Kristin Schirmer

kristin.schirmer@epfl.ch +41 21 693 08 61

EPFL ENAC IIE TOX
GR A1 464 (Bâtiment GR)
Station 2
1015 Lausanne

+41 21 693 08 61
+41 21 693 37 75
Office: GR A1 464
EPFL > ENAC > IIE > TOX

Web site: Web site: https://tox.epfl.ch/

Fields of expertise

Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Toxicity, Aquatic Organisms, Chemical Hazard Assessment, Adverse Outcome Pathways, in vitro Alternatives to Animal Testing, Fish Cell Lines, Biomonitoring

Mission

My core expertise is in cell biology and environmental toxicology. Linking cell biology and environmental toxicology is a powerful combination for deriving information regarding routes and risks of exposure of life forms to chemical and other stressors and for developing concepts to protect the ecosystem and sustain natural resources. The main focus of my research is on the freshwater environment and on fish or single-cell organisms (such as algae) as experimental models, and on man-made chemicals and products, naturally occurring elements, biologically derived toxins or particles as stressors. Expanding on my education in biology and environmental science, I take an interdisciplinary approach to research and teaching. Major stations of my life so far are: 2008-today Head of Department of Environmental Toxicology (Eawag, Dübendorf, Switzerland) 2010-today Adjunct Professor, EPFL (Switherland) 2007-today Lecturer for Environmental Toxicology (ETHZ, Switzerland) 2003-2007 Head of Department of Cell Toxicology (UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Enviromental Research, Leipzig, Germany) 2001-2003 Junior Research Group Leader (UFZ, Leipzig, Germany) 1997-2001 Postdoctoral Research Fellow (University of Waterloo - Canada and UFZ, Leipzig, Germany) 1994-1997 PhD Enviromental Science (University of Waterloo, Canada) 1994 Diploma Biology (University of Hohenheim and Martin Luther University, Germany)

My favourite motto :)

It's not whether you get knocked down. It's whether you get up again! - Vince Lombardi

Selected special recognitions that I have received

2007 SETAC Environmental Education Award 2007 Felix-Wankel Animal Welfare Research Award 2007 Technology Transfer Award for Ceramic Toximeter passives sampler (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ) 1998 W.B. Pearson Medal for recognition of creative research in a Doctoral thesis 1997 Best Student Platform Presentation Award, 24th Aquatic Toxicity Workshop 1994-1996 University of Waterloo and Ontario International Graduate Student Scholarship

Publications

Infoscience publications

Infoscience

Adverse Outcome Pathways during Early Fish Development: A Conceptual Framework for Identification of Chemical Screening and Prioritization Strategies

D. C. Volz; S. Belanger; M. Embry; S. Padilla; H. Sanderson et al.

Toxicological Sciences. 2011. DOI : 10.1093/toxsci/kfr185.

Kristin Schirmer

Fields of expertise

Mission

My favourite motto :)

Selected special recognitions that I have received

Publications

Infoscience publications

Infoscience

Adverse Outcome Pathways during Early Fish Development: A Conceptual Framework for Identification of Chemical Screening and Prioritization Strategies

Transcriptomics in ecotoxicology

Agglomeration of tungsten carbide nanoparticles in exposure medium does not prevent uptake and toxicity toward a rainbow trout gill cell line

Developing a list of reference chemicals for testing alternatives to whole fish toxicity tests

Differential gene expression as a toxicant-sensitive endpoint in zebrafish embryos and larvae

Proposal to improve vertebrate cell cultures to establish them as substitutes for the regulatory testing of chemicals and effluents using fish

Time-integrated monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in groundwater using the Ceramic Dosimeter passive sampling device

Applying whole water samples to cell bioassays for detecting dioxin-like compounds at contaminated sites

Effect-directed identification of oxygen and sulfur heterocycles as major polycyclic aromatic cytochrome P4501A-Inducers in a contaminated sediment

Applying whole-water samples directly to fish cell cultures in order to evaluate the toxicity of industrial effluent

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as inducers of cytochrome P4501A enzyme activity in the rainbow trout liver cell line, RTL-W1, and in primary cultures of rainbow trout hepatocytes

Transitory metabolic disruption and cytotoxicity elicited by benzo[a]pyrene in two cell lines from rainbow trout liver

Ability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to induce 7-ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase activity in a trout liver cell line

Ability of 16 priority PAHs to be directly cytotoxic to a cell line from the rainbow trout gill

Methodology for demonstrating and measuring the photocytotoxicity of fluoranthene to fish cells in culture

Teaching & PhD

Past EPFL PhD Students

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