Cell Adhesion

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Principal Investigator, Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, since 2003
• Associate Professor

EDUCATION:
• Diploma Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin 1995
• PhD, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin 1998
• Postdoctoral fellow, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas 1999-2003

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
We aim to determine the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation in the developing CNS of vertebrates. Our goal is to identify and characterize the events that initiate synapse formation, and the steps that lead to its completion. In addition, we are interested how these mechanisms act at mature synapses to allow for their structural and functional plasticity

To achieve these goals, we pursue three aims. First, we biochemically identify the protein complexes through which adhesion molecules and their intracellular partners organize neuronal membranes and synapses. Second, we analyze the functions of these synapse-organizing complexes in cultured neurons. Third, we determine the roles of synapse-organizing molecules in the developing brain, using transgenic and knock-out mouse models. We utilize a comprehensive set of techniques to attain our objectives, including protein biochemistry, proteomics, imaging of neuronal development and synapse formation in cultured cells, and studies of synapse structure and function in mouse models.