Alena will continue exploring novel molecular mechanisms of receptor signaling during brain development, and their functional importance behind neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders such as ADHD and autism.

Four universities and The Lundbeck Foundation are boosting Danish brain research and talent development with a new neuroscience academy. The aim of this decentralised academy for brain research is to promote talent development at Danish universities and pave the way for new research and breakthroughs within brain-related disorders.

Katharina Wolter studies molecular medicine, and she is starting her bachelor studies in Anders Nykjær’s group. She will study the role of SorCS3 in neural stem cells differentiation.

Tim will start as new Erasmus Student in Nykjær Group per 1 August. He will be investigating and evaluating mouse behaviour related to sortilin dysregulation as well as performing biochemical and cell biological analysis of brain tissues under the supervision of Dr Dongik Park. Welcome Tim!

Pia will start as PhD Student in Nykjær Group per 1 August. She will be working on sortilin receptors in neuronal development and memory formation and how their dysfunction may lead to cognitive impairment and psychiatric disease. She will investigate how sortilin receptors control synaptic plasticity, and neuronal survival and death in the developing and adult central nervous system.

Dragos is new postdoc in Nykjær Group per 1 June. He will work on the SorCS3 receptor of the Vps10p-domain family and its role in cellular signaling and neuronal circuit activity responsible for learning and memory. The main focus will be on hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, in vitro and in vivo, using viral injections, calcium imaging and electrophysiology.

Kristyna is new Research Assistant in Nykjær Group per 1 May. She will focus on how sortilin receptor signaling mechanisms are involved in neuronal development and memory formation, and their impact in neurological disorders such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As part of the project, she will be differentiating of human inducible stem cells and organoids and also study how nerve cells communicate in mice with autism. Welcome Kristyna!

As of 1 April, Dongik will start as Assistant Professor in Nykjær Group. He will continue his work on the roles of sortilin in emotion and memory associated with psychiatric disorders, using various tools including cellular/biochemical assays, animal behavioral analysis, and -omics technologies.

The article shows the effect of Camostat and the metabolite GBPA in cell system and lung organoids. It is published in Ebiomedicine by The Lancet. The article is entitled: "Camostat mesylate inhibits SARS-CoV-2 activation by TMPRSS2-related proteases and its metabolite GBPA exerts antiviral activity."

Ea Jensen is studying Molecular Medicine and is joining the Nykjær group for one year as of February 1st. Ea has received a scholarship stipend from the Danish Society for Neuroscience and will be working with Assistant Professor Lilian Kisiswa on a project entitled "The Role of SorCS1 in regulating astrocytic function in neuropsychiatric disorders".

Sérgio will be investigating the Sorting proteins in transport and compartment distribution of neurotransmitter receptors and their impact in learning and memory.

Lucie Woloszczukova started as PhD student in Anders Nykjær's group on 1 August 2020. She will study how the signaling alterations during dopaminergic system development can be involved in the onset of psychiatric disorders.

Dongik Park's contribution to the book "Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science - Autism" is a full chapter entitled "Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and big data analysis in the discovery of new diagnostic markers and targets for therapy development". Read the chapter here.

Pia Boxy will start as a research assistant in the group of Prof. Anders Nykjaer on 1 May. Pia will focus on sortilin receptors in memory formation and how their dysfunction may lead to cognitive impairment and psychiatric disease. As part of the project she will investigate how sortilin receptors control synaptic plasticity, and neuronal survival and death in the adult and aging central nervous system.

Alena Salasova from Prof. Anders Nykjaer’s lab has been extended as a postdoc from April 30th, 2020 until April 30th, 2022. She will investigate the molecular mechanisms of cell-cell communication during dopaminergic circuits’ development and their integration. She will focus on the VPS10p receptor family and their importance in the onset of psychiatric disorders. She will use transgenic mice and fish, cell culture, RNA sequencing, proteomics, liquid chromatography, biochemical approaches, fluorescent in situ hybridization, and confocal microscopy methods to address these questions.