Regular biography
Gisou van der Goot is a Full Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), affiliated with the School of Life Sciences (BIO). She leads the Laboratory of Cell and Membrane Biology and is a founding member of the Global Health Institute (GHI). Her research focuses on molecular and cellular understanding of bacterial toxins, organization of mammalian membranes, and organelle biology. She has held leadership roles, including Dean of the School of Life Sciences from 2014 to 2020 and Vice President for Responsible Transformation from 2021 to 2024. Prior to joining EPFL, she was Group Leader at the University of Geneva and Associate Professor at its Faculty of Medicine. She studied engineering at Ecole Centrale de Paris and earned a PhD in Molecular Biophysics from the Nuclear Energy Research Center, Saclay, France, followed by a postdoc at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg.
Scholar-generated biography
F. Gisou van der Goot is a biologist at EPFL, specializing in the mechanisms of pathogen entry and host cell responses to bacterial toxins. Her research explores how pathogens, such as Shigella and Anthrax, interact with host cell membranes and endocytic pathways. She investigates the role of lipid rafts, membrane insertion, and receptor-mediated endocytosis in toxin delivery and cellular defense. Her work also examines the impact of post-translational modifications, such as palmitoylation, on membrane protein function and pathogen entry. Her studies highlight the interplay between autophagy, endosomal trafficking, and immune responses to bacterial pore-forming toxins.