Melanie Blokesch - Curriculum Vitae#

Professional Summary

Dr. Melanie Blokesch is a Full Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. Her research focuses on the evolution of bacteria as human pathogens, with particular emphasis on Vibrio cholerae. Her work explores interbacterial competition, horizontal gene transfer, mobile genetic elements, and bacterial defense systems.

Key Appointments & Experience

Dr. Blokesch received her PhD from LMU Munich (Germany) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University (USA). She joined EPFL in 2009 as Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and now serves as the Director of the Global Health Institute.

Publications (Selection from the past 10 years)

- Adams D.W.*#, Jaskólska M., Lemopoulos A., Stutzmann S., Righi L., Bader L., Blokesch M.*# (2025) West African South American pandemic Vibrio cholerae encodes multiple distinct phage defence systems. Nat. Microbiol. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02004-9 (*equal contribution; #co-corresponding)

- Flaugnatti N., Bader L., Croisier-Coeytaux M., Blokesch M. (2025) Capsular Polysaccharide Restrains Type VI Secretion in Acinetobacter baumannii. eLife 14:e101032.

- Loeff L., Adams D.W., Chanez C., Stutzmann S., Righi L., Blokesch M., Jinek M. (2024) Molecular mechanism of plasmid elimination by the DdmDE defense system. Science, 385:188-194.

- Otto S.B., Servajean R., Lemopoulos A., Bitbol A-F., Blokesch M. (2024) Interactions between pili affect the outcome of bacterial competition driven by the type VI secretion system. Curr. Biol., 34:P2403-2417.

- Vesel N., Iseli C., Guex N., Lemopoulos A., Blokesch M. (2023) DNA modifications impact natural transformation of Acinetobacter baumannii. Nucleic Acids Res., 51: 5661-5677. doi:10.1093/nar/gkad377.

- Jaskólska M., Adams D.W.#, Blokesch M.# (2022) Two defence systems eliminate plasmids from seventh-pandemic Vibrio cholerae. Nature, 604:323-329. (*equal contribution; #co-corresponding)

- Drebes Dörr N.C., Proutière A., Jaskólska M., Stutzmann S., Bader L., Blokesch M. (2022) Single nucleotide polymorphism determines constitutive versus inducible type VI secretion in Vibrio cholerae. ISME J., 16:1868-1872.

- Flaugnatti N., Isaac S., Lemos Rocha L.F., Stutzmann S., Rendueles O., Stoudmann C., Vesel N., Garcia-Garcera M., Buffet A., Sana T.G., Rocha E.P.C., Blokesch M. (2021) Human commensal gut Proteobacteria withstand type VI secretion attacks through immunity protein-independent mechanisms. Nat. Commun., 12:5751. (*equal contribution)

- Vesel N., Blokesch M. (2021) Pilus production in Acinetobacter baumannii is growth phase dependent and essential for natural transformation. J. Bacteriol., 203:e00034-21.

- Adams D.W.#, Stutzmann S., Stoudmann C., Blokesch M.# (2019) DNA-uptake pili of Vibrio cholerae are required for chitin colonisation and exhibit kin recognition via sequence-specific self-interaction. Nat. Microbiol., 4:1545-1557. (#co-corresponding)

- Borgeaud S., Metzger L.C., Scrignari T., Blokesch M. (2015) The type VI secretion system of Vibrio cholerae fosters horizontal gene transfer. Science, 347:63-67.

- Matthey N., Stutzmann S., Stoudmann C., Guex N., Iseli C., Blokesch M. (2019) Neighbor predation linked to natural competence fosters the transfer of large genomic regions in Vibrio cholerae. eLife, 8:e48212.

- Adams D.W.#, Stutzmann S., Stoudmann C., Blokesch M.# (2019) DNA-uptake pili of Vibrio cholerae are required for chitin colonisation and capable of kin recognition via sequence-specific self-interaction. Nat. Microbiol., 4:1545-1557. (#co-corresponding)

- Borgeaud S., Metzger L.C., Scrignari T., Blokesch M. (2015) The type VI secretion system of Vibrio cholerae fosters horizontal gene transfer. Science, 347:63-67.

Professional Service

Dr. Blokesch has served on multiple international scientific advisory boards, including those of the Bavarian Research Network New Strategies Against Multi-resistant Pathogens Using Digital Networking (bayresq.net), the Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne (LCB) in Marseille, the Research Centre for Infectious Diseases (ZINF) in Würzburg, and the Institut Pasteur in Lille. Since 2019, she has been an elected member of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and, in addition, served on the SNSF’s Specialized Committee Interdisciplinary (FAID) and the Sinergia Evaluation Committee (2019-2022).

Honors, Awards, and Grants

Dr. Blokesch has received numerous prestigious awards, including recognition from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the VAAM in Germany, two consecutive ERC grants, and an HHMI International Scholarship. She is also an elected member of EMBO, the Leopoldina, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the European Academy of Microbiology.