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Scientific Advisory Board

Ryohei Yasuda


Scientific Director of the Max Planck Florida Institute

Research in the Yasuda Lab focuses on synaptic plasticity, the ability of synapses to change their connection strength. This process is thought to underlie learning and memory. Cascades of biochemical reactions in dendritic spines, tiny (~0.1 femtoliter) postsynaptic compartments emanating from dendritic surfaces, trigger diverse forms of synaptic plasticity. The Yasuda lab aims to elucidate some of the operation principles of such signaling networks in dendritic spines using various optical techniques.


Volker Haucke


Director of the Leibniz-Forschunginstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie Berlin (FMP) and Professor of Molecular Pharmacology at the Institute for Pharmacy of the Free University of Berlin.

Research in the Volker Lab is centered on the visualization and manipulation of the endocytic machinery and of endosomal membrane organization using a combination of biochemical, genetic, chemical, and optical imaging approaches with a particular focus on the nervous system.


Peter Scheiffele


Professor, Head of Research Group at Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland

Research in the Scheiffele Lab at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel explores cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuronal wiring in development and disease. The current main research themes are the control of neuronal synapse formation and specification by RNA alternative splicing and a dissection of circuit deficits underlying social behavior alterations in models of autism.


Veerle Baekelandt


Professor at Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven - Center for Molecular Medicine, Belgium

Veerle Baekelandt and her research group in the laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy are committed to gain insight in the underlying pathology of Parkinson's Disease (PD) and more recently Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), on both the molecular and cellular level. They specifically focus on the proteins α-synuclein and LRRK2, two key players in sporadic and familial PD. The underlying idea is that better disease models and insights in the molecular pathogenesis are required to develop novel causal therapeutic strategies that can cure or slow down the disease. They make use of viral vector technology and molecular imaging as          core technologies to support their research and to develop and characterize new cellular and rodent disease models. Finally, they          are also investing in pre-clinical drug discovery through their neuro drug discovery platform.


Elena Cattaneo


Professor at Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Italy

Elena Cattaneo is leading the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Pharmacology of Neurodegenerative Diseases, where she and her research group focus on neural stem cells, their potential application, and the neurodegenerative mechanisms of Huntington’s disease. Using different strategies, they study the mechanisms of Huntington’s disease and intervention schemes in human neurons obtained from pluripotent stem cells. The laboratory works with Huntington’s disease clinical experts in Italy and abroad, to assess the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of our research findings for clinical translation and application.
 


Yang Dan


Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Neurobiology

Her research aims to elucidate (1) what circuits in the mammalian brain control sleep, and (2) mechanisms by which the frontal cortex exerts top-down executive control.


Cornelius Gross


Group Leader, Senior Scientist, and Deputy Head of Unit at the Epigenetics & Neurobiology Unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)    

The research of Dr. Cornelius Gross aims to understand the neural circuit mechanisms controlling instinctive behaviors, with a special focus on fear and anxiety.     


Ole Kiehn


Professor at Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen

Ole Kiehn and his research group study the molecular, cellular, and network diversification of locomotor circuitries in mammals with the goal of providing a unified understanding of the functional organization of neuronal circuits that execute movements.