Markus Rüegg studied biochemistry at the University of Zurich and completed a PhD in neuroscience before undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. Since 1992, he has worked as a group leader and professor at the Biozentrum, University of Basel. His research unravels the molecular principles governing the establishment, function, and maintenance of the neuromuscular system. Most notably, his team has pioneered a gene therapy approach for LAMA2-related muscular dystrophy, a severe early-onset genetic disease.