Incoming Perutz group leader Milena Schuhmacher. © Milena Schuhmacher
Lipids are essential building blocks of cells and key signaling molecules, but how cells control their diversity and translate changes in lipid composition into specific biological responses remains poorly understood., Milena Schuhmacher’s group will investigate how lipid composition, organization and dynamics shape cellular function, combining synthetic chemistry with cell biology and advanced imaging. Her lab develops chemical tools to manipulate and visualize individual lipid species with high spatial and temporal precision, with a particular focus on understanding how subtle structural differences influence lipid behavior, protein interactions and signaling. Using different signaling lipids, the group aims to uncover how lipid signals achieve specificity across different organelles and cellular locations.
Milena says: “I am very excited to join the Max Perutz Labs. The institute brings together outstanding research in molecular and cell biology with a strong collaborative culture and an exceptional scientific infrastructure. It is an inspiring environment to advance our work on how lipids function as signaling molecules and how lipid composition shapes cellular function. We look forward to developing new chemical tools to uncover the roles of lipids in living cells and to exploring these questions together with the vibrant research community at the Perutz.”
Milena studied Chemistry at the Universities of Heidelberg and Auckland. Since 2021, she has led an independent research group at EPFL. Milena received an ERC Starting Grant in 2025 for her project ‘LipID: Subcellular Lipid Atlas: Decoding Organelle Identity with Targeted Lipid Profiling’.