Edouard Hannezo
@ehannezo.bsky.social
Professor of Biophysics -
@ISTAustria Using physics to understand biological questions, such as how embryos grow!
@ISTAustria Using physics to understand biological questions, such as how embryos grow!
Pinned
Edouard Hannezo
@ehannezo.bsky.social
· May 26
Excited about the new work from Z. Dunajova & S. Tasciyan (with the Sixt lab @ISTA) - how the mechanical heterogeneity of the environment can be (by itself!) a driver of tumor cell dissemination! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Combination of in vitro exp, simulations and KPZ stat phys!👇🧵1/n
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
How can we organize current theoretical approaches for developmental biology - from information to dynamical systems & GRNs - into a common framework?
We propose to think along Marr's 3 levels: computational problem, algorithm, implementation
Check out our review:
arxiv.org/abs/2510.24536
We propose to think along Marr's 3 levels: computational problem, algorithm, implementation
Check out our review:
arxiv.org/abs/2510.24536
November 10, 2025 at 6:46 AM
How can we organize current theoretical approaches for developmental biology - from information to dynamical systems & GRNs - into a common framework?
We propose to think along Marr's 3 levels: computational problem, algorithm, implementation
Check out our review:
arxiv.org/abs/2510.24536
We propose to think along Marr's 3 levels: computational problem, algorithm, implementation
Check out our review:
arxiv.org/abs/2510.24536
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Our fully-funded PhD program is open for applications!
Join us to conduct cutting-edge research at top facilities with guidance from world-class faculty. Through our interdisciplinary training, you can tailor your PhD experience to match your interests and curiosity.
Apply now: phd.ista.ac.at
Join us to conduct cutting-edge research at top facilities with guidance from world-class faculty. Through our interdisciplinary training, you can tailor your PhD experience to match your interests and curiosity.
Apply now: phd.ista.ac.at
October 27, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Our fully-funded PhD program is open for applications!
Join us to conduct cutting-edge research at top facilities with guidance from world-class faculty. Through our interdisciplinary training, you can tailor your PhD experience to match your interests and curiosity.
Apply now: phd.ista.ac.at
Join us to conduct cutting-edge research at top facilities with guidance from world-class faculty. Through our interdisciplinary training, you can tailor your PhD experience to match your interests and curiosity.
Apply now: phd.ista.ac.at
Looking forward to this highly interactive meeting! Great cross-disciplinary speakers & opportunities for contributed talks, sign up !! 👇👇👇
#CellBio community, this one is for you! Applications are open for the #LakeConference on Modeling Life from Cells to Tissues – co-hosted with Circuit Neuroscience Basel!
📆 April 20-22, 2026
📍 Seattle, USA
🔬 All career stages welcomed.
Apply to attend by 12/12: alleninstitute.org/events/aics-...
📆 April 20-22, 2026
📍 Seattle, USA
🔬 All career stages welcomed.
Apply to attend by 12/12: alleninstitute.org/events/aics-...
2026 Lake Conference: Modeling Life from Cells to Tissues
Join the Allen Institute for Cell Science and Circuit Neuroscience Basel in Seattle, Washington, April 20–22, 2026, for a 3 day conference, Modeling...
alleninstitute.org
October 25, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Looking forward to this highly interactive meeting! Great cross-disciplinary speakers & opportunities for contributed talks, sign up !! 👇👇👇
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
📣Announcing the 4th edition of the EMBL‑IBEC Conference on “Engineering Multicellular Systems”, taking place 11–13 March 2026 in Barcelona. Exploring organoids, mechanobiology, embryo models, organ-on-chip systems, multiomics and more. Abstracts open now!
events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...
events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
📣Announcing the 4th edition of the EMBL‑IBEC Conference on “Engineering Multicellular Systems”, taking place 11–13 March 2026 in Barcelona. Exploring organoids, mechanobiology, embryo models, organ-on-chip systems, multiomics and more. Abstracts open now!
events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...
events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Success rates for Europe’s leading research grants are declining as a surge in applications far outweighs the funds available
go.nature.com/479Sni6
go.nature.com/479Sni6
Is academic research becoming too competitive? Nature examines the data
Applications for European research grants increased in 2025. Scientists say they’re feeling the competition.
go.nature.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Success rates for Europe’s leading research grants are declining as a surge in applications far outweighs the funds available
go.nature.com/479Sni6
go.nature.com/479Sni6
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
1/ 🎉Excited to share our new preprint @vignjeviclab.bsky.social @davidbrueckner.bsky.social :
"Self-organization of tumor heterogeneity and plasticity"
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Tumor heterogeneity and plasticity drive metastasis and relapse. How is tumor patterning coordinated?
A thread👇
"Self-organization of tumor heterogeneity and plasticity"
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Tumor heterogeneity and plasticity drive metastasis and relapse. How is tumor patterning coordinated?
A thread👇
October 16, 2025 at 9:55 PM
1/ 🎉Excited to share our new preprint @vignjeviclab.bsky.social @davidbrueckner.bsky.social :
"Self-organization of tumor heterogeneity and plasticity"
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Tumor heterogeneity and plasticity drive metastasis and relapse. How is tumor patterning coordinated?
A thread👇
"Self-organization of tumor heterogeneity and plasticity"
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Tumor heterogeneity and plasticity drive metastasis and relapse. How is tumor patterning coordinated?
A thread👇
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
So proud of the exciting story from my PhD student Jakub Sumbal on contractile fibroblasts shaping branching morphogenesis!
Fantastic collaboration with the lab of Zuzana Koledova in Prague!
@sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social
It just came out online, check it out here:
rdcu.be/eIIKD
Fantastic collaboration with the lab of Zuzana Koledova in Prague!
@sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social
It just came out online, check it out here:
rdcu.be/eIIKD
Contractile fibroblasts form a transient niche for the branching mammary epithelium
Nature Communications - Fibroblasts represent a heterogenous cell population but how their differences reflect their plasticity and origin is not fully understood. Here, the authors map the origin...
rdcu.be
September 29, 2025 at 4:34 PM
So proud of the exciting story from my PhD student Jakub Sumbal on contractile fibroblasts shaping branching morphogenesis!
Fantastic collaboration with the lab of Zuzana Koledova in Prague!
@sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social
It just came out online, check it out here:
rdcu.be/eIIKD
Fantastic collaboration with the lab of Zuzana Koledova in Prague!
@sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social
It just came out online, check it out here:
rdcu.be/eIIKD
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
How do cells navigate up gradients of adhesive proteins?
🤔
Termed "Haptotaxis", this effect is ubiquitous in cell migration, but it's mechanism was poorly understood
We show that passive friction directs cells & explains complex trajectories on gradients
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🤔
Termed "Haptotaxis", this effect is ubiquitous in cell migration, but it's mechanism was poorly understood
We show that passive friction directs cells & explains complex trajectories on gradients
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 27, 2025 at 8:48 AM
How do cells navigate up gradients of adhesive proteins?
🤔
Termed "Haptotaxis", this effect is ubiquitous in cell migration, but it's mechanism was poorly understood
We show that passive friction directs cells & explains complex trajectories on gradients
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🤔
Termed "Haptotaxis", this effect is ubiquitous in cell migration, but it's mechanism was poorly understood
We show that passive friction directs cells & explains complex trajectories on gradients
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Our latest preprint! Into morphogenesis, Yap, ECM, signaling, vertex models, feedbacks/robustness? There is something here for everyone. We discovered a positive feedback loop that extends inner ear canals, and a built-in mechanism that shuts it down when morphogenesis is done. tinyurl.com/464wsjhd
September 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Our latest preprint! Into morphogenesis, Yap, ECM, signaling, vertex models, feedbacks/robustness? There is something here for everyone. We discovered a positive feedback loop that extends inner ear canals, and a built-in mechanism that shuts it down when morphogenesis is done. tinyurl.com/464wsjhd
Now out in final published form - with a new title "Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in the skin epidermis" and simulations/quantifications! See below for thread of how unbalanced tensions can bias fate choices in minimal 3D models of tissues! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Happy to share the latest work from Preeti Sahu, with Adriana Sanchez-Danes on the biomechanics of cell fate choices during tumor initiation! We implement/test a 3D vertex model with proliferation and fate choices for multilayered tissues! See 🧵 below (1/n) bit.ly/3ZXxJzk
September 26, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Now out in final published form - with a new title "Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in the skin epidermis" and simulations/quantifications! See below for thread of how unbalanced tensions can bias fate choices in minimal 3D models of tissues! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
🧵1/14 Preprint thread! Can we predict a cell’s fate based on its dynamics? 🔮 Our new study unveils a framework for watching development unfold in real-time, revealing how a cell's shape and movement encode info about its future fate. 🔬📄 Preprint: tinyurl.com/4shf8v4x
September 22, 2025 at 9:37 AM
🧵1/14 Preprint thread! Can we predict a cell’s fate based on its dynamics? 🔮 Our new study unveils a framework for watching development unfold in real-time, revealing how a cell's shape and movement encode info about its future fate. 🔬📄 Preprint: tinyurl.com/4shf8v4x
Core achievement unlocked!! Congrats to Fabrizio amd all authors!!
Who knew that the perfect pasta sauce could lead to a Nobel Prize? Congrats to ISTA postdoc Fabrizio Olmeda and collaborators for winning the Ig Nobel Prize with their research on mastering Cacio e Pepe. Bravo! 🍝 🎉
Getting hungry? Here´s the recipe for delicious research: https://bit.ly/42vlpHm
Getting hungry? Here´s the recipe for delicious research: https://bit.ly/42vlpHm
September 19, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Core achievement unlocked!! Congrats to Fabrizio amd all authors!!
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Who knew that the perfect pasta sauce could lead to a Nobel Prize? Congrats to ISTA postdoc Fabrizio Olmeda and collaborators for winning the Ig Nobel Prize with their research on mastering Cacio e Pepe. Bravo! 🍝 🎉
Getting hungry? Here´s the recipe for delicious research: https://bit.ly/42vlpHm
Getting hungry? Here´s the recipe for delicious research: https://bit.ly/42vlpHm
September 19, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Who knew that the perfect pasta sauce could lead to a Nobel Prize? Congrats to ISTA postdoc Fabrizio Olmeda and collaborators for winning the Ig Nobel Prize with their research on mastering Cacio e Pepe. Bravo! 🍝 🎉
Getting hungry? Here´s the recipe for delicious research: https://bit.ly/42vlpHm
Getting hungry? Here´s the recipe for delicious research: https://bit.ly/42vlpHm
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
We’re organizing a conference at @ijmonod.bsky.social in Paris, January 2026, in memory of M.P. Sheetz — pioneer in cell mechanics and mechanobiology, co-discoverer of kinesin, and founder of @mbisg.bsky.social. Join us to explore his legacy.
mikeinmemoriam.sciencesconf.org
mikeinmemoriam.sciencesconf.org
September 18, 2025 at 8:50 AM
We’re organizing a conference at @ijmonod.bsky.social in Paris, January 2026, in memory of M.P. Sheetz — pioneer in cell mechanics and mechanobiology, co-discoverer of kinesin, and founder of @mbisg.bsky.social. Join us to explore his legacy.
mikeinmemoriam.sciencesconf.org
mikeinmemoriam.sciencesconf.org
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Super excited that our group will be supported by an ERC Starting Grant!
In project "InfoFate" we will study how cells use information in dynamical, neighborhood & mechanical signals to make decisions.
We'll have PhD and Postdoc positions available, please get in touch if interested!
In project "InfoFate" we will study how cells use information in dynamical, neighborhood & mechanical signals to make decisions.
We'll have PhD and Postdoc positions available, please get in touch if interested!
Why do some cells become neurons and others muscle?
Physicist Prof. David Brückner @davidbrueckner.bsky.social @biozentrum.unibas.ch @unibas.ch receives a prestigious #ERCStartingGrant to uncover how cells make life-shaping decisions. @erc.europa.eu
www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/news/detail/...
Physicist Prof. David Brückner @davidbrueckner.bsky.social @biozentrum.unibas.ch @unibas.ch receives a prestigious #ERCStartingGrant to uncover how cells make life-shaping decisions. @erc.europa.eu
www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/news/detail/...
ERC Starting Grant for Physicist David Brückner
How do cells decide which role to take on in the body? Prof. David Brückner from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel is investigating this and similar questions. Over the next five years, a Star...
www.biozentrum.unibas.ch
September 4, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Super excited that our group will be supported by an ERC Starting Grant!
In project "InfoFate" we will study how cells use information in dynamical, neighborhood & mechanical signals to make decisions.
We'll have PhD and Postdoc positions available, please get in touch if interested!
In project "InfoFate" we will study how cells use information in dynamical, neighborhood & mechanical signals to make decisions.
We'll have PhD and Postdoc positions available, please get in touch if interested!
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
We are all super happy and proud to see our work on the function and evolution of the #cephalic #furrow published in @nature.com. Let me say a few things about the background and history of this work on the #Evolution_of_Morphogenesis (1/12)
September 4, 2025 at 8:22 AM
We are all super happy and proud to see our work on the function and evolution of the #cephalic #furrow published in @nature.com. Let me say a few things about the background and history of this work on the #Evolution_of_Morphogenesis (1/12)
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
📣 Now out in @physreve.bsky.social as editors' suggestion: our theory on the role of different myosin II isoforms during cell migration. For standard parameters, A and B segregate to the front and the back, respectively. Yet for other parameter values, also oscillations are possible.
August 26, 2025 at 7:35 PM
📣 Now out in @physreve.bsky.social as editors' suggestion: our theory on the role of different myosin II isoforms during cell migration. For standard parameters, A and B segregate to the front and the back, respectively. Yet for other parameter values, also oscillations are possible.
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Excited to share our new publication in Nature Physics about the mechanical memory of morphology in confined migrating cells by @kyohalie.bsky.social 🥳
Super fun collab with @davidbrueckner.bsky.social and @gcharras.bsky.social 👏🏻
Enjoy the reading www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Super fun collab with @davidbrueckner.bsky.social and @gcharras.bsky.social 👏🏻
Enjoy the reading www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The actin cortex acts as a mechanical memory of morphology in confined migrating cells - Nature Physics
Cells often navigate through confined spaces. Now it is shown that cells retain a mechanical memory of previous confinement events, which makes them more efficient at migrating through narrow microenv...
www.nature.com
August 25, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Excited to share our new publication in Nature Physics about the mechanical memory of morphology in confined migrating cells by @kyohalie.bsky.social 🥳
Super fun collab with @davidbrueckner.bsky.social and @gcharras.bsky.social 👏🏻
Enjoy the reading www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Super fun collab with @davidbrueckner.bsky.social and @gcharras.bsky.social 👏🏻
Enjoy the reading www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Do you want to push the boundaries of science together with world-class supervisors and colleagues?
The ISTA-Fellowship Program offers fully funded two-year postdoctoral fellowships for highly qualified candidates.
Apply now to take your next career step at ISTA: https://bit.ly/4kfKBZx
The ISTA-Fellowship Program offers fully funded two-year postdoctoral fellowships for highly qualified candidates.
Apply now to take your next career step at ISTA: https://bit.ly/4kfKBZx
August 26, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Do you want to push the boundaries of science together with world-class supervisors and colleagues?
The ISTA-Fellowship Program offers fully funded two-year postdoctoral fellowships for highly qualified candidates.
Apply now to take your next career step at ISTA: https://bit.ly/4kfKBZx
The ISTA-Fellowship Program offers fully funded two-year postdoctoral fellowships for highly qualified candidates.
Apply now to take your next career step at ISTA: https://bit.ly/4kfKBZx
Very happy to see it out, another fun collaboration with the Sixt group at @istaresearch.bsky.social ! See Mehmet's thread for a summary of how different immune cells can "surf" on each other's self-generated gradients to drive efficient co-migration!
🚨 New paper out in @pnas.org! 🚨
We show that self-generated gradients allow heterogeneous cell mixtures to co-migrate efficiently over long distances —while optimizing their physical interactions!
(See below for 🧵)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪
We show that self-generated gradients allow heterogeneous cell mixtures to co-migrate efficiently over long distances —while optimizing their physical interactions!
(See below for 🧵)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪
August 22, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Very happy to see it out, another fun collaboration with the Sixt group at @istaresearch.bsky.social ! See Mehmet's thread for a summary of how different immune cells can "surf" on each other's self-generated gradients to drive efficient co-migration!
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
🚨 New paper out in @pnas.org! 🚨
We show that self-generated gradients allow heterogeneous cell mixtures to co-migrate efficiently over long distances —while optimizing their physical interactions!
(See below for 🧵)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪
We show that self-generated gradients allow heterogeneous cell mixtures to co-migrate efficiently over long distances —while optimizing their physical interactions!
(See below for 🧵)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪
August 22, 2025 at 6:11 AM
🚨 New paper out in @pnas.org! 🚨
We show that self-generated gradients allow heterogeneous cell mixtures to co-migrate efficiently over long distances —while optimizing their physical interactions!
(See below for 🧵)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪
We show that self-generated gradients allow heterogeneous cell mixtures to co-migrate efficiently over long distances —while optimizing their physical interactions!
(See below for 🧵)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Our interdisciplinary @embo.org @biologists.bsky.social workshop on Biophysical and Molecular Mechanisms of Animal Homeostasis and Repair will take place in beautiful Haining, China, 6-10 April 2026. Exciting line up of international speakers! Register now: meetings.embo.org/event/26-hom...
Interfacing biophysical and molecular mechanisms of animal homeostasis and repair
The control of animal homeostasis and repair has been studied for decades, mostly from a molecular and biochemical perspective. Recent research shows that biophysical factors, such as mechanical forc…
meetings.embo.org
August 7, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
In case you've ever wondered, I talked with @amjeve.bsky.social about science, myself, and the future of #DevBio as part of the Pathway to Independence Fellowship @biologists.bsky.social 🧪 journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Pathway to Independence – an interview with Joaquín Navajas Acedo
Joaquín Navajas Acedo is a Postdoc in the lab of Dr Alexander Schier in Biozentrum at the University of Basel, Switzerland. He is interested in how the nervous system evolves and develops at the singl...
journals.biologists.com
August 5, 2025 at 10:54 AM
In case you've ever wondered, I talked with @amjeve.bsky.social about science, myself, and the future of #DevBio as part of the Pathway to Independence Fellowship @biologists.bsky.social 🧪 journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
Our first #Hydra paper. @anaisbailles.bsky.social all the way, with crucial theory contributions from Carl Modes and @zechnerlab.bsky.social Hydra maintenance by Heino Andreas and HCR by Giulia Serafini. Teamwork. Many thanks to the generous Hydra research community.
Very happy that the first article from my postdoc work in the Tomancak lab is now published @PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/.... We studied the self-organization of actin in aggregates made from Hydra cells. Thread below (1/9)
August 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Our first #Hydra paper. @anaisbailles.bsky.social all the way, with crucial theory contributions from Carl Modes and @zechnerlab.bsky.social Hydra maintenance by Heino Andreas and HCR by Giulia Serafini. Teamwork. Many thanks to the generous Hydra research community.
Reposted by Edouard Hannezo
A Summer reading recommendation: new primer in @dev-journal.bsky.social explains how dynamical systems theory unlocks the logic of developmental patterning
Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
From genes to patterns: five key dynamical systems concepts to decode developmental regulatory mechanisms
Summary: Dynamical systems theory provides a powerful quantitative and intuitive framework to understand developmental processes. This Primer brings key concepts of this framework to the ever-growing ...
journals.biologists.com
August 4, 2025 at 8:44 AM
A Summer reading recommendation: new primer in @dev-journal.bsky.social explains how dynamical systems theory unlocks the logic of developmental patterning
Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...