Assistant Professor of Cellular Dynamics

Madhav did his Ph.D on DNA replication at the University of Toronto. For his postdoc, Madhav worked with Yukiko Yamashita on satellite DNA function in Drosophila between 2013 and 2019. The Jagannathan Lab was established in the Institute of Biochemistry at ETH Zürich on August 1st 2019.

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Ph.D

Lena obtained her Master’s from the Technical University of Graz where she worked on implementing CRISPR in Lactobacilli. She joined the Jagannathan lab in October 2019. She is most excited about how homologous chromosomes find their partner in the 3D space of the nucleus with a special focus on satellite DNA repeats.

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Ph.D

Franziska obtained her M.Sc from the University of Hohenheim where she worked on Notch signaling and DNA repair in fruit flies. In June 2020, she joined the Jagannathan lab and her project focuses on how chromocenters contribute to the mechanostability of nuclei. If you can’t find her in the lab (partly because short people are hard to spot behind their benches) she’s probably out promoting Greenlabs Zurich or simply dancing somewhere.

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Ph.D

Benjamin obtained his MSc from the University of Vienna, where he worked on the characterization of intrinsically disordered proteins by NMR and computational modelling. In August 2020, he joined the Jagannathan lab to pursue his PhD on chromocenter formation using interdisciplinary approaches.

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Ph.D Candidate

Dhanashree received her Master’s in microbiology from the Maharaja Sayajiarao University of Baroda, India in 2017. She then moved to the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore to study the evolution of mimicry in butterflies. She joined the Jagannathan lab in October 2021 where she is studying mechanisms of satellite DNA variation in the Drosophila germline. When she is not in the lab, Dhanashree likes to pursue street and urban wildlife photography.

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Ph.D Candidate

Ayodya obtained her Master’s degree from Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Russia, where she worked on microproteins affecting epithelial mesenchymal transition in the human genome. Afterward, she worked in the Slavoff lab at Yale University as a Postgraduate Associate to work on the biochemical and proteomic characterization of a novel microprotein. She joined the Jagannathan Lab in October 2023 as a PhD student and she is currently working on heterochromatin organization and function in Drosophila.

Ph.D Candidate

Sebastian holds a M.Sc. in Engineering (Diplôme d’Ingénieur) from ESPCI Paris and an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Sorbonne Université. With his engineering background applied to biology, he explored how neuropeptides affect sleep in Drosophila for his master’s thesis. His Ph.D project focuses on germline differentiation and the factors influencing it. Full of energy, Sebastian is always exploring the city on the lookout for the best nap spots.

Postdoctoral Scholar

Lorenzo obtained his Ph.D in 2020 in the Ronshaugen and Griffiths-Jones labs at the University of Manchester, where he studied regulation of gene expression by microRNAs during Drosophila embryonic and larval development. He then joined the Fuller lab at Stanford as a postdoctoral scholar, where he investigated how alternative polyadenylation of nascent mRNAs is developmentally regulated as proliferating stem cells start differentiating during spermatogenesis. He joined the Jagannathan lab in 2024 and he is currently working on deciphering mechanisms of a germ cell-specific stress response.

Research Assistant

Alessia obtained her Master’s degree from ETH Zürich in 2025. After completing her Master’s thesis in the Jagannathan lab, she joined the team as a research assistant, supporting the lab’s daily operations alongside her teacher training. Besides working with Drosophila, she enjoys playing music and collecting fun facts about movies.