Prof. Dr. Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser received her Ph.D. in 1996 in cell biology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). She worked as postdoc and group leader at the ETHZ and University of Bern, Switzerland. She is an expert in the field of cell–nanoparticle interactions, with a special focus on human 3D tissue models. Since 2011 she has been the Chair in BioNanomaterials at the Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Switzerland; the position is shared equally with Prof. Alke Fink. Prof. Rothen-Rutishauser has published more than 290 peer-reviewed papers and is an associate editor of ‘Particle and Fibre Toxicology’.