Le conseil consultatif scientifique international ou international Scientific Advisory Board (iSAB) conseille le Directeur et les tutelles de l'Unité sur sa stratégie scientifique et la sélection des chefs d'équipe. Il évalue la qualité de la recherche, l'organisation et la gestion de l'IPNP.
L'iSAB est composé de 6 scientifiques renommés dans le domaine de la psychiatrie et des neurosciences et travaillant hors de France. Trois des 6 membres de l'iSAB sont impliqués dans la recherche clinique et les trois autres membres le sont dans la recherche fondamentale.
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Prof. Volker Haucke, iSAB President, Full Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, Freie Universität Berlin & Director at the Leibniz Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin, Germany.
Web site
Twitter (@VolkerHaucke)
Key words: Neurotransmission, Cell signaling, Exo-endocytic membrane dynamics, Optical imaging, Neurodegeneration, Epilepsy
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Volker Haucke received his PhD summa cum laude in 1997 from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, Switzerland, for his work on mitochondrial biogenesis in the group of Gottfried (Jeff) Schatz. Following postdoctoral work as a fellow of EMBO and the Human Frontier Science Program in the group of Pietro De Camilli at Yale University School of Medicine he started his own laboratory at the University of Göttingen. He was appointed as a full professor of biochemistry at the Freie Universiät Berlin in 2003. Since 2012 Volker Haucke is director at the Leibniz Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) and professor of molecular pharmacology at the Freie Universität Berlin and a member of the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence.
The focus of research in his laboratory is the dissection of the molecular mechanisms of endocytosis and endolysosomal membrane dynamics and its role in the nervous system with a focus on neurotransmission. The laboratory uses a wide range of technologies that include biochemical and cell biological approaches, electrophysiology, chemical biology, super-resolution and electron microscopy as well as genetic manipulations at the organismic level in vivo. The overarching goal of these studies is to mechanistically understand how exo-endocytosis and the endolysosomal system contribute to the development and maintenance of the nervous system function and how dysfunction may lead to neurological diseases. Among his major discoveries are the identification of novel lipid conversion mechanisms that control exo- and endocytosis and cell signaling, the dissection of a novel pathway of synaptic vesicle retrieval and reformation, and the identification of a lysosome related vesicle as a presynaptic precursor organelle.
Prof. Haucke is a distinguished scientist whose contributions have been recognized by his election as a Member of Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Science (Halle), a Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science, the Avanti Award of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) 2017, and the Feldberg Prize for Research in Physiology and Pharmacology 2020. Since 2014 he is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).
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Prof. Costantino Iadecola, Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology, Director and Chair, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Web site
Twitter (@costantinoiade1)
Key words: Cerebral circulation, Cerebral ischemia, Stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Vascular dementia
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Costantino Iadecola, M.D. is the Director and Chair of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute and the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
His research focuses on the basic mechanisms of neurovascular function and on the cellular and molecular alterations underlying ischemic brain injury, neurodegeneration and other conditions associated with cognitive impairment. A pioneer in establishing the concept of neurovascular unit, Dr. Iadecola has championed the involvement of neurovascular dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases, and the role of innate immunity and the microbiome in ischemic brain injury.
He has published over 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals and plays a leadership role in research organizations and funding agencies in the US and abroad. He has been involved, as editor or editorial board member, in several journals including Circulation research, PNAS, Stroke, Hypertension, the Journal of Neuroscience, and the Annals of Neurology.
Dr. Iadecola has received the McHenry Award from the American Academy of Neurology, two Jacob Javits Awards from the National Institutes of Health, the Willis Award - the highest honor in stroke research bestowed by the American Heart Association (AHA), the Zenith Fellow Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Excellence Award in Hypertension Research (Novartis) from the Hypertension Council of the AHA. In 2015, Dr. Iadecola was elected to the Association of American Physicians and in 2019 was honored as Distinguished Scientist of the AHA. In 2019, Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science) listed Dr. Iadecola as one of world’s “Highly Cited Researchers” for ranking in the top one percent of the most-cited authors in the field of neuroscience and behavioral sciences.
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Prof. Claudia Bagni, Director of the Department of Fundamental Neurosciences at the University of Lausanne and in 2021 the Vice-Dean of Research and Innovation at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Key words: Local Protein Homeostasis, Neurodevelopment, Synaptic Plasticity, mRNA Metabolism, Cytoskeleton Remodeling, Actin, Synaptopathies, Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, Asd-Like Behaviours, Cognitive flexibility and Social behavior
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Prof. Claudia Bagni completed her undergraduate studies in Biology and her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy. She carried out postdoctoral research at the CNRS in Toulouse, France, Harvard University, USA and EMBL, Germany. In 1998 she established her group as assistant professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, to continue as full professor and group leader at the K University of Leuven - VIB, Belgium from 2008 to 2016. Since 2016 she is Professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and Director of the Department of Fundamental Neurosciences at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Her ultimate goal is to understand how the interplay between RNA metabolism and actin remodeling regulates synapse physiology, pathology and ultimately brain activity and behavior. She has a profound interest for certain synaptopathies such as fragile X syndrome and autism in which the recurring aspect is the dysregulation of the synaptic proteome. Her research group uses fruit fly and mouse models to understand how deficits in synaptic molecular mechanisms ultimately affect different types of behaviors such as cognitive flexibility and social behavior. For a complete understanding of these complex pathologies she has long lasting collaborations with clinicians.
She is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO), and has received several national and international awards, including the UCB Award in 2014 and the Solvay Price in 2016 by the Queen Elisabeth Medical Foundation (Belgium), in 2018 the Nestlé Research & Development Women in Science Award (Switzerland).
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Prof. Gaia Novarino, Professor at Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Key words: Genetics, Next Generation Sequencing, Genomics, Dna Sequencing, Genetic Analysis, Sequencing, Gene Expression, Transcriptomics, Molecular Biology, Neuroscience, Neurodevelopmental disorders, Autism, Epilepsy
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Gaia Novarino, an Italian native, obtained the Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University “La Sapienza” (Rome, Italy) in 2006. As a graduate student in Rome, she employed electrophysiology and cell biology techniques to study the role a putative chloride channel in microglia activation. In 2004 she moved to Germany where she joined the laboratory of Thomas Jentsch at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (Berlin, Germany). In the Jentsch’s lab she developed a project that contributed significantly to the understanding of the basic mechanism underlying Dent’s disease, an X-linked disorder caused by mutations in CLCN5. While in Thomas Jentsch’s lab, she also studied CLCN4, a chloride transporter associated with intellectual disability. Ever since she has developed a strong interest in studying neurological disorders.
In 2010 Gaia moved to San Diego (California, USA) where she joined the laboratory of Joseph J. Gleeson at UCSD. In the Gleeson’s lab she employed human genetics, functional and network analysis to identify and study novel genetic causes of epilepsy, autism and intellectual disability.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My main research interest is to identify and study genes underlying inherited forms of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, intellectual disability and epilepsy. Neurodevelopmental disorders affect millions of people, and are often refractory to treatments. The causes of these disorders remain unknown for the majority of cases. Of these, a significant number have a genetic basis and many causative genes remain to be identified. With DNA sequencing being more accessible, the genomes of many patients can be analyzed and more disease-causing genes will be recognized. Even though we predict that each identified gene may represent only a tiny fraction of the total genes involved in these disorders, studying the mechanisms underlying rare inherited forms of neurodevelopmental disorders can be extremely helpful. For instance, similarities among the function of genes implicated in autism, intellectual disability and epilepsy may point to a smaller number of pathways that are generally affected in neurodevelopmental disorders. Thus, in my laboratory we are employing in vitro and in vitro models to study and compare a number of genetically defined forms of autism, epilepsy and intellectual disability.
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Prof.Carol Tamminga, Lou and Ellen McGinley Distinguished Chair and McKenzie Chair in Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, USA.
Web site
Key words: Schizophrenia, Risk factors, Human Brain Imaging, Human Translational Neuroscience, Postmortem Brain Research, Psychopathology, Pathophysiology, Neurocognition, Pharmacology
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Dr. Tamminga holds the Lou and Ellen McGinley Distinguished Chair and the McKenzie Chair in Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and is the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and the Chief of the Translational Neuroscience Division in Schizophrenia at UTSW.
Dr. Tamminga is currently a member of NIMH’s National Advisory Board and has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Drug Abuse, as Council member and President of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, as a Member and Chair of the Psychopharmacological Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA, as well as consultant for the Orphan Products Development Review Group, FDA. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation (NARSAD).
Dr. Tamminga was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences in 1998 and has served on several IOM committees in that capacity.
The goal of Dr. Tamminga’s research is to examine and understand the mechanisms underlying schizophrenia, especially its most prominent symptoms, psychosis and memory dysfunction, in order to build rational treatments for the illness. She evaluates the function of the living human brain in individuals with and without schizophrenia, using brain imaging techniques. Then, building on this knowledge, she uses human postmortem brain tissue to translate the functional alterations from the living human patient into molecular observations of the illness. Her ultimate goal is to base novel pharmacologies for psychosis and memory dysfunction on these observations and to use the altered in vivo imaging and postmortem molecular changes as biomarkers and targets for identifying animal models of disease and novel active pharmaceuticals.
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Prof. Jeroen Pasterkamp, Head of the Department of Translational Neuroscience and chairs the UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Key words: SNARE, Neurotransmitter, Calcium, Trafficking, Secretion
Neurobiology, Immunohistochemistry, Cell Culture, Immunofluorescence, Cell Signaling, Molecular Cell Biology, Gene Expression, Western Blot Analysis, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Neuronal connectivity, ALS, humanized cell models (iPSC, organoids, microfluidics)
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Prof. Jeroen Pasterkamp obtained his PhD degree at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam with Joost Verhaagen and Dick Swaab. He carried out postdoctoral research at the Department of Neuroscience of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA. In 2005, he joined the Department of Translational Neuroscience of the UMC Utrecht, where he is currently appointed as a professor of translational neuroscience. He is chair of the UMC Utrecht Brain Center and head of the Department of Translational Neuroscience.
His research focuses on understanding 1) the signaling events and molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of neuronal connections during development, and 2) the molecular mechanisms underlying changes in or loss of neuronal connectivity during neurological disease (in particular amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)). This research concentrates on mouse models and humanized cell models (iPSC, organoids, microfluidics) using an integrated approach involving molecular biology, cell biology, neuroanatomy, (in vivo) functional proteomics, imaging, HC screening, and mouse genetics.
His work was published in leading journals such as Cell, Developmental Cell, Neuron, Nature, Nature Communications, and he regularly contributes reviews to Current Opinion, Trends and Nature Reviews journals.
Jeroen Pasterkamp is a recipient of a NARSAD Young Investigator, Dan Nathans Young Investigator Award, and HFSP Career Development Award. He received VENI, VIDI and VICI grants, and is co-leading the NWO Gravitation program BRAINSCAPES. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory board of the Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds and a board member of the Dutch Parkinson Scientists. He organizes scientific meetings under the framework of EMBO and Utrecht Summerschool series.
Research line:
Neural circuit development and Translational neuroscience
Most recent key publications:
- Robinson RA, Griffiths SC, van de Haar LL, Malinauskas T, van Battum EY, Zelina P, Schwab RA, Karia D, Malnauskaite L, Brignani S, van den Munkhof M, Düdükcü Ö, de Ruiter AA, van den Heuvel DMA, Bishop B, Elegheert J, Aricescu AR, Pasterkamp RJ*, Siebold C* (2021) Simultaneous binding of guidance cues NET1 and RGM blocks extracellular NEO1 signaling (2021) Cell 184:2103-2120. *Shared senior authors.
- Brignani S, Raj DDA, Schmidt ERE, Düdükcü Ö, Adolfs Y, De Ruiter AA, Rybiczka-Tesulov M, Verhagen MG, van der Meer C, Broekhoven MH, Moreno-Bravo JA, Grossouw LM, Dumontier E, Cloutier JF, Chédotal A, Pasterkamp RJ (2020). Remotely Produced and Axon-Derived Netrin-1 Instructs GABAergic Neuron Migration and Dopaminergic Substantia Nigra Development. Neuron 107, 684-702.
- Ormel PR, Vieira de Sá R, van Bodegraven EJ, Karst H, Harschnitz O, Sneeboer MAM, Johansen LE, van Dijk RE, Scheefhals N, Berdenis van Berlekom A, Ribes Martínez E, Kling S, MacGillavry HD, van den Berg LH, Kahn RS, Hol EM, de Witte LD, Pasterkamp RJ (2018) Microglia innately develop within cerebral organoids. Nat Commun 9, 4167.
- Jongbloets BC, Lemstra S, Schellino R, Broekhoven MH, Parkash J, Hellemons AJ, Mao T, Giacobini P, van Praag H, De Marchis S, Ramakers GM, Pasterkamp RJ (2017) Stage-specific functions of Semaphorin7A during adult hippocampal neurogenesis rely on distinct receptors. Nat Commun 8:14666.
- Kong Y, Janssen BJ, Malinauskas T, Vangoor VR, Coles CH, Kaufmann R, Ni T, Gilbert RJ, Padilla-Parra S, Pasterkamp RJ*, Jones EY* (2016). Structural Basis for Plexin Activation and Regulation. Neuron 91, 548-60. *Shared senior authors.
- Van Erp S, van den Heuvel DMA, Fujita Y, Robinson R, Hellemons AJCGM, Adolfs Y, Van Battum EY, Blokhuis AM, Kuijpers M, Demmers J, Hedman H, Hoogenraad CC, Siebold C, Yamashita T, Pasterkamp RJ (2015) Lrig2 negatively regulates ectodomain shedding of axon guidance receptors by ADAM proteases. Dev Cell 35, 537-552.
7. Schmidt ER, Brignani S, Adolfs Y, Lemstra S, Demmers J, Vidaki M, Donahoo AL, Lilleväli K, Vasar E, Richards LJ, Karagogeos D, Kolk SM, Pasterkamp RJ (2014). Subdomain-mediated axon-axon signaling and chemoattraction cooperate to regulate afferent innervation of the lateral habenula. Neuron 83, 372-387.
Farewell to Outgoing Board Members
- Deborah Levy was Director of the Psychology Research Laboratory at McLean Hospital and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA. The IPNP is greatly saddened by the passing of Dr Levy on October 15, 2020.
- J-F Démonet is Professor of Neurology and Head of the Leenaards Memory Center, Department of Clinical Neurosciences at CHUV & University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
- David A. Gorelick is Professor of Psychiatry & Scientific Director, Clinical Neurobehavioral Center at University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
- Yves de Koninck is Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Université Laval (Canada), Scientific Director of the Quebec Mental Health Institute, Director of Research of the Quebec Integrated Health and Social Services Centre, Director of the Neurophotonics Centre and Founder of Quebec Pain Research Network.
- Rohini Kuner, Director of the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmacology of the Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Germany
- Michela Matteoli, Professor of Pharmacology at Hunimed University, Director of the Italian CNR Institute of Neuroscience, and Chair of the Neuroscience Program at Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy.
- Matthijs Verhage, Head of the Functional Genomics, department of Clinical Genetics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The IPNP are truly grateful to these outgoing members for their help and support in the project of establishing the IPNP as a new research unit of international visibility in Psychiatry and Neuroscience research. It couldn’t have done it without their expertise and valuable opinions.