Field of Research:
Molecular and Cellular Neurology and Neuropathology
In Germany:
01.04.2023 -
Host's project description
Neuroscience
Synapses are the focus of Thomas Südhof’s research. There are some 100 trillion synapses in the human brain, and they are fundamental to neural information transmission. To enable a person to think, act and feel, the brain cells must communicate with one another continually and quickly. This communication takes place at the synapses, specialised junctions that transmit and compute information in milliseconds. Apart from their basic function and significance, however, we know relatively little about synapses.
Together with his team, Südhof explores how synapses are formed and how they change. He discovered how and why vesicles, synaptic bubblelike structures packed with transmitters, choose the right time for releasing their freight of information at the synapses, breaking new ground by identifying and cloning a number of proteins involved in this transport process. Most recently, one strand of his work has focused on how diseases like Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia and autism cause synapses to become non-functional. This will pave the way for better therapies.
At Charité – the joint medical faculty of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Freie Universität Berlin –Südhof is invited to continue his productive activity as professor of molecular neurosciences. In addition to excellent fundamental research in the context of the “Rethinking Health” strategy, major contributions to research into neuropsychiatric issues are foreseen, especially in the continued development of methods. Südhof’s appointment in the research environment of the NeuroCure cluster of excellence, the Neuroscience Research Center (NWFZ) and the Institute of Neurophysiology promises to generate even greater international visibility for synapse research in Berlin.
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Home Institute
School of Medicine, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Stanford University
265 Campus Drive, Room G1021
94305-5453
Stanford
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