Leadership Consortium Profiles

Dr. Katja Nuss completed her studies in Veterinary Medicine in 1984 culminating in a doctoral thesis in 1986 followed by her clinical fellowship in veterinary anesthesiology and surgery until 2004 at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. She holds German national specialist degrees in veterinary surgery and in anesthesiology. Dr. Nuss has worked as a study director, senior scientist and deputy facility manager at the MSRU for over 14 years. She has extensive experience in designing and performing osteointegration and biocompatibility studies in compliance with GLP. She is FELASA certified for directing animal experimentation. She was/is involved in a wide range of competitive grants in the fields of osteointegration, biocompatibility of implants and biomaterials, aneurysm biology and wound healing. Dr. Nuss is a member of the Center for Applied Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine (CABMM).

Dr. Karina Klein completed her doctoral degree and PhD in Veterinary medicine at the Vetsuisse Faculty in Zürich in 2008 and the University of Bern in 2015, respectively. Dr. Klein has worked as a study director at the MSRU for over 11 years. She is an experienced clinican and veterinary orthopedic surgeon and has directed and performed many studies and surgeries for musculoskeletal regeneration, in compliance with GLP. She is FELASA certified for directing animal experimentation. Dr. Klein has extensive experience in developing animal models to answer specific research questions in a wide range of fields (spine, bone augmentation, tracheal stents, various prostheses). She is also in charge of a rehabilitation center for horses (Sandgrueb Stiftung, Egg ZH) in cooperation with the Pferdeklinik at the Tierspital Zürich.

Dr. Salim Darwiche received his bachelor and master in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and 2008, respectively. He then completed his PhD in Biotechnology and Bioengineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 2013. Since 2014, he has worked as a study director and senior scientist at the MSRU. He is also the scientific coordinator of the Center for Applied Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine (CABMM) and as such, acts as a liaison to facilitate collaborations within the consortium of CABMM experts. He has significant experience in designing, implementing and managing in-vivo studies in compliance with GLP. He has directed and managed many multi-year projects with industrial and academic project partners. He is FELASA certified for directing animal experimentation and has extensive expertise in musculoskeletal tissue (bone, cartilage, tendon) and skin repair and regeneration.