Serina Robinson, research group leader at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), was yesterday appointed assistant professor of environmental biochemistry at the Department of Environmental Systems Science by the ETH Board. Serina Robinson's award-winning research combines experiments with computer-aided modelling to predict how enzymes transform industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. She investigates the interaction between biological systems and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are known as ‘forever chemicals’ due to their stable carbon-fluorine bonds.

'I find my motivation within the Eawag and ETHZ ecosystem, where I work alongside a team and a community of mentors and colleagues dedicated to PFAS research and other environmental challenges. Reaching this point has been a collective effort years in the making and I want to thank everyone who made it possible', Robinson says.

Robinson was recently awarded an ERC Starting Grant. In her ERC project, which she will carry out at Eawag and ETH Zurich, she plans to use laboratory experiments and modelling to investigate how microbial enzymes bind to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Such binding is central to new approaches for detecting and partially converting these persistent pollutants, also known as ‘forever chemicals’.

With the appointment of Serina Robinson, who has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant, the department is strengthening its interdepartmental links with the departments of Biology and Health Sciences and Technology, as well as its collaboration with Eawag and international partners, writes the ETH Board in its press release.