Born in Bern, Switzerland, I graduated at the University of Bern in 1991 with a degree in Pharmacy.  Upon graduation, I worked as a pharmacist at the Gümligen Pharmacy in Bern for three years. In 1994 I moved to California to participate in an aviation research project at Stanford University under the supervision of Dr. Jerome Yesavage, and received my doctorate in Psychopharmacology in 1997.   Since January, 1997 I have been working as a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University conducting basic and clinical research.