Who we are

Sabine Mueller, MD Ph.D. MAS serves as the Head of the Clinical Program of the DIPG/DMG . She also leads the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program at UCSF and the Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (www.pnoc.us)

Javad Nazarian, Prof. Ph.D. serves as the Head of the Translational Program of the DIPG/DMG Center Zurich

Dr. Stephanie Mathes, contributes to the DIPG/DMG Center Zurich at as project manager. Her main focus is to obtain regulatory approval for clinical trial opening and management of the program.

Dr. Nicolas Gerber is a pediatric neuro-oncologist and head of the Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit of the Department of Pediatric Oncology at the University Children’s Hospital of Zürich. He is PI of PNOC trials.

Prof Dr. Ana Guerreiro Stücklin, PhD is a pediatric neuro-oncologist and physician scientist at the University Children’s Hospital in Zurich, and will act as Co-PI for PNOC trials.

Marion Rizo-Oberholzer is study nurse at the DIPG/DMG Center Zurich and takes care of our patients and families.

Sabine Holzapfel is study nurse at the DIPG/DMG Center Zurich and takes care of our patients and families.

Prof. Dr. Michael Grotzer is the Full Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich and the Director of the Medical Clinic as well as the Medical Director at the University Children’s Hospital Zurich. Professor Grotzer is the head of Neuro Oncology where the center is embedded.

Prof. Dr. Niklaus Krayenbühl is the Head of Pediatric Neurosurgery at University Children’s Hospital of Zürich and Senior Neurosurgeon at the Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Zürich.

Sandra Laternser, MSc in Life Sciences is a research associate in Prof. Nazarian’s lab. She is working at the interface of clinic and research lab and investigating biomarkers of target drugs.

Bettina Kritzer, MSc in Life Sciences, is a research associate in Prof. Nazarian’s lab. Her work focuses on translational research, with a focus on drug screening and the identification of novel therapeutic strategies for DMG. She also contributes to project management and administrative coordination within the group and with external collaborators.

Andrea Timpanaro, PhD in Biomedical Sciences, is a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Nazarian’s lab. He investigates therapeutic response mechanisms in DIPG/DMG and develops synergistic strategies combining CAR T cells with targeted drugs, including preliminary exploration of tumor microenvironment–influenced pathways.

Ludovica Ciani is a PhD student in Prof. Nazarian’s Lab. She is working on identifying new therapeutic targets involved in DMG tumorigenesis and dictating cell stemness.

Matteo Bimbati is a PhD student in Prof. Nazarian’s Lab. He uses the novel CRISPR-Cas9 technology approach to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying DMG survival and identify new therapeutic targets.

Vincenzo Mazza is a PhD student in Prof. Nazarian’s Lab. He is working on therapeutic approaches for diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs), focusing on transcription factors involved in therapeutic resistance.

Anica Bischof, is a Master’s student in Prof. Nazarian’s Lab, researching novel combinatorial therapies for DMGs with a focus on cholesterol biosynthesis pathways. By integrating multi-omics data analysis—including gene expression and lipid profiling—she aims to uncover pathway-level insights and link metabolic stress to transcriptional adaptations.

Emre Yapici, is a Master’s student in Prof. Nazarian’s Lab. He is working on reprogramming DMG cells into neuronal-like cells. The project aims to use different combinations of small molecules on DMGs, analyze neuronal marker expressions, and functionally characterize reprogrammed DMG cells into non-malignant neuronal-like cells.

Pascalle Benz, is a Master’s student in Biomedicine and is doing her master’s thesis in Prof. Nazarian’s lab. Under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Timpanaro, she is investigating the synergistic effect of combining CAR T cells with targeted drugs for DMG.

Roxane Lehmann,  MSc in Experimental Biomedical Research, is a Research Technician in Prof. Nazarian’s lab. Her work focuses on drug screening and correlational studies for DMG patients, as well as targeted immunotherapy and the development of new therapeutic approaches.