Team
At the Gebhard Lab, we bring together a diverse and interdisciplinary team of experienced cardiologists, intensivists, oncologists, (molecular) biologists, and imaging experts. We also host a wide range of master and doctoral students with backgrounds in medicine and the life sciences. We commit to providing equal opportunities while training the next generation of clinicians and researchers.
Group Leaders
Cathérine Gebhard, MD, PhD
Head Physician/Group Leader
Cathérine’s key areas of expertise include cardiac imaging, interventional cardiology as well as basic and translational research in cardiovascular gender medicine. Cathérine studied medicine and obtained her MD degree at the University of Tübingen (DE) and the University of Western Ontario (CA). She completed her training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology in Switzerland and then specialized in Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Imaging at the Imperial College London (UK) and the Montreal Heart Institute (CA) where she also completed her PhD in molecular imaging. In 2016 she started her own research group as an SNSF Professor at the University of Zurich. In 2022 Catherine took on a new position as an interventional cardiologist and head of Preventive Cardiology as well as the Women's Heart Center at the University Hospital Inselspital Bern, where she currently focuses on implementing gender-specific medicine into clinical routine.
Pubmed
ORCID 0000-0001-7240-5822
Caroline Gebhard, MD
Head Physician/Group Leader
Caroline Gebhard is Head Physician (Leitende Ärztin) and a board-certified intensive care physician and anesthesiologist at the Stadtspital Triemli in Zurich. In addition to her clinical leadership role, she leads an active research group at the University of Basel and co-directs the Gebhard Lab. She studied medicine at the University of Guadalajara (Mexico), Stellenbosch University (South Africa), and the University of Tübingen (DE), where she earned her MD degree. Her clinical training in cardiac anesthesiology, echocardiography, and intensive care medicine included positions at the Montreal Heart Institute (CA), Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Stadtspital Triemli in Zurich, and the University Hospital Basel. She holds board certifications in advanced adult perioperative transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography. Her research focuses on personalized approaches in intensive care medicine, including ultrasound and hemodynamic monitoring, as well as sex and gender differences in the treatment and outcomes of critically ill patients.
Pubmed
ORCID 0000-0003-4975-2679
The Gebhard Group
Achi Haider, PhD
Senior Scientist / Radio-Pharmacy
Achi studied pharmacology and obtained his PhD degree in neuroimaging at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ, CH) in 2018. For his work on the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders, Achi was awarded the prestigious ETH Silver Medal. He is a passionate scientist and loves a vigorous scientific exchange. From 2018 to 2021 Achi completed his postdoctoral fellowship in both clinical and experimental imaging in the Gebhard Lab and then moved to Boston, where he worked in the field of radiochemistry at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2023 he returned to Europe and took on a new position as Senior Scientist at Roche Switzerland in Basel. Achi continues working with the Gebhard Lab, and given his broad expertise and enthusiasm for science, Achi is currently leading several prestigious research projects in the field of PET/MR imaging and Cardiovascular Gender Medicine.
Pubmed ORCID 0000-0002-5204-4473
Nidaa Mikail, MD, PhD candidate
Senior Scientist
Nidaa is a nuclear medicine physician with a keen interest in cardiovascular imaging and always driven to learn new things. Drawn by the excellent reputation of the University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland) and its proximity to his native Alsace, he joined our team, where he is currently pursuing a PhD focused on the mechanisms underlying sex and gender differences in heart–brain crosstalk. After graduating from the medical school of Strasbourg (FR), Nidaa completed his fellowship in Paris at Bichat University Hospital (FR). He then held a position as a senior consultant in both Bichat and Beaujon Hospitals near Paris. When he is in the office, you should never leave a box of sweets within his reach unless you want to get rid of it. In his leisure time, he enjoys music (an oud and guitar aficionado) and learning about the subtle differences between Dativ and Genitiv and between standard and Swiss German.
Pubmed ORCID 0000-0003-4896-1428
Valerie Treyer, PhD
Senior scientist, saving angel and all-rounder
Valerie is a neuroscientist and senior scientist at the Department of Nuclear Medicine (USZ, CH) and at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (UZH, CH). She has been conducting molecular and multimodal neuroimaging studies since 1998 and has strong experience in Magnetic Resonance (MR) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging technology. Valerie has also set-up and co-authored various imaging studies with colleagues from different areas of expertise ranging from cardiology, oncology to neuroscience. Her current research focus is on healthy aging. Valerie is always thinking outside the box and brings together brain, heart and hand not only in theory but also in practice.
Pubmed ORCID 0000-0002-4584-3031
Michael Fiechter, MD, PhD
Senior Scientist
Michael is head physician and a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in spine and spinal cord surgery at the Swiss Paraplegic Center in Nottwil. With a dual degree in medicine and natural sciences, he combines experimental, translational, and clinical research in functional neurovascular imaging to investigate the neuro-hematopoietic-vascular axis and its impact on cardiovascular outcomes. Alongside his clinical and research responsibilities, Michael is the father of four children and pursues his passions for karate and endurance sports.
Pubmed ORCID 0000‐0002‐7293‐0704
Alexander Meisel, MD
Senior Scientist
Alex focuses on oncology, cardio-oncology, and cancer imaging. After completing his medical studies at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany), he continued his clinical training in Medical Oncology at the University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland). He has also served as an attending physician at Stadtspital Waid and conducted research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), studying novel Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracers in ovarian and lung cancer. He is currently an attending physician in Oncology at the Kantonsspital Glarus. Alex is committed to making precision oncology not just a vision for the future but a reality in today’s clinical practice. He is dedicated to identifying the best treatment options for his patients and integrating novel imaging and sequencing technologies into everyday care.
Pubmed ORCID 0000-0003-2422-1281
Adriana Vinzens, MSc
Clinical Research Fellow
Adriana joined our team in 2021 to conduct her master’s thesis on the impact of perivalvular inflammation after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation on long-term outcomes, work that earned her the Semester Award from the University of Zurich in 2023. She continued her research with our group before graduating from medical school at the University of Zurich in 2024. She is currently pursuing her doctoral thesis in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University Hospital Zurich and, since April 2025, has been working as a resident in internal medicine at Kantonsspital Baden. Outside of medicine, Adriana enjoys singing and indoor bouldering.
Valentina Tröster, MD
Clinical Research Fellow
Valentina is a board-certified internist and current fellow in intensive care medicine at the University Hospital Basel. During her residency, she completed a research year at the Cardiovascular Research Institute Basel (CRIB), where she finalized her doctoral thesis. This work was recognized with the Albrecht von Haller Award of the Swiss Heart Foundation. Her current research focuses on critically ill patients, with a particular interest in how sex and gender differences influence treatment and outcomes in intensive care.
Ketina Arslani, MD
CLINICAL RESEARCH FELLOW
Ketina is a board-certified internist and cardiologist with a specialization in interventional cardiology and structural heart disease. She trained at the University Hospital Basel, completing rotations in critical care and clinical cardiovascular research at CRIB, supported by the Young Talents in Clinical Research grant. In 2021, she pursued a research and clinical fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, funded by the Postdoc Mobility grant of the Swiss National Science Foundation. She is now a staff interventional and structural cardiologist at the University Hospital Basel and conducts research on sex and gender differences in cardiovascular disease and intensive care, with recent first-author work on mortality trends in cardio- and neurovascular patients in Switzerland.
Bianca Gysi, MSc
CLINICAL RESEARCH FELLOW
Bianca graduated from medical school at the University of Basel in 2021 and joined our research group the same year as a full-time doctoral student with her project “Decoding Sex and Gender Effects on Health: Evidence from a Nationwide Cohort.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also contributed to projects investigating sex and gender influences on acute and long-term outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection. For this work, she received the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 2022 Congress of the Swiss Society of Intensive Care Medicine. Since 2022, Bianca has been training as a resident in Internal Medicine at Kantonsspital Baselland.
Pimrapat Gebert, MPH and PhD
Biostatistician
Pimrapat is a biostatistician with over ten years of experience working with both observational and clinical trial data. She joined the Gebhardlab in October 2022 as a part-time biostatistician to support the research team with several clinical projects. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in nursing science and then a master's in public health in biostatistics from Khonkaen University (Thailand). After relocating to Germany, she completed her PhD studies and currently also works at the Institute of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany).
Atanas Todorov, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow / Biostatistics
Atanas is a physician scientist with experience in all phases of translation from bench to bedside, including primary in vitro and in vivo models, conceptualization, study design, graft preparation, implantation, and follow-up and data analysis in first-in-man/proof of concept trials in patients. His particular expertise lies in tendon, cartilage and bone biology and regeneration. Throughout his scientific and clinical career, he has become more and more involved in statistical computation and image analysis, leading him to a part-time postdoc in biostatistics in support of the Gebhard Lab team. His other focus is on state-of-the-art digitalization of medical work and healthcare institutions at Arcondis (CH).
Pubmed ORCID 0000-0002-1225-4302
Geoffrey Iain Warnock, PhD
Research Fellow / Imaging Specialist
Geoff specializes in quantification of biomedical images and splits his time between industry and academia. He has worked in imaging for nearly 15 years, with experience in both small animals and humans, and now focuses on fully quantitative positron Emission Tomography (PET) with blood-based kinetic modelling. He was involved in the development and evaluation of 18F-UCB-H for synaptic vesicle protein 2A, an exciting new target for imaging neurodegeneration, and more recently in first-in-man studies with 18F-PSS232 for mGluR5. On top of his roles in Bruker’s image analysis software branch PMOD Technologies (CH)and Swisstrace GmbH (CH), Geoff is proud to be part of the Gebhard Lab. Out of the office, Geoff loves to be on the move in the mountains, either mountain biking or ski-touring.
Vera Regitz-Zagrosek, MD, Dr. h.c
Professor Emeritus, Senior Consultant
Vera is the founding director of the Berlin Institute for Gender in Medicine (GIM) at Charité University Medicine, Germany. From 2011 to 2018, she served as coordinator of the Berlin partner site of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), a national center of excellence in cardiovascular research. Her research focuses on sex and gender differences in cardiovascular disease, spanning basic science, clinical research, and public health. She is the founding president of both the German and the International Society for Gender Medicine and coordinated the European Society of Cardiology guidelines on cardiovascular diseases in pregnancy in 2012 and 2018. In recognition of her pioneering work, she was awarded the First-Class Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2018. The following year, she joined the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich as a visiting professor, advising on the integration of sex- and gender-specific knowledge into medical education. Since then, she has also supported the Gebhard Lab as a senior advisor, contributing to numerous projects on sex and gender in cardiovascular and intensive care medicine.
Pubmed ORCID 0000-0002-3566-3467
Master and Doctoral Students
Elisa Canini, pract. med.
MEDICAL DOCTORAL STUDENT
University of Basel
Thesis project: Sex differences in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Treatment and Outcome
Eva Maria Peer, pract. med.
MEDICAL DOCTORAL STUDENT
University of Basel
Thesis project: Illness Severity and Mortality Prediction Using the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score (SOFA) Across Intensive Care Diagnoses
Isabelle Glarner, pract. med.
MEDICAL DOCTORAL STUDENT
University of Zurich
Thesis project: Exploring the Correlation Between Neuronal Stress Response and Coronary Inflammation
Noemi Sablonier, pract. med.
MEDICAL DOCTORAL STUDENT
University of Zurich
Thesis project: Exploring the Predictive Value of an Enhanced Amygdalar Activity on Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Women and Men
Alumni
Adriana Vinzens
Medical Master Student
University of Zurich
Thesis project: Impact of Perivalvular Inflammation on Long-term Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation
Alessia Delcò
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Long-term Prognostic Value of Enhanced Neuronal Stress Responses in Women and Men with Cardiovascular Disease
Alexia Rossi, MD, PhD
Deputy Group Leader Clinical Studies
Alexia received her medical degree in 2004 and board certification in diagnostic imaging in 2008 from the University of Trieste (IT). Later, Alexia obtained her PhD in advanced cardiovascular imaging from Erasmus MC University Medical Centre in Rotterdam (NL). Thanks to a training grant from the European Society of Cardiology, she then moved to London where she further specialized in cardiac computed tomography at the Centre for Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging at the Barts Heart Centre (UK). At that time, Alexia was appointed assistant professor in diagnostic imaging at Humanitas University in Milan and returned to Italy. Alexia has consolidated experience in cardiac CT that she not only applies as an as active member of the EACVI Certification and Accreditation Committee, but also as a senior scientist in the Gebhard Lab, where she worked from 2020 to 2023 as a deputy group leader. Alexias research is focused on understanding mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases through novel, non-invasive imaging modalities. Alexia loves travelling, «good» instant coffee, and Christmas time.
Pubmed
ORCID 0000-0001-6845-1199
Andrea Roggo
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Assessment of Osteoporosis Markers and Brain Metabolic Activity as a Sex-specific Approach for Risk Prediction in Women and Men Undergoing Non-invasive Cardiac Imaging
Angela Portmann, M.Sc.
PhD Student
Angela (Angie) earned both her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich, Switzerland). From 2020 to 2024, she pursued her PhD in Biomedicine in the Gebhard Lab, where she successfully defended her dissertation “Sex Differences in the Progression of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy” in May 2024. In her doctoral research, Angela employed state-of-the-art imaging modalities, including small-animal cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET). She also applied a broad range of molecular biology techniques to investigate signal transduction pathways. Outside the lab, Angela enjoys experimenting with new recipes in her kitchen and exploring different cuisines. She is also an avid reader—there is always a good book in her bag.
Angela Portmann, B.Sc.
Biological Master Student
Thesis project: Age-dependent Remodelling of the Female Heart – Protective or Detrimental? Exploring the Role of Endocrine Factors and Cardiac Sympathetic Modulation
Anna Luisa Beeler
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Association Between Low-grade Inflammation and Supernormal Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (snLVEF)
Arnaud Dussault-Cloutier
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Influence of the Sex Hormones Estrogen and Testosterone on the Course of COVID-19
Chiara Henze
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Influence of Socio-cultural Gender on the Course of COVID-19
Christine Lohmann, M.Sc.
Research Coordinator
Project: Age-dependent Remodelling of the Female Heart – Protective or Detrimental?
Claudia Sütsch, pract. med.
Medical Doctoral Student
University of Zurich
Thesis project: Influence of Gender on COVID-19 Disease
Denis Bratelj, pract. med.
Medical Doctoral Student
University of Zurich
Thesis project: Spinal cord tethering and syringomyelia after trauma: impact of age and surgical outcome
Dominik Etter, B.Sc.
Research Assistant
Nik did his Master studies in interdisciplinary natural sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ, CH). Niks work is focused on the physical and biological bases of biomedical imaging. As a research assistant at the Gebhard Lab, Nik worked primarily in the field of image evaluation, data collection, and their automation. In his spare time, he is often seen in the kitchen, enjoys reading original science fiction novels and playing speedminton.
Pubmed
ORCID 0000-0002-7060-6089
Dominik Etter
Interdisciplinary Bachelor Student
Thesis project: Does Quantification of Fat Attenuation Index add Prognostic Value as an Adjunct to State of the Art Cardiovascular Imaging?
Dominik Etter
Student
Term paper: Age-dependent Myocardial Fibrotic Remodelling – Evaluation by CMR-derived T1 Mapping
Dominik Sager, pract. med.
MEDICAL DOCTORAL STUDENT
University of Zurich
Thesis project: Exploring Predictors of Enhanced Neuronal Stress Responses in Cardiovascular Disease
Elvira Krämer, M.Sc.
Research Assistent
Project: Impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 Outcomes
Flavia Diggelmann, pract. med.
Medical Doctoral Student
Thesis project: Neuronal Stress-Response in Female and Male Patients with Heart Failure
Gioia Zoe Epprecht
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Age- and Sex-dependent Amygdala Metabolic Activity Pattern
Karin Peer
Administrative Assistant
Karin worked in industry before starting her position at University of Zurich (CH) in 2019. She supported the Gebhard Lab from 2020 to 2022 as an administrative assistant, enriching the our team with her passion and cordial attitude. In her leisure time, she loves being around her family and friends, outdoor-activities and handicrafts.
Katharina Schade
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Predictive Value of Myocardial 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Uptake for Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients Undergoing Oncologic Positron Emission Tomography
Lilian Mayrhofer, B.Sc.
Research Assistant
Project: Impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 Outcomes
Livia Anna Krüger, B.Sc.
Research Assistant
Project: Impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 Outcomes
Magdalena Marggraf
Medical Master Student
University of Basel
Thesis project: Benefit-to-risk balance of coronary angiography in the critically ill
Mariano Paredes Heck, B.Sc.
Research Assistant
Project: Impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 Outcomes
Marie-Louise Sieber, M.Sc.
Research Assistant
Project: Impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 Outcomes
Mina Pasqualini
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Gender Differences in the Long-term Effects of COVID-19
Mina Qadirie, B.Sc.
Research Assistant
Project: Impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 Outcomes
Monika Marędziak, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Project: Age-dependent Remodelling of the Female Heart – Protective or Detrimental?
Muriel Grämer, PhD
Research Fellow / Pharmacy
Muriel studied pharmaceutical sciences at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ, CH) and obtained her PhD in molecular pharmacology for her research on GPCR-signaling in the context of cardiovascular disease. This was followed by employments in public pharmacies consulting patients and at the Federal Office of Public Health ensuring patient access to affordable pharmaceuticals. Muriel joined the Gebhard Lab as a part-time research fellow from 2020 to 2021. Given her broad expertise she was involved in both preclinical as well as clinical projects to explore the impact of sex and gender on COVID-19.
Nadia Hamouda, pract. med.
Medical Doctoral Student
Thesis project: Development of a Gender-sensitive Risk Assessment Tool to Predict Short- and Long-term Outcomes of COVID-19
Nastaran Sang Bastian
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Predictors of an Increased Amygdalar Metabolic Activity in Cardiovascular Patients
Nicola Lott, PhD
Research Fellow / Writing Specialist
Nicola studied Biology at the University of Constance (DE) and obtained her PhD in 2011 at the University of Zurich (CH). Her PhD studies were part of a cooperative initiative between the Cardiovascular Research Group and the Institute of Physiology (UZH, CH), allowing her to investigate mechanisms of obesity-induced endothelial dysfunction from different angles. After her PhD, Nicola joined the Hematology Medical Affairs Department of the pharmaceutical company Celgene GmbH (CH). In that time, she obtained a profound expertise in medical writing, coordination of clinical trials as well as development of scientific strategies. Given her expertise in in coordination and medical writing, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher from 2021 to 2022 in the Gebhard Lab, thereby focusing on data analysis and presentation but also manuscript and grant proposal writing.
Niels Kirk, M.Sc.
PhD Student
Thesis project: Age-dependent Remodelling of the Female Heart – Protective or Detrimental? Exploring the Role of Endocrine Factors, Cardiac Sympathetic Modulation, and Gender-specific Behaviours
Núria Zellweger
Research Assistant
Project: Impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 Outcomes
Philip Kaufmann, pract. med.
Medical Doctoral Student
University of Basel
Thesis project: Sex and gender differences in sepsis: Performance of the SOFA score in critically ill men and women.
Sandro Fröhlich, B.Sc.
Pharmacy Master Student
Thesis project: Age-dependent Remodelling of the Female Heart – Protective or Detrimental? Role of Age, Sex Hormones, and Myocardial Infarction on the Cardiac Function and the Expression of Genes Involved in the Remodelling of the Heart
Susan Bengs, PhD
Deputy Group Leader Basic Research and Management
Susan did her B.Sc. in molecular biotechnology and a holds a diploma in biology from the Technical University of Dresden (DE). She then completed her PhD studies in Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospital Zurich (CH), where she identified biomarkers for early colorectal cancer detection. After her PhD studies, Susan joined the Gebhard Lab in 2018 and was deputy group leader at the Gebhard Lab from 2019 to 2022, where she led research projects, but was also in charge of organizational and administrative tasks and the supervision of young researchers.
Pubmed
ORCID 0000-0003-2424-3894
Winandus Wijnen, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow / Writing Specialist
Curiosity drove Wino from an active research career to academic writing and innovation management. Nevertheless, Wino has remained in close contact with the academic world and joined the Gebhard Lab from 2019 to 2021. With his extraordinary wealth of experience from his PhD times – where he studied the molecular mechanisms underlying heart failure as well as inflammatory responses in myocarditis – and his powerful mindset to develop and refine state-of-the-art ideas, and build up manuscripts and proposals, it is not surprising that he has his own successful company WiWright.
Pubmed
ORCID 0000-0002-3513-3618
Yves Gou Pargätzi
Medical Master Student
Thesis project: Association Between Vascular Inflammation and Epicardial Fat Volume in Women