In 1974 I finished my studies in the department of Chemistry at the University of Basel with a diploma. I moved to the department of Biochemistry at the Biozentrum in Basel to Prof. Max M. Burger's laboratory to start my Ph.D. thesis on 'Growth regulation of cells in culture with a modified, non-toxic lectin (succinylated Concanavalin A)'. This work was continued as a post-doctoral fellow after finishing the doctorate with a degree in biochemistry in 1978. In 1981 I moved to  the laboratory of Prof. T. Benjamin at Harvard Medical School in Boston as a research fellow. I was funded by fellowships from Swiss National Foundation followed by an appointment as instructor at Harvard Medical School. I investigated the role of Polyomavirus middle tumor antigen in the process of cell transformation. In 1984 I returned to the Biozentrum in Basel as a research fellow where I continued my work on Polyomavirus. In 1987 I obtained a position at the Friedrich Miescher-Institute in Basel as an independent research fellow and became an associate group leader in 1989 and continued to study cell transformation and signal transduction by Polyomavirus middle-T, in particular the mechanisms responsible for complex formation between middle-T and Src family tyrosine kinases. In April 1997 I moved to the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) where we investigate signalling by vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF). In a second, related project, we developed reagents for targeting tumor cells based on VEGF and its receptors and on tumor vasculature-specific marker molecules. In January 2003 our research group was renamed to 'Molecular Cell Biology' (MCB) and is now part of the 'Laboratory of Biomolecular Research' at PSI.

In 1991 I started a teaching program in 'Molecular Virology' and in 1993 my habilitation at the science faculty of the University of Basel was accepted. In 2001 I was promoted to 'Titularprofessor in Biochemistry' at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. I now teach 'Molecular Virology' and 'Cellular Signalling' in the Aufbaustufe program of the Biozentrum at the University of Basel. 

My hobbies are music and reading and outdoor activities such as biking, skiing and hiking in the mountains.