Faculty Unit of Toxicology (UFT)

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Training & Research

Educational activities

The UFT promotes the development and coordinates teaching activities in the field of toxicology within the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne.

The UFT collaborators organize and/or provide several academic courses and trainings:

pre-graduate teaching in "Functional Imaging" (Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne)
pre-graduate teaching in "Toxicology and hepatic metabolism" (Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva)
post-graduate course in "Toxicology" (Graduate School of Legal Medicine, University of Geneva)
post-graduate course in "Human Toxicology" (Doctoral School, University of Lausanne)
post-graduate teaching in "Metabolomics in life science" (Doctoral School, University of Lausanne)
post-graduate teaching for the MAS "Drug Discovery and Clinical Development" (University of Geneva)
post-graduate teaching in "Forensic Toxicology" for the MAS in "Toxicology" (Universities of Lausanne and Geneva).

The UFT also organizes informative seminars for the general public in toxicology.

Research areas

The UFT has the mandate to support the collaborations and the sharing of ressources in the area of toxicology research and development. Its activity covers several strategic axes in numerous projects that are directed toward the improvement of our knowledge on models, biomarkers and toxicity mechanisms associated with 1) trace elements, 2) drugs/narcotics or 3) endocrine disruptors.

In this context, the UFT develops and participates to many interdisciplinary projects in tight collaboration with physicians, biologists, analytical scientists and bioinformaticians. In particular, UFT activity is focused on the use and development of innovative “omics” approaches to evaluate the toxicodynamic responses induced by xenobiotics on the organism, as well as the molecular basis of vulnerability, by employing in vitro and in vivo models.

Aurélien Thomas, Dr ès Sc., Associate Professeur

After obtaining a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Geneva and completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Montreal, Aurélien Thomas was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne in 2014, and was confirmed as Associate Professor in 2018. His research focuses on the impact of xenobiotics, and more particularly trace elements, on adipose tissue function and on the development of metabolic diseases. To this aim, he applies “omics” approaches to the study of the toxicodynamic response induced by xenobiotics on the organism, by using in vitro and in vivo models. Over the years, he has developed and contributed to numerous interdisciplinary projects, in close collaboration with physicians, biologists, analytical scientists, and bioinformaticians and is involved in several epidemiological studies.

Federica Gilardi, Dr ès Sc., Research Manager

After obtaining a degree in pharmaceutical biotechnology and a PhD in biochemistry at the Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy), Federica Gilardi completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Integrative Genomics at the University of Lausanne, where she coordinated the activities of Professor Béatrice Desvergne's laboratory during her mandate as Dean. Federica Gilardi has extensive experience in the regulation of metabolic homeostasis and its pathological dysfunctions (i.e. diabetes and obesity) at transcriptional and epigenetic level. She joined the CURML in 2017, where she is interested in understanding the direct and trans-generational metabolic effects of exposure to endocrine disruptors, including heavy metals and xenobiotics.

Ongoing thesis projects

Since 2017, Marie Gorka, Project: "Interest of mass spectrometry imaging for the analysis of digital traces in forensic sciences" (co-direction with Prof. Andy Bécue - UNIL)
Since 2019, Marie Gasser, Project: "Impact of metallothionein polymorphism on the toxic effect of trace elements on human adipose tissue" (co-direction with Prof. Tony Fracasso - UNIGE)
Since 2019, Floriane Tisserand, Project: “Study on diazinon chronic toxicity on multiple generations of Daphnia Magna through “omics” methods " (co-direction with Dr. Nathalie Chèvre – UNIL)
Since 2021, Maiwenn Perrais, Project: “Analysis of trace elements by ICP-MS in different biological matrices“ (co-direction with Prof Silke Grabherr - UNIGE)