Chad Papenfuhs

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Chad Papenfuhs was born in Oregon, USA where he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BSc in Microbiology and infectious disease. During his bachelor's, he worked on research projects relating to defensive metabolite production from local invasion algae strains. In the final year of the bachelor's, he was hired as a custom assay development intern at Luminex® (now known as Diasorin), where he worked to develop customized, multiplex nucleotide and protein detection assays for the Luminex FLEXMAP 3D and xMAP INTELLIFLEX systems. Chad then moved to Zürich, Switzerland, where he obtained his MSc in Microbiology from the University of Zürich. During his MSc Chad completed a one-year research thesis titled: "In-depth investigation of Paraburkholderia phymatum genes differentially expressed in simulated microgravity" in the group of Dr. Gabrielle Pessi. Chad's thesis research aimed to uncover the transcriptional response of the rhizobia bacterium Paraburkholderia phymatum to simulated microgravity on a random position machine (RPM), and to determine how the differentially regulated genes in microgravity affect the bacteria's ability to form effective symbiotic relationships with crop plants. Chad then went on to Intern at the Kennedy Space Center for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). His research in the Microgravity Simulation and Support Facility (MSSF) aimed to uncover seed/seedling adaptations to real and simulated space conditions, utilizing samples that were returned from the ISS in conjunction with microgravity simulation devices (2D/3D clinostats and RPMs) to understand better how seedlings will fair during long-term passage to other planets. While at NASA, Chad also researched the PIN-mediated auxin response in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings to further our understanding of the interplay between plant gravitropic and phototropic responses.

Chad then returned to Zürich, Switzerland to Pursue a DSc at The Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH) in the group of Prof. Dr. Amy Fraley. He will investigate plant-microbe interactions, with the aim of elucidating biosynthetic pathways involved in the production of resilience factors and bioactive natural products.

ORCID ID: 0009-0005-1284-6235