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Profil
| Derzeitige Stellung | Professor W-3 und Äquivalente |
|---|---|
| Fachgebiet | Molekulare Biologie und Physiologie von Nerven- und Gliazellen,Klinische Neurologie; Neurochirurgie und Neuroradiologie |
| Keywords | fear, small brains, Arousal, learned helplessness, genetic intervention |
Aktuelle Kontaktadresse
| Land | USA |
|---|---|
| Ort | Pasadena |
| Universität/Institution | California Institute of Technology |
| Institut/Abteilung | Division of Biology 216-76 |
Gastgeber*innen während der Förderung
| Prof. Dr. Martin Heisenberg | Lehrstuhl für Genetik und Neurobiologie, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg |
|---|---|
| Beginn der ersten Förderung | 01.01.2006 |
Programm(e)
| 2005 | Humboldt-Forschungspreis-Programm für Naturwissenschaftler*innen aus den USA |
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Projektbeschreibung der*des Nominierenden
| Prof. David J. A n d e r s o n has made pathbreaking contributions to our understanding of the developing nervous systems. His research activities reach into many areas of the Neurosciences ranging from the molecular mechanisms of neuronal fate determination to the circuitry underlying behaviour. He identified a group of genes that participate in the decision whether cells in the early mouse embryo become neurons or epithelium. In 1989 he proposed the existence of self-renewing stem cells in the nervous system and a few years later his group achieved the first isolation of such cells. Moreover, by transplantation experiments he demonstrated that the isolated cells can generate both neurons and glia. Prof. Anderson's group also identified some of the growth factors promoting this differentiation. In fact, they provided the first clear demonstration, in any system, that growth factors can instruct the fate of multipotent stem cells. In 1998, Prof. Anderson and colleagues reported the surprising and remarkable discovery that the endothelial cells of developing arteries and veins exhibit differences in gene expression that can be detected already in the very earliest stages of vascular development, before the heart starts to beat. These findings led Prof. Anderson to the now well established hypothesis that reciprocal interactions between arteries and veins are essential for the development of the vascular system. Prof. Anderson has combined his interests in the development of the nervous and vascular systems to address a long-standing question about the relationship between nerve- and blood-vessel branching. He revealed that peripheral sensory nerves in the skin are aligned with arteries but not veins, and that this alignment even extends to the finest-diameter blood vessels. More recently, Prof. Anderson has developed an active interest in behavioural neuroscience. He has started to investigate stress- and possibly fear-related innate behaviour and its neuronal substrate in flies. Collaborations in this field have guided his choice of the host laboratory in Germany, the group of behavioural neurogenetics around Martin Heisenberg at the Biocenter of the University of Würzburg. There, he develops behavioural assays for studying the valuation process by which flies decide between the putative benefits of different behavioural options. He intends to eventually relate this process to genes, modulator molecules and neuronal circuitry. At the same time, in his home laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, he is gearing up to approach by similar neurogenetic methods the vastly more complex behaviour and brain of the mouse. |