Edward Elliston Farmer
Address : Plant Molecular Biology
Biophore Building
University of Lausanne
CH-1006 Lausanne Tel. 041 21 692 41 90
Tel. 041 21 617 89 13 Fax 041 21 692 41 95
edward.farmer@.unil.ch
www.unil.ch/dbmv
Employment
1992-present Professor, Biology Section, University of Lausanne.
1989-1992 Research Associate, Washington State University, with C.A. Ryan.
1987-1989 Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington State University, with C.A. Ryan.
1984-1987 Postdoctoral research, University of Wisconsin-Madison with
J.P. Helgeson and R. Durbin.
1983-1984 Postdoctoral research, University of Freiburg, FRG with
K. Hahlbrock and H. Grisebach.
Responsibilities
Director of the Plant Biology Institute, University of Lausanne,1992-1998.
Member of the University 450 Anniversary Foundation Board (1997-2007)
Member of the Faculty of Biology and Medecine Research Committee (2004-)
Faculty of Biology and Medecine promotions committe (2008-)
Education
1983 Ph.D. Biochemistry. Thesis “The regulation of hexokinase” with
J.S. Easterby, University of Liverpool
1979 B.Sc. (Hons) Biochemistry, University of Liverpool
Scholarships
1983-1984 Royal Society European Fellowship, Freiburg, FRG
1978 Graham White Travelling Scholarship, University of Liverpool
Distinctions
Nathan Edward Tolbert Endowed Lectureship, Michigan State Univ. Biochemistry Dept. 22 April,
2004
Pirie lecturer, Rothamstead Research Institute, 12th June 2006.
Iowa State University W.E. Loomis lecturer, 27 April 2009
ISI highly cited researcher (since 2005)
Society Memberships
Member American Plant Physiology Society.
Editorial work
Monitoring Editor, Plant Physiology (since July 2005)
Editorial board member BMC Plant Biology (since December 2004)
Editorial advisor Plant Journal (2000-2007)
Ad hoc editor for Current Opinion in Plant Biology
Sabbatical
Oct. 2001-March 2002 spent Borneo, New Caledonia and New Zealand.
Patents
US Patent 5,935,809 Method of inducing plant defense mechanisms. C.A. Ryan and E.E. Farmer
Invited lectures
Australia (Canberra, 2), Austria (Vienna, 1), Brazil (Rio di Janero, 1), Canada (Toronto 1, Vancover
1), Czech Republic (Brno, 1), Denmark (Helsingor, 1), Finland (Tampere, 1), France (6), Germany
(9), India (Mumbai 1, Aurangabad 1), Italy (Il Ciocco, 1), Japan (Tokyo 1, Okazaki, 1), Mexico
(Mérida 1), Netherlands (Leiden 1, Wageningen 2), New Zealand (Lincoln 1), Russia (Kazan, 1),
Singapore (1), Sweden (Uppsala, 1), Switzerland (c. 20), UK (5), USA (c. 19).
Recent lectures
FESPB Meeting, Finland, August 2008 (Plenary speaker)
ASPB Meeting Mexico, June 2008 (Invited speaker)
Russian Oxylipin Meeting, Kazan, September 2008 (Plenary speaker)
Gordon Conference on Oxidative stress and Disease, Il Ciocco, It, March 2009 (Invited speaker)
Loomis lecture and minisymposium, Iowa State University, April 2009
Recent funding of Farmer Laboratory
Swiss FNRS 5 year grant* 3100-054942.98 (1/99-12/03), CHF 833'300
Swiss Institute for Experimental Research on Cancer 1999 CHF 30'000
Rub Foundation 2000 CHF 55'000
Leenaards Foundation 2000 CHF 140'000
Nestlé 2001 CHF 67'000
University of Lausanne Science Faculty 2001 CHF 280'000 (CATMA)
University of Lausanne Medical Faculty 2001 CHF 100'000 (for the microarray core facility)
Swiss FNRS NCCR program and internal matching fund 2001-2006: CHF 709'716
University of Lausanne genomics initiative 2002-2007: CHF 400'000
Leenaards Foundation 2004-2005 CHF 100'000
Swiss FNRS 5 year grant* 3100A0-101711/1 (1/2004-12/2008), CHF 713'710
Swiss FNS equipment grant 2006 CHF 76'300 (with 50'000 matching sum from the University)
Swiss FNRS 3 year grant 3100A0-122441 (1/2009-12/2011), CHF 515,150
SystemsX.ch network 'Plant growth in a changing environment' (2008-2011) CHF 280'000 shared
with M. Chergui (Physics EPF Lausanne).
* 5 year grants are awarded selectively, the standard funding period is 3 years.
In addition postdocs and grad students in the laboratory are funded by their own external money
(EU etc.)
Meetings organized
1996 E. Farmer. Host organiser for the Swiss Society of Agronomy National Meeting 'New
agricultural technologies', Lausanne, 8 March.
1998 Member of the organising committee Swiss Biochemical Society (USGEB), Lausanne, 5-6
March.
1999 Reymond, P. and Farmer, E.E. Global analysis of gene expression in plants. Lausanne,
Switzerland. October 7-8.
2000 Farmer, E.E. cDNA microarrays and DNA diagnosis. At the European Life science
Organisation (ELSO) meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 3 October.
2003 Farmer, E.E. Heeb, P., Jungi, T., Keel, C., Moreillon, P., Sanders, I. War and peace
between kingdoms: microorganism/ macroorganism interactions*. Villars, Switzerland, 28
Sept.-1 Oct.
2004 Member of the organising committee International Pathogenesis-related protein and
induced resistance meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, 5-9 May.
2004 Member of the organising committee International Arabidopsis Meeting, Berlin,
Germany, 11-14 July.
2005 Farmer, E.E. and Mueller, M. Regulatory Oxylipins (International Symposium), Lausanne
15-16 September.
2006 Telenti, A., Farmer, E.E., Wittek, R., Hagenbuchle, O. Pandemics and Epidemics*. Villars,
Switzerland, 24-27 Sept.
2007 Farmer, E.E. and Kaufmann, A. Biofuels**. Lausanne, 21 February (speakers: C. Hardtke,
E. Gnansounou, Y. Poirier)
2009 Farmer, E.E. Regulatory Oxylipins (International symposium). Lausanne, 4-6 June.
* Denotes an interdisciplinary meeting organised for doctoral students and postdocs.
** Public outreach.
Science History
International colloquium: Jean Senebier and the Republic of Science and Letters. Invited speaker
'L'apport de Senebier à la biologie moderne' Geneva, 3-5 December 2009.
Intramural teaching
Note: this varies from year-to-year and has included :
1st year medical students (over 300 students) : Plant and Cell Biology 14 h classes, 5 week practical
class in plant physiology (1993-2000)
3rd year biology students (c.80 students) : Plant molecular biology 14 h classes, 7 week practical
work shop in plant molecular biology (1997-present).
Masters students : Signal transduction in plants 24 h classes (since 1997)
Masters students (small groups) 'The first week in the life of Arabidopsis' 12h classes/experiements
(since 2005).
Doctoral school tutorial: 'Epistemologie, l'approche scientfique, et Jean Senebier.' (started 2008).
Extramural teaching
Contributed to the 'Plant Biochemistry' course at the Salk institute, CA, in 1991
Ph.D. Summer School “Signal Transduction in Induction of Plant Defenses”, Wageningen,
Netherlands, 28-30 August 1995.
Postgraduate courses in Signal Transduction in Plants given at the National Agronomy
Institute in Paris (1999, 2002)
Postgraduate courses in Signal Transduction in Plants, CNRS Strasbourg, France, 2000.
Lecturer, Arabidopsis Molecular Genetics, Cold Spring Harbour laboratory, NY, July 2003.
Careers seminars, University of Neuchâtel, CH (2003, 2005).
Ph.D. Summer School “Systems biology/signal Transduction in Induction of Plant Defenses”,
Wageningen, Netherlands, 19-21 June 2006.
Lecturer, Doctoral School in Biology, University of Grenoble, France, 11 June 2007.
Keynote speaker, Doctoral School in Biology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany, 19 July
2007.
Doctoral workshop in genomics, Federal Technological University, Lausanne, 21 November
2007.
Doctoral lecture on 'Why are oxidation-sensitive fatty acids so abundant?' at Kazan State
University, Russia, 22 December, 2008.
Lecturer, School of Criminal Sciences, Lausanne, 'A natural burglar alarm system in plants'
(in French) 14 May 2009.
Committee work
Member of the 450th Anniversary Foundation committee at the University of
Lausanne from 1997-2007. Committee member Ernest Rub Fund (2002-), Equal Opportunities
Committee (2007-), Faculty of Biology and Medecine Research committee (2006-), Faculty of
Biology and Medecine Promotions Committee (2008-), chairman of several promotion and hiring
committees at the University of Lausanne and elsewhere. Responsible for Biology student
International Exchange programmes at the University of Lausanne (2008-). External evlautator (e.g.
Zurich-Basel Plant sciences, 2007). Prize committee jury work (e.g. Schlaefli Prize jury member for
the Swiss Academy of Sciences, 2009). Search committee president (Associate Prof. Microbiology,
2009-2010).
Ph. D thesis committee work
Thesis director
CALDELARI Daniela 1997
VOLLENWEIDER Sabine 1999
RETELSKA Dorota 2001
ALMERAS Emmanuelle 2003
LIECHTI Robin 2005
ARMAND Florence 2007
DUBUGNON Lucie 2008
GFELLER Aurélie in progress
SCHMID Emanuel in progress
MUELLER Matthias in progress
MOUSAVI ALI REZA Seyed in progress
Thesis administrative co-director
GUTJAHR Caroline (dir. U. Paszkowski) 2009
BESSIRE Michel (dir. C. Nawrath) in progress
Chairman of thesis jury for
AUGSBURGER Marc 1999
BESSON DUVANEL Cécile 2002
CASTELLI Christian 2001
CAVIN Alexandre 1999
CHRISTIN Pascal-Antoine 2008
DEMURTAS Davide 2009
FEIGE, Jérôme (replaced allocated president) 2006
FISCHER Claude 2008
GENOLET Raphaël 2005
GEHRIG-FASEL Jacqueline 2007
GUITARD Marjorie 2002
IFFLAND André 2001
IGLESIAS José 2009
JACCARD Bastienne 2008
JUGET Frédéric 2001
KLEY Martin 2000
LANG Imtraud 1998
MEYLAN Etienne 2006
OOMMEN Sajit T. in progress
PEBERNARD Stéphanie 2003
RICKEBUSCH Sophie 2006
RIGOTTI Stefania 2003
ROSSET Herve 2006
THEURILLAT-MORITZ Viviane 1998
VACHER Sophie 2003
VAUTHEY Sylvain 1998
Reporter/expert for thesis committees of
BAEHLER Pascal 1999
BENSADOUN Jean-Charles 2000
BONGCAM GOMEZ Vanessa 2000
BROSSARD Patrick 2003
CHRISTIN, Pascal-Antoine 2008
CLUZET Stéphanie 2001
DORMOND Olivier 2001
GASSER Stephan 2001
GAVIN Olivier 1995
HASLER Udo 2000
MARAZZI Susanna 2001
MUNDT Kirsten 1997
REZZONICO Enea 1999
SIERRO Frédéric 2003
SIMMEM Thomas 1998
Reporter/expert for extramural thesis committees
MARRO Pascal. Univ. Fribourg, CH 1997
VIDAL Sabine. Swedish Ag. Univ. S 1998
MENKE Franke. Leiden University, NL 1999
EBEL Chantal. CNRS, Strasbourg, FR 1999
LIEBERHERR Daniel. Univ. Fribourg, CH. 2001
DELESSERT Christian. Univ. Gent, B. 2003
GAQUEREL, Emmanuel. Univ. Bretagne, F 2005
CACAS, J-L., Univ. Mediterranee, F 2006
THIOCONE Aly, Univ. Geneva, CH 2006
RASCHKE, Maia, ETH Zurich, CH 2009