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Profile
| Academic position | Full Professor |
|---|---|
| Research fields | Evolutionary Cell and Developmental Biology (Zoology),Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells |
| Keywords | zebrafish, axonal regeneration, learning and memory, plasticity |
Current contact address
| Country | United States of America |
|---|---|
| City | Philadelphia |
| Institution | University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) |
| Institute | Department of Cell and Development Biology |
| Homepage | http://www.med.upenn.edu/granato/ |
Host during sponsorship
| Dr. Darren Gilmour | Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, Europäisches Laboratorium für Molekularbiologie (EMBL), Heidelberg |
|---|---|
| Start of initial sponsorship | 01/11/2006 |
Programme(s)
| 2006 | Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award Programme |
|---|
Nominator's project description
| Professor Granato is a developmental neurobiologist of international reputation and a pioneer of the use of zebrafish Danio rerio as a genetic model system for the study of axon pathfinding and sensorimotor behaviour. As a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Professor Granato developed an ingenious genetic screening assay, based on larval motility defects, that allowed him to identify a large number of mutants with aberrant neuronal and muscle development. When he moved to his own lab at the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Granato focused on an interesting class of these mutants that are characterised by having axon pathfinding or synaptic defects. By cloning the underlying genes, Dr. Granato demonstrated for the first time a role of MuSK receptor tyrosine signaling in guiding motor axons, and he also provided the first genetic evidence that glycosyltransferase modifications of the extracellular matrix play a critical role during vertebrate motor axon migration. Together with his ongoing interest in axon pathfinding, he has developed several elegant approaches to address the genetic basis of behaviour using the zebrafish and has already made a number of important contributions to the fascinating field. Through his research, Professor Granato improves our basic understanding of the most challenging problems in modern biology, namely, how the wiring of the vertebrate nervous system leads to complex behaviour. |