Advanced Grant for system biologist Mustafa Khammash

Two out of 18 Advanced Grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) go to researchers at ETH Zurich. This funding is a transitional measure offered by Swiss Confederation, since researchers from Swiss universities are currently not eligible to apply for an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. Currently, Switzerland is not associated with the European research programme, Horizon Europe. The aim of the Advanced Grants are to offer research funding for leading scientists, who wish to conduct innovative high-​risk research in Switzerland. The SNSF is funding the two projects with a total of CHF 4.8 million.

One of the two projects by ETH Zurich researchers selected in the current round is led by Mustafa Khammash.

Synthetic cell-​based control

The healthy human body is capable of auto-​controlling its own processes. If this natural internal control system fails, it manifests in diseases, for example, of the immune system or as metabolic disorders. In his SNSF funded project, Mustafa Khammash, a Professor of Control Theory and Systems Biology at the Department of Biosystem Science and Engineering in Basel, will develop synthetic cell-​based control systems for use in human therapy. These advanced biological systems will be able to monitor the physiological variables of patients in real-​time and maintain them within healthy ranges by ensuring the finely tuned production of therapeutics. This approach promises advantages over current treatment approaches, in which measurements of variables and drug administration are usually intermittent and only roughly tuned to the disease state.

Read on > find ETH media release.