Natalia Rivera

In this Falling Walls Breakthrough Conversation, digital participants had the chance to engage in a live conversation with Paweł Rowiński. He talked about his role as Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Science, the process of rebuilding the science landscape of Ukraine, what advice he would give to aspiring scientists…

As a scientist, getting a research grant often feels like an odyssey. It involves a lot of red tape and can take years to be approved. While it is a nuisance to all researchers, the process is especially frustrating for environmental scientists, who rely on grants to perform their research…

Dr. Sabrina Badir from ETH Zurich was the jury’s choice and winner of the Falling Walls Lab 2015 with the development of a reliable and easy-to-use device that allows the risk of premature birth to be recognized in time so that appropriate treatments can be started promptly.

HOW BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS NUTRITIOUS GLUTEN-FREE ALTERNATIVES A gluten-free diet is often the only treatment for sufferers of gluten-related disorders like coeliac disease — a condition where eating gluten causes the immune system to turn against the body. Michelle Colgrave leads the Food and Agricultural Proteomics teams at Edith Cowan…

Presented by: Dana Kralisch JeNaCell produces pads made of nanocellulose for the after-treatment of dermal injuries and for dermatological treatments. These pads are completely sterile, have a unique high water level and offer a constant cooling. Based on biotechnologically derived cellulose, the pads are skin-friendly and soft, can be peeled…

How Dementia Research Improves the Lives of Patients and Caregivers “Dementia” is the name for a group of symptoms that usually come slowly, often going unnoticed at first by relatives and friends, up to a point they can no longer ignore the changes in the person’s behaviour and personality. At…

According the hypotheses that plants can “communicate” among themselves, Olga Kisseleva is investigating the possibility of “eaves dropping” on this arboreal “dialogue,” and even taking part in it. This idea has given birth to the project in which trees can “communicate” on two levels: among themselves in the T2T (Tree…

After successful restoration of visual function in animal models of retinal degeneration (with Botond Roska (IOB, Basel), Dr. Sahel conceived the first-in-man clinical trial combining a biotherapy (photoactivatable optogene channelrhodopsin expressed in retinal ganglion cells) coupled with a stimulation device, and observed the first clinical evidence for vision restoration using…

Through an installation/performance the artist Maja Smrekar reflects on the social dimension of Artificial Intelligence, questioning the power relations in terms of technological development and data sovereignty, and how these affect the relations between human and animals. “Technologies such as AI need a social dimension and not only the economy,…

Destigmatization: How marginalized groups can achieve greater inclusivity In our post-Covid age of extreme inequality, dreams of upward mobility are more unrealistic than ever. Many people ask where to turn for new sources of hope. Agents of change and the non-profit sector are promoting new narratives of diversity, sustainability, and…