Wednesday 13 May 2026 @ 13:15 – 14:00
Followed by PhD-session at 14:30-15:00
(Coffee and cake will be served between lecture and PhD-session)
1871-120 (Nucleus)
Hosted by: Chao Sun

Metabolic Vulnerabilities and Opportunities in Brain Function

Our brains are metabolically vulnerable, as even brief interruptions in proper fueling  lead to rapid degradation in cognitive performance. My lab identified presynaptic function as one of the likely loci of this vulnerability and has leveraged the sensitivity of synaptic vesicle recycling to metabolic compromise to dissect the molecular underpinnings of how local ATP production is balanced during electrical activity in axons. Our work has helped identify critical control points that in turn appear central to neurodegenerative diseases and offer new therapeutic approaches to neurodegeneration.