DUDLI-LAB
Lab Life & News
Research Highlights
March 2026
CRPS Kick-off meeting
We had an incredibly inspiring kick-off meeting for our upcoming CRPS project, bringing together a multidisciplinary team from Universitätsklinik Balgrist, Universitätsspital Zürich, Inselspital Bern, Kantonsspital Graubünden, and AO Research Institute Davos.
The exchange between clinicians, researchers, and patients was truly energizing, reminding us why this work matters. Together, we aim to unravel the molecular basis of CRPS and take meaningful steps toward better care for those affected.
We feel grateful and excited to collaborate with such an outstanding team: Stefan Dudli, Florian Brunner, Hubli Michèle, Sibylle Grad, Lisa Reissner, Michael Alexander Harnik, Melanie Rehli-Bürgler, Daniel Friis, Pamela Bitterli, Thea Beraldin, Junxuan Ma, Priska Meier, Chris Kaderli, Christoph Kolling and Livia Rätzo.
Lab Events
March 2026
A Taste of Japan
As part of our lab tradition, we have been exploring different cuisines together. Followed by an Indian spot chosen by Fiona, we continued this month with Andrea Audétat's turn.
Given Andrea’s love for Japanese culture, language, and cuisine, she picked a Japanese restaurant for us to experience together... and it did not disappoint!
We are already looking forward to the next culinary adventure!
Lab Events
February 2026
Cross-Country Ski Day
We enjoyed a cross-country skiing outing together. While experts like Stefan, Phelipe, and Danilo led the way, the rest of us had private lessons with our excellent ski teacher, Andrea Nüesch. A fun day full of laughter and team spirit!
Team Updates
December, 2025
Farewell, Tamara. A big
Thank You from all of us
We say goodbye to Tamara Mengis, an exceptionally valuable member of our lab. What began as a short initial stay in 2019 grew into many impactful years, during which she completed her PhD and postdoc in the Dudli lab.
Tamara not only contributed outstanding research on Modic changes, but also helped shape the identity of our lab by creating our website and logo. Her scientific work, creativity, and dedication have left a lasting mark on our team.
We are deeply grateful for everything she has done and wish her all the very best in her next chapter.
Team Updates
October 2026
Welcome, Andrea
Andrea Audétat will join the Dudli lab as a medical doctorate candidate after completing her medical studies at the University of Basel.
During her time with us, Andrea will focus her doctoral research on investigating how CPPD crystals interact with bovine intervertebral discs. Her work will contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying low back pain and holds potential for the development of future therapeutic approaches.
Research Highlights
September, 2025
SNSF Grant for CRPS Research Approved
We are honored and proud that the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF approved our research project on Complex Regional Pain Syndrom (CRPS).
This will allow us to disentangle the molecular basis of this very debilitating condition.
The project is a collaboration between the Universitätsklinik Balgrist, Rheumatology USZ with partners at AO Research Institute Davos (ARI), Inselspital in Bern, Universitätsspital Zürich, and Kantonsspital Graubünden, with laboratory research conducted at the Balgrist Campus AG.
Looking forward to work with Florian Brunner, Lisa Reissner, Pamela Bitterli, Hubli Michèle, Sibylle Grad, Michael Alexander Harnik, Melanie Rehli-Bürgler, and Daniel Friis.
Lab Events
September, 2025
Taco Night!
Last night we swapped the lab bench for tacos and it was totally worth it! Big thanks to Pamela, who organized this outing. Being from Mexico, she was our official taco authority of the evening.
Her verdict? These tacos were about 85% authentic… which in Zürich basically means they’re as close as it gets!
Nothing like good food and great company to recharge before diving back into research.
Lab Events
September, 2025
Retreat in Arosa
This year, the Dudli Lab traded pipettes for mountain peaks and headed to beautiful Arosa. After winding our way up 365 curves, we settled into Rothorn for a productive day of engaging workshops regarding events, careers and project support. It was truly great! Others must have felt the special energy too: Post-dinner, a curious deer even joined us on our way to drinks.
Day two took us on a hike to Hörnlihütte, where good food and great laughs capped off the retreat before heading back home. What a fantastic team - already excited for next year!
Lab Events
August, 2025
Balgrist Party
Superheroes Unite! Science by day, superheroes by night 🧪✨
This year’s Balgrist party was all about Superheroes and the Dudli Lab answered the call! Disguised as The Incredibles, we swapped pipettes for superpowers.
With great food, music, and a heroic amount of laughter, the evening was truly super. Huge thanks to the organisers for a legendary night. We are already training our powers for next year!
Team Updates
July, 2025
Welcome to the lab, Fiona
Fiona joined our lab for her master’s thesis and will be with us for 8 months. Together with Phelipe and Alex, she will work on the iMODICel project, investigating differences between 2D and 3D stem cell models for therapeutic applications.
Research Highlights
June, 2025
UZH Postdoc Grant
We are very proud of Pamela for receiving the UZH Postdoc Grant and covering for her salary for the next year! Congratulations Pamela!
Research Highlights
June, 2025
EORS Conference in Davos
The conference was a great opportunity not only to reconnect with friends and colleagues from the spine and disc community, but also to broaden our perspective by engaging with research across the musculoskeletal field.
Of course, the conference dinner was a highlight but the standout moment was definitely the race around the lake on Tuesday. We’re especially proud of Stefan, who crossed the finish line first and took home the trophy!
We’re returning energized and full of new ideas
Research Highlights
May, 2025
γδ Conference in Toronto
Jan presented our discoveries of how cartilage degradation contributes to the accumulation of killer lymphocytes in the MC1 lesions at 11th international γδ T cell conference in Toronto. This unique, highly specialised meeting provided us with feedback on our project and plenty of novel ideas emerging from the newest discoveries in the field of unconventional T cells.
Research Highlights
May, 2025
EWRR Conference in Budapest
Jan presented our discoveries of how cartilage degradation contributes to the accumulation of killer lymphocytes in the MC1 lesions at 44th European Workshop for Rheumatology Research in Budapest; an inspiring event full of networking opportunities, accompanied by exceptional Hungarian cuisine and a cultural program.
Research Highlights
May, 2025
ISSLS Conference
Danilo and Stefan presented our newest findings at the Annual Meeting 2025 at the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS) in Atlanta. Like every year, ISSLS was a blast and the social outing to a baseball game was a highlight
Research Highlights
May, 2025
Grant received!
Tamara was awarded the GRC Career Grant to support her RNA sequencing analysis of disc and endplate cells stimulated with fragments.
Research Highlights
March, 2025
CRPS paper published
In our most recent publication on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), we uncovered two distinct biological subgroups of CRPS Type I that are consistent across both skin and blood.
These subgroups may help explain the widely recognized heterogeneity of CRPS.
This is the first report of such subgroups in CRPS Type I, opening the door for future research to deepen our understanding of this complex condition
Research Highlights
March, 2025
Grant received!
Tamara and Stefan will be supported by the "Stiftung für wissenschaftliche Forschung an der Universität Zürich" for their in-vivo study on a drug to treat Modic changes.
Lab Events
March, 2025
Celebration Dinner!
To celebrate Stefan's new title we all went out for a nice dinner together!
Research Highlights
February, 2025
Poster Prize for Jan
Jan received a poster award at the Swiss Cytometry Meeting! Congrats Jan!
Research Highlights
December, 2024
Titularprofessur
Congratulations Stefan!!!
Stefan received the "Titularprofessur" from the University of Zurich.
Research Highlights
December, 2024
SNSF BRIDGE Discovery
We received a CHF 2 Mio grant to develop a Stem Cell Therapy for Modic Type 1 Changes. This is a collaborative project together with Prof. Stephen Ferguson from ETH Zurich and Dr. Olga Krupkova from the University of Basel. This project will allow us to translate or basic research finding into a therapeutic that eventually will bring measurable benefit to the patient.
Lab Events
December, 2024
Balgrist Christmas Apero
2024’s final highlight: An AMAZING evening at Balgrist Hospital. Great food, even better company! Happy Christmas to you all!
Lab Events
November, 2024
Lab Bowling Event
Our lab hosted its third bowling event, and once again, Jan emerged as the overall champion! The evening was a fantastic way to unwind, and although it started with only a few strikes and spares, we all warmed up as the night went on. It turned out to be a close competition, with Danilo and Phelipe trailing closely behind Jan. We're already looking forward to the next event – let’s see if we can finally dethrone Jan!
Research Highlights
November, 2024
PSRS 2024
Our lab had a fantastic time at this year’s Philadelphia Spine Research Symposium (PSRS) at the beautiful Skytop Lodge in the countryside near Philadelphia! Stefan and Tamara represented the team, connecting with incredible researchers and enjoying the lively atmosphere. The venue, surrounded by a picturesque lake and lush nature, offered the perfect setting to exchange ideas and reflect on exciting progress in spine research.
Research Highlights
October, 2024
Competitive SNSF grant
for Stefan
Stefan received a SNSF Spark grant on the topic “Immune memory of intervertebral disc cells”.
Research Highlights
October, 2024
Phelipes first grant!
Phelipe obtains support the UZH Innovation Grant Program for the translational project “iMODICel”.
Research Highlights
September, 2024
SGR Congress Prize
Jan and Stefan were awarded the Congress prize for the best Abstract of the Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society of Rheumatology.
Our
Story
Research Highlights
September, 2024
Another Grant for Jan!
Jan received a grant from the Novartis Foundation for Medical-Biological research. He will investigate “The role of immunity in Modic Changes”
Research Highlights
August, 2024
Collaborative Grant
Olga Mayenfisch Foundation
Collaborative grant. Stefan received a grant from the Olga Mayenisch foundation to investigate “Personalized Medicine for Low Back Pain: Identification and Characterization of Low Back Pain Phenotypes”. This grant uses data from the Clinical Research Priority Program “Pain” of the University of Zurich and is in Collaboration with Prof. Christof Seiler.
Our
Story
Research Highlights
July, 2024
Fritzis first grant
Fritzi received a EULAR Research Voucher to investigate “The role of bone marrow adipocyte signaling in the pathogenesis of degenerative disc disease and Modic changes”
Goodbye Nick!
Team Updates
July, 2024
After 4.5 years Nick is leaving our group to continue on new adventures outside of academia!
We are all sad to see him go, but wish him the best of luck for his future journey!
To say goodbye we had a last traditional Tibits dinner all together as a group!
Our
Story
Lab Events
June, 2024
Retreat 2024
Our retreat at the EPI Center in Zurich was both productive and fun. We bonded with new lab members and explored the DISC personality model, deepening our understanding of each other and enhancing team collaboration. Additionally, reviewing the goals from the last retreta showed that we as a group were able to implement many of them over the last 20 months, which was great to see!
Jan receives 2 grants
Research Highlights
June, 2024
Congratulations to Jan for receiving (i) a Postdoc grant from the University of Zurich, and (ii) for receiving a research grant from Swiss Life.
Our
Story
Team Updates
May, 2024
Congratulations Tamara
Congratulations Tamara to an extraordinary PhD! Your contagious enthusiasm for the project, your incredibel variety of biomedical skills, your profound knowledge of the topic, and you teamplayer mentality made you an outstanding PhD candidate. I am thrilled to have you now as Postdoc in my group.
Lab Bowling Event
Lab Events
March, 2024
Latest breakthrough at Dudli's Lab was striking! Turns out our postdocs know how to dominate both pipettes and pins. Congratulations Nick and Jan for the highest scores! 🎳
Our
Story
Happy 2024!
2023 has been a year that brought lot of success and stories to our lab. I am very honored to work with such an amazing team of passionate scientists and fun people. Just a quick recap (and already apologize for any important event or achievment I forget to mention): - New Postdoc (Ján Deván Devan) - Postdoc leaving (Irina Heggli) - PhD defended (Nick Herger) - PhD student joined (Danilo Menghini) - competitive grants acquired >CHF 1.5 Mio, e.g. #NIH, #Innosuisse - several first and last author publications from our group - Fritzi received a project grant - Irina got a SNF Postdoc Mobility Grant to joint the James Iatridis lab - Presented at conferences (too) far away: #ORS2023, #ISSLS2023, #EULAR2023, #Eurospine2023 Looking forward to an inspiring and exciting 2024. #Balgrist, Balgrist Campus AG, Rheumatology USZ UZH
Our
Story
Team Updates
Congratulations Nick!
Congratulation Nick Herger for your successful PhD Defense! He has significantly advanced our understanding of MSC priming and its use for treatment of intervertebrald disc degeneration and Modic changes:
https://lnkd.in/erCeTJvE
https://lnkd.in/epfEeSCv
We are glad that he will stay in dudli-lab.ch for a few months more. His dedication, ethusiasm, innovation, and humor became a central part of our research group.
Our
Story
Research Highlights
Innosuisse -
Swiss Innovation Agency
We are happy to received support from Innosuisse for our translational project on Modic changes. With this support we can make a big step on our endeavor to deliver the first disease-modifying treatment for Modic changes.
Research Highlights
June, 2023
EULAR in Milano, Italy
This year's European Congress of Rheumatology was an exhilarating experience for Dudli's lab as we had a strong presence throughout the event. The congress, which took place in the beautiful city of Milan, provided the perfect platform for our lab members to showcase their research and findings.
During the poster tour session, Melina had a valuable opportunity to present her research on "Identification of Two Biological Subtypes of CRPS" in just 5 minutes, shedding light on this rare and complex condition.
Adding to the lab's success, Friederike's abstract on "Serum mass spectrometry identifies Apolipoprotein D as a potential biomarker for Modic Type I changes" was included in the abstract pamphlet, contributing valuable insights to the research presented during the event.
Stefan further elevated the lab's presence at the congress as a speaker of two presentations on "Distinct degeneration mechanisms in intervertebral discs adjacent to Modic changes" and "Activated neutrophils degrade cartilage endplates." His expertise was highly valued, drawing considerable attention and interest during his sessions.
While the days were filled with engaging scientific exchanges, the evenings were equally delightful. On the third evening of the event, everyone gathered at the Palazzo del Ghiaccio for a memorable dinner. The venue's splendid atmosphere provided the perfect setting for the lab members to unwind and strengthen their bonds over their shared passion for rheumatology. The sumptuous buffet of various Italian dishes and delectable desserts satisfied everyone's taste buds, and the lively Italian folklore music and dances added a touch of cultural charm, making the night truly unforgettable.
Research Highlights
May, 2023
Spine Week 2023 in Melbourne, Australia
The Spine Week in Australia was an incredible opportunity for us to meet up with fellow researchers and catch up on the latest findings in lower back pain research.
Not only was there research to be discussed, but the ISSLS social event was to go to the zoo where we learned some stunning facts about the very exotic Australian animals.
The beautiful city of Melbourne was definitely a great backdrop to this week-long event where researchers and clinicians had the chance to network and share their knowledge and experience. It was a great opportunity to build relationships, further the progress of lower back pain research and support the establishment of new international collaborations.
Lab Events
May, 2023
Balgrist Employee Party
The recent Balgrist Employee Party was a truly exceptional event. Hosted by Balgrist University Hospital, all employees were invited to an unforgettable circus performance at the renowned circus Knie. We were mesmerized by the awe-inspiring acts of the talented artists and thoroughly entertained by the comedic performances. The evening was further enhanced by an exquisite apéro riche that exceeded all expectations. It was a resounding success, leaving us eagerly anticipating next year's event.
Research Highlights
February, 2023
ORS Conference in Dallas, Texas
Stefan, Nick, Irina, Jan and Tamara flew all the way to Dallas to join the annual orthopedic research societety conference. It started right out with the spine section session. Tamara was able to present a 2min poster teaser. The following day Irina was able to present her project investigating the two potential etiologies of Modic changes and was able to initate some very nice discussions. On the 5th day of the conference Nick was then able to show his very new work on the effect of priming on mesenchymal stem cells from the bone marrow. In addition to all those wonderful presentations we also had 2 posters from Irina and 2 from Tamara presented at the poster sessions.
Of course, besides all the intersting research presentations, discussions and networking we were able to take a quick trip to the Stockyards of Fort Worth, a small historic town giving you all the Texas feelings you ever imagined.
Overall, we really had a wonderful time spent in Dallas as a group but also together with our neighboring group from Balgrist the Snedeker Lab.
Lab Events
January, 2023
New Years Group Dinner
Due to a great number of events already before Christmas, we decided to turn our Christmas Tibits event to a New Years event.
Lab Events
December, 2022
Balgrist Christmas Apéro
After two years of Covid-enforced cancellation, the Balgrist Christmas lecture and apero did finally take place again this year. We had the pleasure to listen to a wonderful lecture given by Fredy Knie Junior about the exciting life in a circus. This was followed by the incredible and breathtaking Christmas apero, which left no dreams unfulfilled.
Team Updates
January, 2023
Meet our newest group members:
Jan & Danilo
We welcome to our group Jan Devan. He is starting with us as a Post-Doc.
Jan just finished his PhD in the group of Experimental immunology at the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel. During the PhD studies, he investigated the role of T cells in mucosal immunology and, in his thesis, revealed changes in the phenotype and function of immune cells associated with Crohn’s disease and Eosinophilic esophagitis.
We also warmly welcome Danilo Menghini! We welcome to the group Danilo. He just finished his Master thesis abroad and concluded his degree in Health Science and Technology at the ETHZ focusing on medical technologies, biomechanics and orthopedics. Alongside his studies he worked part-time for the start-up ZuriMED Technologies AG at Balgrist Campus engaging in projects related to Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction and meniscus repair. His project will be a collaboration between Balgrist Campus and AO Foundation Davos.
We are very happy to have new ideas and fresh spirit added to our team!
Team Updates
December, 2023
Congratulations Irina
Irina successfully defended her PhD Thesis on Decemeber 15th, 2023. After a very nice presentation and lots of interesting questions, we all got to celebrate and enjoy a nice apéro together with Irina. Besides the Apéro, we also put Irina to work and came up with a little biopsie game where she had to take biopsies of a specific size from a pineapple. In addition to that, we created a small wine tasting game, allowing her to prove once and for all how good she really does know wine - and she succeeded! And finally, as Irina has a very wide field of collaborations and friends, we collected some fun facts of people and made her guess who they belong to.
We again congratulate you Irina and wish you all the best for all that you decide to do in the future!
Lab Events
November, 2022
Retreat 2023
We had a really fun and successful retreat as an entire group up on Felsenegg. We were able to discuss not only where we see ourselves and eachother in the upcoming years, but also define goals for our group.
One of the outcomes of this retreat was in fact this webpage, which you are currently on :-)
Lab Events
August, 2023
Balgrist Fest
This years famous Balgrist Employee Party took place at the Albisgüetli in Zürich with the theme being the golden 20s/Titanic. After lots of brainstorming, we decided to go all dressed equally with hat, suspenders and a white collar blouse, which acutally matched Leo's outfit from the Titanic.Sven Epiney, one of Switzerlands most famous moderator who also happens to be Tamara’s “idol”, led through an evening of amazing food, great show performances, and impressive dance moves from our side. The evening was a complete success and we are already looking forward to next years event.
Research Highlights
June, 2022
eCM Conference
The eCM conference took place in Davos this year. Nick was able to present his findings on the effect of priming of bone marrow stromal cells using hypoxia. Irina, Fritzi and Tamara each presented a poster.
Irina's poster showed that...
Tamara's poster showed her recent finding that bone marrow stromal cells taken from the Modic lesions have a neurotrophic effect on nerve cells, meaning they make them nerve cells grow faster than control bone marrow stromal cells.
Team Updates
February, 2022
Meet our newest group member:
Melina Perez-Vertti Valdes
Melina is starting in our group as a PhD student. She will be the first PhD student in this group that will be working on CRPS. She will focus mainly on understanding the pathophysiology behind CRPS. Melina just finished her masters in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, where she studied stem cell specification into the germline using genetic mouse models, gastruloids and CRISPR under the supervision of Prof. Ian Chambers. She also investigated the role of mechanical ion channels in Drosophila development with Prof. Barry Denholm.
We look forward to having you join the group!