Research Projects

Synaptic transmission is an extremely energetically-demanding process that consumes 75% of the energy required for brain function. However, it remains poorly understood how synapses guarantee the necessary ATP levels required for neurotransmission. While our understanding of the metabolic pathways for ATP production is vastly detailed, very little...

Synapses are the specialized cellular junctions that form the basic units of communication between neuronal cells. Given the variety of network-dependent functions that synapses need to support, a fundamental question is how their properties are specified at the molecular level. Membrane-anchored and soluble “synaptic organizer proteins” form...

My recent discoveries show that mosaic loss of chromosome Y (LOY) in peripheral blood is associated with increased risks of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These conditions are responsible for >50% of morbidity/mortality in aging men. More than 15% of men older than 70 show some degree of LOY and these men survive on average only half as long...

This project aims to establish a neuroimaging framework which informs about microscopic brain composition and apply it to study neurodegeneration in a genetic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AD is the most common cause of dementia, characterized by progressive neurodegenerative changes leading to a gradual cognitive loss and memory...

Dementia is currently diagnosed largely based on cognitive decline, while pathology starts years before symptom onset. To make progress in the development of effective drugs for dementia, there is an urgent need for biomarkers to enable precision health: for early and specific diagnosis and objective monitoring of disease progression. With its...

Multi-Sensory Environments (MSEs) is a discipline of occupational therapy that helps treat cognitive and sensory deficiencies (in memory, attention, social interaction…) of people with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, neuro-degenerative diseases and or brain-injuries. These conditions which include autism, dementia, Down syndrome...

This project aims at predicting early cognitive decline using a neurofeedback performance endophenotype based on realtime functional magnetic resonance imaging in a population at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). It has been proven that AD biomarkers change decades before the development of symptoms. In addition, there is a lack of robust...

This fellowship will provide a prolific researcher with an internationally competitive, multi-disciplinary research training at the Chemistry/Biology interface in an EU leading Bioinorganic chemistry team, preparing her to obtain her goal of a faculty position in the EU and her own research team in Medicinal Chemistry. She will develop novel anti...

Molecular imaging is the current standard of care for the diagnosis (staging) of cancer, the evaluation of cancer treatment effectiveness, and is generating evidence as the best predictor for earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Molecular imaging differs from traditional imaging in that probes known as biomarkers are used to help image...

The aim of this project is to develop novel nano-bioanalytical methodologies to explore a molecular paradigm for the initiation of short-term memory (STM) based on exocytosis events. Despite the vital role in neural disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, the molecular mechanisms of the initial step in STM formation is still mostly a mystery...

Your brain is among the most complex existing systems, and it processes every second an amazing amount of data. The most amazing thing, however, is that you get to know some of it. Declarative knowledge, meaning the portion of knowledge that we can consciously access and manipulate, is one of the most enduring mysteries of the human mind. How did...

The entorhinal cortex contains grid cells, a major cell type underlying spatial navigation. At the same time, it is amongst the first areas of the brain to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In humans, grid cell-like representations (GCLRs) have been proposed as a network-level signature of grid cells that can be recorded non-invasively via...