Prof. Dr. Simone Schürle-Finke
Prof. Dr. Simone Schürle-Finke
Associate Professor at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology
Additional information
Research area
The Medical Microsystems Lab focuses on developing diagnostic and therapeutic systems at the nano- and microscale to address various healthcare challenges, including the rising incidence of cancer and infectious diseases. Our research has two main objectives. First, we create tools to study disease mechanisms at the cellular level in vitro. We then leverage this knowledge to design and fabricate responsive nanosystems that diagnose or treat diseases with minimal invasiveness. These systems can react to specific signals present in the disease environment, such as pH levels or enzymatic activity. For enhanced control, we incorporate simple on-board circuits that can activate these systems through externally applied stimuli, including heat, acoustic, mechanical, or electromagnetic signals. This activation leads to a diagnostic or therapeutic response, such as the localized and on-demand release of drugs. To achieve these goals, we utilize strategies from chemical synthesis, synthetic biology, and nanofabrication techniques. Our interdisciplinary approach combines methods and ideas from various fields, including chemistry, physics, computer science, engineering, and mathematics.
Simone Schuerle is Associate Professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where she heads the Medical System Lab. With her team, she develops diagnostic and therapeutic systems at the nano-and microscale with the aim of tackling a range of challenging problems in medicine. Prior to taking this position, she researched as postdoctoral scientist at at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT on nanosensors for in vivo tumor profiling as well methods to wirelessly enhance drug transport (2014-2017). One major focus of her current research is addressing limitations in drug delivery through scalable magnetically enhanced drug transport, ultimately reducing a patient’s systemic burden and increasing therapeutic efficacy. She is recipient of several awards, such as the Ernst Th. Jucker price for Cancer Research, the Prix Zonta for Women in Science, and fellowships from the SNSF, DAAD, Branco Weiss foundation and more. She was one of the “Top 10 winners” of the Falling Walls Breakthrough Award in Engineering and Technologies and was honored with the distinction of “Young Scientist” by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2017 and by the World Laureate Forum in 2020 and 2021. In 2014, she co-founded the spin-off MagnebotiX that offers electromagnetic control systems for wireless micromanipulation. Simone earned her PhD degree with specialization in microrobotics in 2013 at ETHZ, for which she was awarded with the ETH medal, and a master’s degree in industrial engineering with specialization on microsystems and nanotechnology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.
Course Catalogue
Spring Semester 2025
Number | Unit |
---|---|
376-0001-00L | Biomechanics I |
376-1354-00L | Nanomaterials for Health |
376-1611-00L | Biomedical Interfaces |
376-1624-00L | Practical Methods in Biofabrication |