Vera Luginbühl: "I'm inspired by interdisciplinary dialogue."

When you were a kid, what did you want to be?

I wanted to be a circus artist. I just loved going to the circus and really enjoyed gymnastics. The idea of living in a caravan and travelling the world appealed to me. Later in life, when my children were still young, we hired a camper van for three months and travelled through Europe. So I kind of got to experience my dream with my children and my husband.

You obtained your Master’s and PhD in pharmaceutical sciences at ETH Zurich. What inspired you to study at ETH?

I didn't find it easy to settle on a career choice. I didn't have one clear preference and was interested in lots of different things. When I left school, I spent a year and a half in the USA before going to university. I needed this time to work out what I wanted to do. For a while, I fancied studying in the USA.

But ultimately I decided on Switzerland and pharmaceutical sciences. Even then, ETH had an excellent reputation for its teaching and research. I attended an information day for the course and really enjoyed it. What finally clinched it was the link between natural sciences and practical application in medicine. My initial impressions were confirmed during the course: every afternoon, we took our theoretical studies to the next level through practical exercises, such as botanical excursions or experiments in the chemistry lab.

When deciding on a career, I felt strongly that I wanted to have children. So I didn't just want a wide range of career options, it was also important to me that I would be able to combine family and work. Studying pharmaceutical sciences at ETH gave me excellent options as a mother.

You spent many years as a professor at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). In the summer of 2018, you switched to the private sector. What motivated you to do this and how did you find the move?

Soon after my PhD, I applied for the position at the university on the advice of my professor at ETH. I learnt an awful lot during my time at ZHAW. But my students were my best teachers. As a mentor on both the Bachelor's and Master’s courses, I worked very closely with some of the students and am still in contact with some of them today.

I set up a laboratory for pharmaceutical technology, where I could realise myself. Here I could research freely and independently. But the institution changed and there came a time when different framework conditions were no longer available for me. I asked myself whether I wanted to do be doing this for another 20 years.

At ZHAW, I often worked on projects with industry and our applied research was undertaken with private companies. So the two worlds were never separate entities for me. I had a wide network and many contacts, even some from my time at ETH, so the move to industry was relatively easy for me.

How do you view the move today?

I am currently working in an incredibly exciting area. I always wanted an international element to my daily work. The team is spread across Europe. For example, my boss works in Oslo. A virtual working environment has always been and remains completely normal to us.

I am currently learning so much again. I’m immersing myself in the company’s processes. I work in cell and gene therapy, a personalised form of therapy for treating certain types of blood cancers. The therapy is produced individually; the cells used to manufacture the product come from the patient him or herself and serve as starting material. We collaborate very closely with the doctors . “Living” personalised medicines are the new generation of drugs.