
we also look for this information outside of the LCSB,«
says del Sol. For example in publicly accessible data banks,
which list information on genes, proteins and metabolism.
»We also cooperate with other laboratories that provide us
with data records for our network analysis.«
Schneider‘s group connects two fields of biological research - on one side the laboratory and on the other the
theoretically oriented research in computational biology.
Schneider: »We help the experimental scientists treat and
analyse the data from the experiments.« Apart from the
hardware, his team therefore provides the correct software, and adapts or rewrites these - specifically tailored
to the needs of the scientists in the lab. To make communication easy, Schneider hires bioinformaticians with a
broad scientific background in biology and biochemistry,
mathematics and physics, all the way to medicine. »What
they all have in common is a sense for computer science
and handling large data volumes,« says Schneider, »In addition, it is important that they listen carefully to researchers in other disciplines - that is the only way to build a
bridge between biology, bioinformatics and computational
biology.«
Why then, does computational biology need to be part of
an institute like the LCSB in the first place? External data
is not enough to do systems analyses on a high scientific
level, Antonio del Sol believes: »It is very difficult to standardise and control the quality of data that is produced
in other labs: The contact to other scientists is never as
close as that between those from our own institute.« And
exchange between scientific fields is most important when
aiming to be successful using computational biology in
diagnosis and treatment: »Our analyses, models and simulations of disease processes yield clues on where there
might be relays in the network that could be interesting
for diagnosis or treatment. To turn these assumptions into
verifiable knowledge, we have to keep refining the experiments in the lab that provided the data until we get a
validated picture of the entire network.« Such a close and
critical exchange on subtleties of experiments is only possible, according to del Sol, if there is daily contact between
colleagues in their own organisation.
Dr. Reinhard Schneider leads the Bioinformatics Core Unit at the LCSB.
Ass. Prof. Dr. Antonio del Sol is head of the LCSB Computational Biology Group
Computational biology is the other side of research that
10
Network analysis explains how diseases suddenly break out
Computational biology analyses molecular networks to better understand disease mechanisms. At the LCSB, this will yield new findings on Parkinson’s Disease in future.
Often, numerous environmental factors or genes are involved when people fall ill. »We have
found pointers that with certain diseases, a group of genes will form a sort of core network
within the complete network,« says del Sol. The state of this core network - namely the
intensity with which the group of genes is read and their coded information is transcribed in
proteins - is part of a »disease sequential circuit«.
The whole sixth floor of new LCSB building
is equipped with high performance computer
servers
The circuit can point in the directions »healthy« or »ill«. Certain factors - for example the
structure of individual, especially important proteins - determine whether and when the
circuit changes from »healthy« to »ill« and thus greatly shifts the fragile molecular balance.
This leads to more negative changes in further located parts of the molecular network: The
disease breaks out.
11
Metabolomics
Metabolism Detectives at LCSB
Karsten Hiller is setting up the LCSB work group »Metabolomics«. With state-of-the-art techniques, he and the scientists
of his team aim to understand how and why the metabolism of
brain cells in Parkinson’s patients runs out of control.
Scientists travel to all corners of the earth: conventions,
lectures, their postdoctoral training or research stays take
them to foreign countries and to new continents. This
leads to new collaborations and sometimes to a switch
to a new lab. Only rarely, however, do two researchers
first live in one and the same city without their paths ever
crossing, then coincidentally meet on a different continent
attending the same lecture, and finally they jointly work on
setting up a new institute. This is exactly what happened
with Dr. Karsten Hiller and Prof. Dr. Rudi Balling.
many labs: »I had the feeling that we could fill a gap with
metabolomics and that with the right people, we could be
leading at the top,« says Balling, »the right person is
Karsten Hiller, because he perfectly combines laboratory
work and bioinformatics.« And because he has designed
a new dramatically improved technique for analysing metabolic pathways in living beings: A combination of mass
spectrometry and stable isotopes to determine the fate
of certain components in a cell and uncover previously
unknown metabolic pathways (s. box on right page).
»In spring 2009 we met for the first time in Boston during
a lecture on systems biology,« Karsten Hiller remembers.
After earning a PhD degree at the University of Braunschweig in Germany, he spent his postdoctoral years at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the famous
MIT. »I went to MIT to improve my knowledge of the
cellular metabolism in relation to diseases,« says Hiller,
who studied biology and computer science with a focus
on bioinformatics, »For my dissertation, I examined the
characteristics of the metabolism using metabolome
analyses.« To analyse experimental mass spectrometric
measurements, he designed new algorithms - exclusively
using the computer. »Of course you also need laboratory
data,« says Karsten Hiller, »That is why the MIT was the
ideal place for me, because here theory and practice are
closely linked.« Mouse geneticist and infection researcher
Balling shared this opinion. In the course of a sabbatical,
he had come from Braunschweig to the Broad Institute in
Boston, to enhance his theoretical understanding of biology and study mathematics and systems biology.
»Chemical elements can be found in nature in variations,
which the chemist calls isotopes,« Karsten Hiller explains,
»The atomic nuclei of different isotopes of an element
differ in composition and mass.« For instance, besides the
more abundant carbon atom with twelve nucleons, there
are also carbon atoms with 13 or 14 nucleons. The difference in mass is due the different number of neutrons in
the nucleus. To study the metabolism, Karsten Hiller uses
only stable isotopes of an element, namely those that do
not fall apart. With carbon, these are the isotopes with an
atomic mass of 12 and 13.
»When we feed a cell culture with sugar, in which the
common carbon-12 is replaced by carbon-13, the cells
integrate these completely harmless isotopes into their
metabolism. After a while we can detect them in very
different metabolites using mass spectrometry.« The
mass spectrometry with stable isotopes has advantages
compared to conventional methods: The scientists can
observe how the carbon atoms in the labelled sugar spread
throughout the components of the cell over time, where
metabolic pathways split, cross or come together again.
Hiller: »We can rapidly penetrate the deepest ramifications
of the metabolism - and thus deliver data that we need
at LCSB for the systems biological observation of cells or
diseases.«
The two of them quickly started talking. For Balling it had
become clear that he would set up the LCSB in Luxembourg after his sabbatical. »A focus at the new centre
was going to be metabolomics,« he says. Also the other
»omics« like genomics and proteomics, he says, are extremely important but have already been well established in
12
Dr. Karsten Hiller: Head of the Metabolomics
ATTRACT Research Group.
How molecules are identified
To prepare samples for mass spectrometry, they first have to
be separated - for example the content of brain cells - using
gas chromatography. For this, the cell content is made gaseous. Then electrons of the individual molecules in the gas are
forced out. That way positively charged ions form, which can
be accelerated using electrical fields. With a specific method
in mass spectrometry, the scientists measure how fast ionised
molecules in a defined electrical field cover a certain distance:
The range of their flight depends on the mass of the ion.
Thekla Cordes is checking the mass spectrometer.
For this, Karsten Hiller closely cooperates with LCSB
scientists like Alessandro Michelucci, who is a molecular
and cellular biologist. Michelucci came to the LCSB at the
beginning of March 2011 and immediately proposed an
experiment that would allow Hiller’s mass spectrometry
with stable isotopes to exploit its strengths. »In the brain
there are a variety of cells for different tasks like information processing or immune defence,« says Michelucci, »If
we want to understand why certain neurons die off with
Parkinson’s, we have to study how the cell types interact
and individually react to specific impacts.« He therefore
treated specific immune cells of the brain – so called
microglial cells –with a substance that is found on the
surface of bacteria and can therefore mimics an infection:
a lipopolisaccharide. Then, Karsten Hiller and his team
analysed the metabolites made by these cells during an
infection.
Karsten Hiller‘s combination of mass spectrometry and stable
isotopes has the advantage that hitherto unknown metabolic
pathways can be studied. »We can detect substances that have
been completely unknown up until now or that have not yet been
found in a certain metabolic pathway,« says Hiller. This is for
example the case for an antibiotic substance that specific brain
cells produce after contact with a bacterial signaling molecule,
as Hiller’s mass spectrometric studies have revealed: Before,
this substance had only been verified in fungi. »No one ever suspected that microglial cells could produce this substance,« says
Karsten Hiller. To come to this result, Hiller first had to combine
mass spectrometry with stable isotopes.
»One substance showed up in a strikingly high concentration,« Hiller describes the result, »At first, we didn’t
know what we were dealing with.« Literature and data
base analyses, however, were of further assistance. They
were dealing with a substance that disturbs the metabolism of bacteria - a sort of endogenous antibiotic. »If
this indication should prove itself to be correct in the next
months, that would be a great finding,« Hiller says, »because we still know practically nothing about the immune
defence in the brain and its impact on the development of
Parkinson’s.«
13
The Principal Investigators of LCSB
Prof. Dr. Rudi Balling
Experimental Neurobiology
Group
Ass. Prof. Dr. Antonio
del Sol
Computational Biology
Group
Dr. Jochen Schneider
Translational & Experimental Medicine Group
Dr. Karsten Hiller
Metabolomics ATTRACT
Research Group
Dr. Nikos Vlassis
Machine Learning Group
Dr. Reinhard Schneider
Bioinformatics Core Unit
Dr. Paul Wilmes
Ecosystems Biology
ATTRACT Research Group
A key goal of Rudi Balling´s
group is the analysis
of neurodegenerative
diseases with an emphasis
on Parkinson’s Disease.
The goal is to dissect the
mechanisms of genetic susceptibility and resistance
of this neurodegenerative
disease at the individual
level and thereby develop
the foundations for future
approaches in personalised
medicine. This involves
studies on PD-patients,
animal models of PD and
cell culture studies of
dopaminergic neurons, the
cell type most severely
affected in PD-patients.
Systematic perturbation,
high throughput and high
content imaging studies
are employed to study
the role of mitochondrial,
proteasome and immune
system dysfunction in
the pathogenesis of PD.
Bioinformatics and systems biology approaches
are used to reconstruct
regulatory and metabolic
disease networks and to
identify new targets for the
development of specific
preventive and therapeutic
strategies of PD.
Antonio del Sol´s group
is involved in modelling
and simulating biological
processes using different
mathematical and computational tools. In particular,
Del Sol’s team follows
the analysis of biological
networks to understand
the mechanism of various diseases and predict
potential diagnosis and
therapeutical targets. His
team – with an academic
background in biology,
computer science, mathematics and physics
- is interested not only in
the development of theoretical tools for biomedical
studies, but also in the
application of these tools
to concrete diseases.
Jochen Schneider is, on the
one hand, providing medical
care to patients suffering
from metabolic diseases or
hormonal problems. On the
other hand, he conducts
basic translational research involving cellular
and animal models of
diseases as well as clinical
research. He concentrates
on analysing physiology und
pathophysiology of genetic
modified model organisms.
Schneider´s group is involved in the evaluation of
the relevance of systems
biomedicine projects in
matters of human (patho)
physiology and contributes
clinical expertise to other
groups to link basic science
with the needs of modern
clinical medicine. He also
serves as an interface
for the networking with
partners and collaborating
universities and hospitals. Therefore, his group
accompanies medical
translational developments
from the explorative phase,
via the proof of concept, to
clinical trials.
Karsten Hiller´s Group intends to establish state of
the art mass-spectrometric methodologies for the
analysis of cellular metabolism. These technologies
are applied for shedding
light on cellular metabolism. To detect disease
related metabolic pathways
and to measure intracellular flux changes, the group
applies stable-isotope
labelled compounds. The
researchers are especially
interested in cancer and
Parkinson‘s Disease. Since
both diseases have mitochondrial dysfunction in
common, they will setup a
platform for the analysis of
mitochondrial metabolism.
The group addresses
research problems in systems biology via the tools
of machine learning, which
allows dealing with largescale, structured, noisy and
high-dimensional data that
are often encountered in
biology. A mix of Bayesian statistics, stochastic
control, graph theory, and
optimisation is used for
building and analysing
models that can explain
biological phenomena. The
main interest of the group
is on the development of
new theory and algorithms,
but also with a focus on
practical problems. Current
projects involve: Learning
the structure of biological
regulatory networks that
are responsible for cell
plasticity and differentiation via dynamical systems
concepts like attracting
states and limit cycles,
Bayesian modelling and
prediction of transcription
factor binding sites and
the detection of regulatory
nucleotide polymorphisms
and analysing the circuit
space of graphs and hypergraphs for flux analysis in
metabolic networks.
The group is responsible
for the efficient data flow
between the experimental
groups and the theoretical and medical oriented
groups. Schneider’s team
deploys and develops techniques and programmes for
the data analysis pipeline.
His team has a very diverse
academic background
- from biology and biochemistry, mathematics
and physics, all the way to
medicine. They have a good
sense for computer science
and the manipulation of
large volumes of data. In
addition, they have the
ability to conscientiously
listen to researchers in
other fields - the only way
to bridge biology, computer science, and medical
science.
The main interest of the
group is to develop and
apply molecular systems
biology approaches for
obtaining detailed understanding of mixed microbial communities that are
of bioenergy and human
health interest. The group
has developed wet-lab
methodologies, which allow
truly integrative high-resolution molecular studies of
microbial consortia as well
as other biological systems.
In addition, the group is
developing microfluidicsbased bioreactors for conducting multiplex studies
of human gastrointestinal
microbial assemblages. The
overall vision of the group
is to use the obtained highresolution molecular data
to construct ecosystemwide multiscale models
that will allow the steering
of microbial communities
towards particular end
points, e.g. efficient production of bioenergy from
wastewater or treatment
of microbial communitymediated human diseases.
14
15
LCSB in Belval
Planning, Building, Moving
In summer 2011, the LCSB moved into its new laboratory building
»House of Biomedicine« in Belval, the future location of the University of Luxembourg in Esch-sur-Alzette. The construction had
already been planned before the concept for the LCSB was ready. Nevertheless, everything came into place nicely. Thanks to
flexible architecture - and a great deal of planning even during
construction.
These needed to be closely clocked, as states architect
Jean-Luc Wagner, a partner in the architectural office
WW+: »Shortly before the end of the year 2008, we were
given the order to design and implement a laboratory
building in Belval. The time frame for finishing was only two
years.« In the end, it took nine months longer than that.
»At the end of 2008, it was not clear yet who was going to
use the building and to which objective,« says Jörg Weber,
also a partner at WW+, »That Rudi Balling would establish a lab for systems biomedicine here, only materialised
about a year later.«
Spring 2011: »Mind the step!« Zino Hemgesberg, LCSB
project manager for the new construction in Belval, warns
in front of a gap below the landing of the last stair: »This
is pretty much the only thing that went wrong in planning
and needs to be reworked - and only because the stair
company went broke.« Hemgesberg is annoyed about
this. But it is the annoyance of a perfectionist. The little
gap does not compromise the overall impression of the
building: It is bright, friendly, functional, and in a spectacular environment. The laboratory building is located
between three huge hot blast stoves, where air used to be
preheated for furnaces in the past. Until up to a few years
ago, steel production marked the city of Esch. The end of
the coal and steel industry resulted in a drastic structural
change: The former industrial site turned into a new home
for the University of Luxembourg. The LCSB made the first
move and relocated to Belval in late summer 2011.
Big laboratories, directly connected to offices and computer workplaces, matched the new director’s visions. »We
need direct exchange between researchers in the labs and
the experts in bioinformatics and computational biology,«
says Balling. He believes this is the only way to gain deeper
understanding of molecular and genetic networks and
develop new diagnosis and treatment techniques against
Parkinson’s Disease: »The spatial proximity between the
research disciplines is perfectly situated in the new building in Belval,« says Balling.
During spring and summer the rush has been intense,
trying to get everything ready in time to move. »Almost
70 craftsmen were working here at the same time;« says
Hemgesberg. It was therefore necessary to plan the
individual steps of the procedure beforehand and in detail.
16
The new »House of Biomedicine« in Belval is located between huge hot blast stoves.
17
Collaborations
Building the core of Luxembourg´s Personalised Medicine Consortium: Dr.Guy Berchem (head of Lung
Cancer Project PPM at CRP-Santé), Prof. Dr. Rudi Balling (LCSB), and Prof. Dr. Bob Phillips (IBBL).
Research together efficiently
The Luxembourgish Personalised Medicine Consortium modelling
a nation-wide, coordinated network of biomedical research. And
carries out joint research projects to the benefit of the patient.
Education at LCSB
The LCSB PhD students highly profit from an interdisciplinary
team as well as from knowledge transfer and exchange with
other international institutes:
André Wegner investigates the mitochondrial metabolism and
how it is related to the death of dopaminergic neurons in the
brain of Parkinson’s patients.
Isaac Crespo studies how topology and dynamics of biological
networks allow us to better understand diseased states and
disease progression.
Christophe Trefois researches how to detect early warning
signs of Parkinson’s Disease - namely clues that point to the
outbreak of the disease very early.
Aravind Tallam studies how to assess the predictability of
mouse models in human diseases: He compares these two
organisms at different levels of complexity via computer
modelling.
Thekla Cordes is sure that everyone can study and compare
the metabolism of human cancer cell lines. But to be successful, she also uses stable isotopes.
18
»Not every institute can afford all this,« says Balling: »Targeted cooperations work much better. Especially because
of the fact that each specialty lab also needs excellent
scientists - and they are even rarer than money.«
Medicine faces a revolution. Today, medication is approved
and used when it is effective and tolerated by the average
patient. The individual person, however, can show distinct
deviations from the average on the molecular level. The
LCSB and its partners work on changing this situation.
Their goal is that in future, diseases can be diagnosed
and treated in a custom-made way. With high efficiency and minimal side effects. The prerequisite: Disease
mechanisms have to be understood on the molecular level.
Enormous research efforts are still required, ensuring an
optimal use of research funds and intellectual resources.
But PMC is not only about strategic decisions. The partners work on specific joint projects. One example: Long
before the disease breaks out Parkinson’s patients show
certain symptoms, which are usually ignored at first and
only later identified as precursors of the neurodegenerative disease. One of these signs are digestive problems. The
scientists suspect that the colon is not properly working
because the nerves in the autonomic nervous system are
affected - long before the disease damages the brain. »If
we can manage to detect first signs on the molecular level
leading to Parkinson’s, meaning that we identify biomarkers, we would have made a great deal of progress in early
diagnosis,« Rudi Balling states.
One research institute alone is overstrained with this task.
It can only be mastered in powerful consortia. Luxembourg
has taken the lead in this field and has established the
Personalised Medicine Consortium (PMC). Taking part are:
the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB),
the Intergrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL) and a pilot
project on lung cancer, led by the Centre for Public Health
Research (CRP Santé). Within the consortium, a lively
exchange is taking place: »We talk about the scientific
orientation of the institutes,« LCSB director Prof. Dr. Rudi
Balling explains, »and how we can coordinate our investments.«
To come closer to this aim, the IBBL and the LCSB have
launched a research project in which colon tissue from
biopsies is systematically analysed. Later the data can be
associated to the disease history of the patient - according to privacy rules and respecting personal rights.
»When patients that seem perfectly healthy today, develop Parkinson’s Disease in a couple of years, we can search
our molecular profiles of tissue samples for molecules that
only occur in these people,« says Balling, »And use them
as biomarkers for individual Parkinson’s early diagnosis.«
This approach is of great importance in times of high-tech
research. Research fields like genomics, proteomics or
metabolomics need fully automatic labs and large processing capacities that also require considerable investments.
19
Strategic Partnership
Learn from the Best
Leroy Hood, President of the ISB, is a booster
of the cooperation with the LCSB.
The LCSB has a close cooperation with the Institute for Systems
Biology (ISB) in Seattle. LCSB scientists like Patrick May do their
research at the ISB to improve the systems biology know-how at
LCSB.
»In systems biology, ISB has been a world leader for more
than the last ten years,« says Dr. Patrick May, biologist,
biochemist and biology information scientist. »And it
has since managed to remain on top.« This progress and
success was achieved in part by ISB president Leroy Hood
who, in the very early stages, began to systematically
combine computational biology with the »omics« - genomics, proteomics and transcriptomics. Patrick May
explains: »These combinations of varying methods have led
to far-reaching scientific progress that in turn accelerates
technological development.« Following the motto, »intelligent experiment and advanced analytical methods make
for better experiments,« creates a positive feedback loop.
The close collaboration between ISB and LCSB is due
in part to the direct financial commitments from Luxembourg. »Luxembourg is investing specifically in the
sequencing of familial genomes,« says Patrick May. This
investment is part of the long-term direction and goal
of the LCSB, which is to investigate Parkinson’s Disease.
Therefore the ISB’s sequencing project builds up a database to enable the systematic research of the genetics of
Parkinson’s Disease.
In tandem with this, an exchange of scientists also plays
an important role in this collaboration. During the summer
of 2011, five LCSB researchers worked in Seattle. Patrick
May, who has been in Seattle since May 2010, stayed the
longest. »The communication at ISB is quite strong,« is his
impression: »We have an environment in which we frequently converse about our research. But also in our free
time, there is a sense of togetherness with the various
activities we take part in. These intense atmospheres are
the basis for the excellent research at ISB,« says May.
Patrick May’s research area is systems biology of yeast
strains, a topic that at first glance hardly seems connected
to the LCSB theme of Parkinson’s Disease. May clarifies: »We
know that some of the metabolic pathways of yeasts are also
found in higher organisms, such as humans, and that they
vary only slightly. Yeast cells are versatile in experiments with
an ability to be subjected to varying conditions such as environmental changes and varying components. They are ideal
for studying metabolic pathways in biological systems.«
With this, LCSB gives an important impetus for ISB, Patrick
May states: »We are bringing in the approach to understanding human diseases. We are now examining certain
metabolic pathways in yeast cells, which are similarly found
in humans and are also related to human diseases.« Through
this approach researchers can increase the chance, for
example, of finding bio-markers that could later be used to
diagnose Parkinson’s Disease. And possibly also to be able to
more closely see the genetic origins of the disease piece by
piece: »Yeast cells undergo an incredible amount of genetic mutations which could be used to find connections with
Parkinson’s,« says May.
May´s research for LCSB at ISB will continue until early 2012,
but he will continue to act as a bridge between the two institutes. He is confident in the continuing collaboration even after the end of the project: »We are bound together by several
projects. I can envision on my return journey back to Luxembourg several regular trips between Europe and the USA –a
quarter of the year here, a quarter there. This would help to
continue and intensify exchange between both Institutes.«
Referring to the fact that the thought of so much travel
would be exhausting, May replies, »No, we have progressed
together so well, that would only be fun for me.«
20
Pupils learning genetics together with Rudi Balling at the LCSB workshop
at the »Kanneruni«.
International Collaborations
LCSB at »Kanneruni«
LCSB and the Systems Biology Institute (SBI) in Tokyo,
Japan, are jointly working on a deeper understanding of the
complex system of Parkinson’s Disease. Prof. Antonio del
Sol (LCSB) and Prof. Hiroaki Kitano (SBI) are the principal investigators within this collaboration. Modelling and
analysis of biological networks will be used to elucidate
disease mechanisms and development. This includes gene
regulatory networks, metabolic networks and proteinprotein interaction networks. The use of diverse mathematical approaches should allow a better prediction of how
diseases, can be prevented or treated.
How do our cells know how to keep us healthy? How is our
genetic material set up? And how do genes work? Inquisitive
girls and boys have received answers to these and many
other exciting questions at a workshop that the LCSB offered at the University of Luxembourg’s »Kanneruni 2010«.
The Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and the LCSB have signed an agreement for collaboration in research and teaching in the field of Systems
Biology. Both parties aim to improve the understanding of
biochemical systems, in particular in Parkinson’s Disease.
The principal investigators are Jorge Gonçalves of the
University of Cambridge and Rudi Balling, both responsible
for planning and managing joint activities. Such activities
include research projects funded by companies, national
government offices, and international bodies, student and
staff exchanges, and teaching activities
At the event titled »The amazing journey into our cells Where is our body’s instruction manual?« Prof. Rudi Balling,
director of the LCSB, and the children built proteins from
LEGO blocks. Using an almost two meter-long chromosome
model, he eased them particularly well into the actually
microscopic medium for hereditary matter. To conclude the
event, each child, accompanied by its parents, received a
participation certificate handed to them by Prof. Lucien
Kerger, the former academic vice-president of the University.
Getting children and teenagers excited about the natural
sciences is an explicit goal of the LCSB.
21
Media Coverage
The LCSB is a great story - for all LCSB members as well
as for the media.
Scientists from LCSB are regularly meeting journalists to provide latest information on recent research projects and on the development of the centre. Our news result in articles in all Luxembourgish newspapers, in its
radio and TV stations. They are published by international media like Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, LaVOIX
and distributed by news agencies like dpa.
Den Geheimnissen des Stoffwechsels
auf der Spur (Tageblatt)
Au fil de l´expérience
Ausgereifte Pläne und Roadmap
(LaVoix)
(Luxemburger Wort)
Parkinson Symposium at LCSB
In November 2010 the LCSB invited to its first
Parkinson Symposium in Luxembourg.
Luxemburg setzt auf Biomedizin
D´Biomedizin zu Lëtzebuerg huet en Numm: Prof. Dr. Rudi Balling (radio 100,7)
Thinking big Eine Universität aus dem
Boden stampfen
(d´Lëtzebuerger Land)
This two-day conference attracted stakeholders and worldknown experts in the diverse research field of Parkinson’s
Disease (PD). The symposium offered a unique chance for
both clinicians and scientists, all international experts in
PD, to get a stimulating and vivid exchange of ideas and to
establish first links of an efficient network on research on
mitochondrial dysfunction in PD. All aspects of basic genomics/proteomics/metabolomics of mitochondria in idiopathic
and monogenetic PD forms were intensively discussed and
presented the LCSB and Luxembourg for the first time as
major future players in the field. The keynote lecture on mitochondria in PD was given by Prof. Dr. Anthony Schapira from
London (UK).
In future the LCSB will invite to further workshops and symposia on a regular yearly basis to further strengthen international collaborations and knowledge exchange on the highest
scientific level. These events will present the opportunities
and excellence of science done in Luxembourg to the international scientific community.
22
(Revue Technique)
(FAZ)
Man gibt mir fünf Jahre Zeit, dann muss alles florieren (Berliner Zeitung)
Aus Biologie wird
Medizin
Das richtige Medikament für den Patienten
Luxemburg will Biomarker-Standort werden
(VBIO)
(Tageblatt)
(dpa Europadienst)
Individualmedizin erfinden
(Luxemburger Wort)
Wie? Was? Wann? Wo? Warum? – Mehr wollen wir gar nicht wissen
The 140-Mio-€-Plan of a smart small country
(EMBO Encounters)
23
(Forum)
Report
Facts & Figures
2010 LCSB Income (in kEUR)
LCSB Personnel
Status
Name
Discipline/Function
Professors (Faculty of Science
Technology and Communication)
Rudi Balling
Antonio del Sol
Biology
Computational Biology
Senior Researchers
Manuel Buttini
Carine de Beaufort
Nico Diederich
Karsten Hiller
Jochen Schneider
Reinhard Schneider
Nikos Vlassis
Paul Wilmes
Neuropathology
MD-Pediatrics
MD
Metabolomics
MD-Endocrinology
Bioinformatics
Computer Science, Robotics
Ecosystems Biology
LCSB-PostDocs at ISB, Seattle
Patrick May
Evangelos Simeonides
Rene Hussong
Alexander Skupin
Alexey Kolodkin
Bioinformatics
Systems Control Engineering
Informatics
Physics
Chemical Engingeering
PostDocs
Paul Antony
Tina Binz
Enrico Glaab
Feng He
Wiktor Jurkowski
Ming Miao
Alessandro Michelucci
Emilie Muller
Paola Pozzo
Kirsten Roomp
Pranjul Shah
Jie Zhang
Neurobiology
Metabolomics
Bioinformatics
Chemical Engineer
Chemistry-Bioinformatics
Biochemistry
Neurobiology
Ecosystems Biology
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics
Ecosystems Biology
Metabolomics
PhD students
Thekla Cordes
Isaac Crespo
Hugo Roume
Aravind Tallam
Christophe Trefois
André Wegner
Metabolomics
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Ecosystems Biology
Bioinformatics
Computer Science-Engineering
Metabolomics
Operating expenses
Scientific Support
Aidos Baumuratov
Serge Eifes
Imaging, Bio-Physics
Bioinformatics
Investments
Technical Support
Nicolas Bonjean
Olga Boyd
Annegraet Daujeumont
Jenny Ghelfi
Abhimanyu Krishna
Sandra Koeglsberger
Laura Lebrun
Overall Lab Coordination
Experimental Biology
Experimental Biology
Metabolomics
Bioinformatics
Experimental Biology
Ecosystems Biology
Project Management
Regina Becker
Julia Kessler
Jasmin Sinha
Strategy Development
Scientific Coordinator
Project Coordination
Administrative and Support Staff
Veronique Briche
Katrin Effenberger
Aurélia Giovannangeli
Zino Hemgesberg
Anke Vogler
Secretary
Human Ressources
Secretary
Facility Management
Controlling
90 (1%)
629 (10%)
Ministry of Research and Higher Education
University of Luxembourg
Knowledge Transfer Programme with ISB
Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR)
1,800 (28%)
4,000 (61%)
2010 LCSB Expenses (in kEUR)
15 (1%)
1 (0%)
83 (4%)
124 (7%)
Wages
648 (34%)
Sub-contracting
Travel
507 (27%)
Repres. and Registration
522 (27%)
24
Documentation
25
Categories of Professional Staff
LCSB International Grants
7%
Project Name
Programme
Project Coordinator
LCSB PIs
Start date of project
IT FoM (Future of Medicine)
FP7 - FET ICT
Hans Lehrach (Berlin)
Rudi Balling
01.05.2011
EpiPGX
FP7 - HEALTH
Sanjay Sisodiya (London)
Rudi Balling
Antonio del Sol
Reinhard Schneider
01.11.2011
Beta-JUDO
FP7 - HEALTH
Peter Bergsten (Uppsala)
Reinhard Schneider
01.01.2012
HICE
HGF (D)
Ralf Zimmermann (Munich)
Karsten Hiller
01.01.2012
CoGIE
ESF - EUROCORES
Holger Lerche (Tübingen)
Rudi Balling
Antonio del Sol
Reinhard Schneider
tbd
SYSGENET
COST
Klaus Schughart (Braunschweig)
Rudi Balling
tbd
Activity or Candidate
FNR code
Start date of project
Visiting Scholar Jorge Gonçalves (UK)
AM2c
15.06.2010
Karsten Hiller
ATTRACT
15.09.2010
Symposium on Parkinson‘s Disease
AM3
19.-20.11.2010
Ecosystems Biology
AFR PostDoc
01.09.2011
Metabolomics
AFR PhD
01.09.2011
Biomedicine Gala
AM*
26.09.2011
Researchers
9%
Technicans
PhD students
13%
Administratives
Other Staff
13%
Nations represented at LCSB
LCSB FNR Grants
58%
Interim Board LCSB
Nation
Participants 2010
Belgium
Rolf Tarrach
President University of Luxembourg
1st International Biomedicine Symposium
AM3
27.09.2011
Canada
Eric Tschirhart
Director of Administration University of Luxembourg
Ecosystems Biology
AFA PhD Student
01.10.2011
China
Luciënne Blessing
Vice-president University of Luxembourg (Research)
Paul Wilmes
ATTRACT
01.10.2011
Paul Heuschling
Dean of Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication (FSTC)
Ecosystems Biology
AFR PostDoc
tbd
Visiting Scholar Piotr Gawron (Pl)
AM2c
tbd
France
Germany
Greece
India
Italy
Meetings and Workshops (co)organised by the LCSB
International Cooperation Agreements
Luxembourg
Date
Event
In cooperation with
Institution
Activity
The Netherlands
19.-20.11.2010
Symposium on Parkinson‘s Disease (Luxembourg)
CHL
Cambridge (UK)
Knowledge Transfer
Poland
10.-11.01.2011
Workshop CSC-LCSB-LSRU (Chateau Schengen)
CSC
CRP-Santé (L)
Proteomics
Russia
26.-27.09.2011
Belval building Opening Ceremony and Symposium
HZI (D)
Mouse Models
28.-29.09.2011
Workshop Personalised Medicine: Metabolic
Disruption and Disease
SBI (J)
Network Reconstruction
TGen (USA)
Genomics
Spain
Switzerland
IBBL
USA
26
27
Publications 2010/11
2010:
1.
Morgan, H., Beck, T., Blake, A., Gates, H., Adams, N.,
Debouzy, G., Leblanc, S., Lengger, C., Maier, H., Melvin, D.,
Meziane, H., Richardson, D., Wells, S., White, J., Wood, J.;
EUMODIC Consortium, De Angelis, M.H., Brown, S.D., Hancock, J.M., Mallon, A.M. (2010) EuroPhenome: a repository
for high-throughput mouse phenotyping data. Nucleic Acids
Res. 38, D577-581
2.
Balling, R. & Becker, R. (2010) EATRIS Infrastructure accelerates translation. BIOforum Europe pp 2-4, 1-2/2010
3.
Probst-Kepper, M., Balling, R. & Buer, J. (2010) FOXp3:
required but not sufficient. The role of GARLP (LRRC32) as
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