Sébastien Wälchli obtained his PhD (Tyrosine Phosphatase signaling) at the University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland in 2002 and his postdoctoral training (Toxin endocytosis) at the Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
He converted to researcher in cancer immunology (TCR isolation and development) in 2007 and from 2013 became project leader for a molecular biology service (Immunology/Cellular Therapy). He is since 2015 group leader at the Department of Cellular Therapy where he co-established the Translational Research Unit. Wälchli has supervised four Master students (3 completed), four PhDs (1 completed) and many postdocs. He has published 80 original peer-reviewed scientific research articles and 11 review articles.
Research activities at the Translational Research Unit focus on pre-clinical development of cancer immunotherapy solutions. These include vaccines (peptide and mRNA), enhanced cellular solutions (NK-TCR technology), and TCR/CAR platforms (ca 30 new molecules). The Unit has been involved in the establishment of two biotech (Ultimovacs and Zelluna) and the publication of around 15 patents, some of them licensed out.
