The Adolphe Merkle Institute BioNanomaterials co-Chair, Prof. Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser, has been elected to the board of the Swiss-based Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation, which supports the replacement, reduction, and refinement (3Rs) of animal experimentation.

The Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation was created in 1982 to promote alternative testing methods to animals. It currently funds endowed chairs at universities in the United States, Germans, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and India. It also provides 3R project funding, and awards a yearly prize for distinguished services to animal protection in science.   

Rothen-Rutishauser is an expert in the field of cell-nanoparticle interactions, with a special focus on 3D tissue models. Her work includes the development of alternative testing methods that can be used for hazard assessments and drug testing approaches. Since 2011, she is the co-chair in BioNanomaterials at the Adolphe Merkle Institute, a position shared equally with Prof. Alke Fink. Rothen-Rutishauser is currently the president of the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine, and has served on multiple international and national advisory committees, including Switzerland’s Federal Commission for Air Hygiene.