Affiliation: ETH Zürich

Frédéric Allain is a full professor at ETH Zürich, where he has led research in biomolecular NMR since 2001. He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1997, followed by postdoctoral research at UCLA under Prof. Juli Feigon and Prof. Doug Black. His work focuses on the structural analysis of protein-RNA complexes in solution to understand key mechanisms of post-transcriptional gene regulation, including alternative splicing, RNA editing, and translation regulation. These studies have significant implications for uncovering the molecular basis of genetic diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

In recent years, his lab has also explored the role of liquid-liquid phase separation in RNA-protein interactions. Elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2009, Prof. Allain has also served as co-director of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s NCCR on RNA and Disease since 2014. His research integrates structural biology with molecular genetics to address fundamental biomedical questions.