Patrick Aebischer

Biography

 Dr. Patrick Aebischer, M.D., Ph.D., has been the President of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)) since March 1, 2000. Dr. Aebischer co-founded IsoTis S.A. in 1996. He co-founded Modex Therapeutics SA in 1996. He founded CytoTherapeutics, Inc. in 1989 and Amazentis S.A. in 2007. He served as the President of Novartis Venture Funds since December 1, 2014. He served as a Medical Director of the Division of Surgical Research Division and Gene Therapy Center at the Lausanne University Hospital. He is a leading academic researcher and industry entrepreneur with extensive experience in the field of cell and gene transfer, particularly for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. He served as the Chairman of the Section for Artificial Organs, Biomaterials and Cellular Technology at Brown University, Providence until 1992. Dr. Aebischer has been the Chairman at Novartis Venture Funds since 2014. He serves as the Chairman of Advisory Board at Novartis Venture Fund. He has been a Vice Chairman of the Board at Lonza Group Ltd since April 2014 and its Director since March 2008. He has been a Non-Executive Director of Logitech International SA since September 7, 2016. He has been a Non-Executive Director of Nestlé S.A. since 2015. He has been Non-Executive Director of Logitech Inc. since September 2016. He serves as a Director of Nestlé Health Science S.A. and Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique SA. He serves as a Member of Advisory Board at Novartis Venture Funds. He has been a Member of Advisory Board of Coursera, Inc since December 2012. He serves as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board at Anecova SA and Link Medicine Corporation. Dr. Aebischer has been Member of Scientific Advisory Board of Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. since 2016. He served as a Director of Renovo Group plc and Inspired Capital plc. He served as a Director of IsoTis NV since November 20, 2002, StemCells Inc., until April 19, 1999, IsoTis Orthobiologics since June 23, 1996 and IsoTis S.A. since June 23, 1996. He served as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board of Oxford Biomedica PLC and advised it on the utilization of EIAV vectors for neurological applications. He is a Board Member of the World Economic Forum. He has been a Professor of Neurosciences at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) since 2000 and director of its Neurodegenerative Disease Laboratory at the Brain Mind Institute, EPFL. He was a Professor at the Materials Science and Engineering Department at EPFL. He was a Professor of the Lausanne University Hospital. He was an associate professor of Medical Sciences at Brown University, Providence until 1992. He is an internationally recognized leader in the area of gene therapy for neurodegenerative diseases. He conducted gene therapy clinical trials for various neurological diseases and is focusing on the application of lentiviral vectors for neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and motor neuron diseases. He received numerous honours, including the Robert Bing Prize of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences and the Pfizer Foundation Prize for Clinical Neurosciences. He has been a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering since 2000 and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences since 1998. Dr. Aebischer holds an M.D. from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, where he trained as a Neuroscientist.

Research Interest

 Orthobiologics