Nicolas Delaleu is an artist and scientist developing systems that generate perceptual configurations from biological, computational and environmental data.

I’m interested in the provisionality of what is and the fragility of making sense of the world.

Nicolas Delaleu

Statement

My work develops systems that generate structured forms from data, images, materials and processes. These systems organize relations across scientific, visual and cultural domains, creating conditions through which the world may become intelligible.

Art and science are approached as different modes of engaging the same underlying structures. Biological, computational and environmental processes become the material through which these systems unfold.

What emerges are images, objects, sound, spaces and configurations that make perceptible the organized relations through which reality becomes thinkable, while remaining contingent, incomplete and open to reinterpretation.

Portrait of Nicolas Delaleu, artist and scientist

About

Nicolas Delaleu is an artist and scientist based in Lausanne, Switzerland and Nice, France.

Trained in bioengineering and experimental immunology, his work builds on a longstanding engagement with genomics, systems biology and data-driven modelling. He has held leading roles in academic research and industry and currently serves as Director and Head of Computational Biology & AI.

In parallel, he has developed an artistic practice that draws on scientific, computational and environmental processes to produce images, objects, sound and spatial environments. Working across art and science, he constructs systems through which complex relations become perceptible and experienceable.

Initially trained in photography, he expanded his practice into relational installations through his participation in Klavdij Sluban’s LeMasterklass, integrating generative systems, statistical modelling, moving image, sound and spatial design.

His projects situate contemporary operational systems within a broader history of images, classifications, maps and archives through which human beings have sought to understand themselves and the world.

Biographical sketch

Work experience

2024 –            Director, Head of Computational Biology & AI

  • Galderma SA, Lausanne, Switzerland

2017 –             Founder, Chief Data Scientist & Immunologist

2023 – 2024    Senior Computational Biologist (big data-driven drug development)

  • Galderma SA, Lausanne, Switzerland

2017 – 2020    Translational Medicine Expert and Bioinformatician (prostate cancer)

  • Institute of Oncology Research, Bellinzona, Switzerland

2013 – 2017    Leader – Omics Data Analysis and Visualization Group

  • Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen (UiB), Norway

2009 – 2013    Postdoc & Project Manager (drug development & systems biology)

  • Department of Clinical Science, UiB, Norway

2008                Research Scientist (bioinformatics & data visualization)

  • Innovest, Bergen, Norway

2002 – 2004    Scientific Assistant (autoimmunity & Sjögren’s syndrome)

  • Geriatric and Special Care Dentistry, University of Zürich, Switzerland

1999 – 2002    Bioengineer & Scientific Assistant (inflammation & biocompatibility)

  • Oral Cell Biology, University of Bern, Switzerland

1997 – 1999    Bioengineer (vaccinology)

  • Crucell, Bern, Switzerland

Education (selection)

2020 – 2026    Art school LeMasterklass with Klavdij Sluban

  • Tailor-made mentorship involving photography, video, installations, 3D-modeling and musical composition, Paris, France

2014                Workshop with Michael Ackerman

  • Contemporary photography, Lugano, Switzerland

2005 – 2008    PhD fellow (experimental immunotherapy and biomarker research)

  • Broegelmann Research Laboratory, UiB, Norway

1994 – 1997    Bioengineer Federal VET (molecular biology and virology)

  • Crucell, Bern, Switzerland

Grants

2000 –             Travel grants and project support ≈ $ 120’000.-

2013                Bergen Medical Research Foundation ≈ $ 750’000.-

  • Formation of the Omics Data Analysis and Visualization Group

2009                The Research Council of Norway ≈ $ 1’300’000.-

  • Mucosal vaccination against autoimmune disease

Publication metrics

38 peer-reviewed articles (15 as first or co-first, 8 as corresponding or last author) and 2 book chapters (1 as first author) and 1 PhD thesis (ISBN 978-82-308-0597-8).

  • Top Journals: Nature Genetics, Nature Cancer, Nature Immunology, Kidney International, Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, Nature Communications, Cell Reports, Arthritis & Rheumatology and Drug Discovery Today.

Google Scholar as per 16.06.2026: Citations = 3134, h-index = 28, i10-index = 33

Language ability

Fluent: English & German / Advanced: French & Norwegian / Basic: Italian

© 2026 I Nicolas Delaleu