Francesca Capotosti

"This search for scientific excellence makes my work very stimulating, innovative and different every day. It feels like being on a constant learning curve which will never plateau."

  I joined AC Immune in 2013 as a Scientist. Back then my postdoctoral project was focused on immunology, and AC Immune was looking for a scientist to work on its vaccine Suprantigen® platform. During the interview process I was really impressed by their science. This made me realize that this was the right time for me to move from academia to industry.   Neurodegenerative diseases remain a challenging field with few treatments available to address disease progression. Knowing the impact on families and burden to society in general, I wanted my work to contribute making a difference to patients. I think that even small breakthroughs can have a big impact.   Prior to joining AC Immune, I had been working as a postdoctoral assistant at the EPFL, studying in vitro and in vivo interactions between lymphatic and immune systems. I had moved from Italy to Switzerland for my studies and ended up staying and building my family here. I really appreciate the quality of life and the proximity to nature. The infrastructures to support working mums are far from perfect but I have seen improvements over the years. AC Immune also participates to this effort with flexible solutions to preserve work-life balance.