SPEAKERS
Dr. Ana Luisa Piña-Hernández
She currently holds the position of Research Group Leader in the section of Experimental Neurosurgery in the Neurosurgery Department at the Medical University Charité in Berlin.
Topic of research
Her specialization area is Neuroprotection and recovery of function after brain damage, focusing mainly on:
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Neurotrophic factors during development
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Aging and pathogenesis of the mammalian central nervous system, with special attention to post stroke neuroprotective effects on Blood brain barrier/tight junction ,
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Lymphocyte trafficking and Neurogenesis
Dr. Ana Luisa Pina-Hernández
Dr. Héctor A. Cabrera-Fuentes
Hector Cabrera-Fuentes was born in El Espinal, Oaxaca, Mexico, and graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and MSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology at the Kazan State University, Russia in 2009. He became a fellow of the International Training Group PROMISE Giessen-Barcelona and obtained a PhD degree (2014) under the supervision of Prof. Klaus T. Preissner at the Medical School, Justus-Liebig University Giessen in Germany. During this time, he was the first to demonstrate the relevance of extracellular RNA-dependent triggering of TACE resulting in pro-inflammatory induction of macrophages (M1-polarization) that was accompanied by the release of a multitude of cytokines, particularly relevant for atherogenesis and myocardial infarction. He was the Winner of the SERVIER-International Society of Heart Research Award 2016 and winner of Young Investigator Award of the Russian Society of Cardiology 2014.
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Topics of research
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​​Cardiovascular diseases.
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Dr. Rafael Gutiérrez-Aguilar
​Prof. Rafael Gutiérrez obtained his PhD in Neurosciences from the National University of Mexico in 1993. In that year, he was awarded with the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Research Scholarship and spent 3 years working with Prof. Uwe Heinemann in the University of Cologne and Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1997, he established his laboratory at the National Institute of Psychiatry, where he was the head of the department of Neurophysiology. In 1998 he obtained his tenure at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies in Mexico, where he is full professor at the Department of Pharmacobiology.
He is known in his field for having discovered the co-release of glutamate and GABA from single cells and for the description of mixed electrical-chemical communication between principal neurons of the hippocampus.
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Topics of research
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Synaptic transmission and its plasticity.
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How neural cells work in concert to create activity patterns.
Profr. Dr. Ulrich Dirnagl
At the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Ulrich Dirnagl serves as Director of the Department of Experimental Neurology. Since 2017 he is also the founding director of the Center for Transforming Biomedical Research (CTBR) at the Berlin Institute of Health. CTBR aims at overcoming the roadblocks in translational medicine by increasing the value and impact of biomedical research through maximizing the quality, reproducibility, generalizability, and validity of research.
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Topics of research
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Stroke, cerebral blood flow regulation, and brain imaging.
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Mechanisms by which brain ischemia leads to cell death, and develops novel methods to intercept mechanisms of damage in acute brain damage, as well as to foster regeneration and repair of the lesions.
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Endogenous neuroprotection and how the brain interacts with other systems of the body after it has been injured.
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The coupling of regional blood flow to neuronal activity, the mechanism underlying functional brain imaging with MR and PET
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Profr. Manuel Mayr M.D. PhD.
Manuel Mayr qualified in Medicine from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) in 1999. In 2001, he moved to London to undertake a PhD, on the topic of “Cardiovascular Proteomics: Linking Proteomic and Metabolomic Changes”. He obtained a British Heart Foundation (BHF) Intermediate Research Fellowship in 2005 and was appointed as Lecturer at King’s College London in 2006. In 2008, he was successful in obtaining a BHF Senior Research Fellowship and this was recently renewed for a second term. In parallel, he achieved promotion to Professor in 2011. His academic achievements have been recognised by the inaugural Michael Davies Early Career Award of the British Cardiovascular Society (2007), the inaugural Bernard and Joan Marshall Research Excellence Prize of the British Society for Cardiovascular Research (2010), and the Outstanding Achievement Award by the European Society of Cardiology Council for Basic Cardiovascular Science (2013). In 2017, he was awarded a BHF Personal Chair.
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Topics of research
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Vascular proteomics and metabolomics
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Profr. Dr. Klaus T. Preissner
Prof. Klaus T. Preissner studied Chemistry/Biochemistry in Cologne (Germany) and there he received his PhD in 1978 for research on HDL-structure. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Immuno-logy at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, CA (1980-1983), investigating regulatory mechanisms of complement attack. Thereafter, he became a principal group leader at the “Clinical Re-search Unit for Blood Coagulation and Thrombosis” of the Max-Planck-Society in Giessen (1983-1997), followed by the position as associate professor in 1987 (Justus-Liebig-University, JLU, Giessen). Since 1998 he is Professor for Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry at the Depart. Biochemistry, JLU-Medical School in Giessen.
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Topics of research
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​Cell adhesion and proteolytic mechanisms in the context of vascular diseases and wound healing, particularly involving vitronectin and its receptors.
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His current scientific activities are concerned with innate immunity and alarm mechanisms in cardio-vascular and thrombotic pathologies, particularly with respect to the role of self-extracellular nucleic acids and new therapeutic concepts using endo-nucleases as cardio-protective drugs
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Dr. Alvaro Rendon. PhD.
He graduated as a Biologist at the Faculty of Sciences, UNAM in May 1966. In the Faculty of Sciences of the University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg, he obtained the "Doctorat d'Etat". In October,1969, by opposition he got a permanent position at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France where he carried out his entire career until August 30, 2010, the year in which he retired.
He is currently Directeur de Recherche Emérite at the Institute of Vision in Paris. He was a founding member in Strasbourg in 1995 of the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Retinal Pathophysiology, a laboratory of translational research on the mechanisms of retinal cell degeneration.
This laboratory was the heart of the current Institute of Vision (Director José-Alain Sahel), which was founded in Paris in 2008.
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Topics of research
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Role of dystrophins in the development
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Physiology and vascular pathology of the visual system
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PD Dr. Dr. Elisa A. Liehn
Head of Cardiovascular Research Group HeART
Department of Cardiology and Angiology, University Hospital Aachen
Institute for Molecular Cardiovascular Research (IMCAR)
IZKFAachen University Hospital.
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Elisa Liehn, MD, PhD, scientist in cardiovascular research. Her scientific interest focuses on the field of cardiovascular medicine. Using broad experimental and clinical approaches, as well as wide interdisciplinary connections, her team is involved in finding and developing new therapeutical strategies for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
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Topics of research
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inflammatory processes and extracellular matrix formation after myocardial infarction
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cardiovascular regenerative and reconstruction therapies
Dr. Oscar Pérez-Méndez. PhD
Dr. Pérez-Méndez obtained his Ph.D. degree in the Université de Lille II, France with the thesis performed in the Institut Pasteur de Lille. He demonstrated that deep hypoalphalipoproteinemias have their kinetic etiology on an accelerated HDL-apoAI catabolism. Under such circumstances, very low levels of HDL are not associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis. During his postdoctoral fellowship in the Ghent University, Belgium, he demonstrated that some domains of enzymes and lipoprotein remodeling proteins are involved lipid mixing and membrane fusion using fluorescent markers.
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Topics of research
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Triglyceride-rich small HDL are associated to coronary clinical events.
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Sphyngomyelin in HDL subclasses increases when coronary risk factors decreased by weight loss.
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Impaired HDL lipid remodeling is observed during postprandial period in patients with high risk of atherosclerosis
Dr. Arturo Reyes-Sandoval. PhD
Dr. Arturo Reyes-Sandoval is an Associate Professor at the Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM) in the University of Oxford. He is a Principal Investigator at the Jenner Institute. Arturo is currently leading a group working on a research program to develop vaccines for 5 neglected and emerging infectious diseases, including two in pre-clinical phase: Chagas disease and Dengue; and three that have entered clinical stage: P. vivax malaria, Zika and Chikungunya.
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Topics of research
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P. vivax malaria, Zika and Chikungunya.
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Chagas disease and Dengue
PD.Dr. rer nat. Guillermo Barreto
Guillermo Barreto, PD, Dr rer nat, molecular biologist. His research activities are centred on the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate the determination of the respiratory cell fate in the primitive foregut, leading to the formation of the lung bud and later on to the cellular diversity generated in the developing lung. His research group particularly focuses on the mechanisms involved during embryonic lung development that are recapitulated in several lung diseases, such as lung cancer (LC), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). New experimental approaches, especially those based on studies of embryonic development, are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for these lung diseases.
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Topics of research
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Chromatin-mediated genome regulation
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Epigenetic deregulation into the development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies using molecular targets
Lutz Steiner.
More than 10 scientific leaders on site.
Dr. Arturo Reyes-Sandoval. PhD
A seasoned higher education and research manager, Lutz Steiner has been coordinating the International Graduate Program Medical Neurosciences since 2001. This research driven Master and PhD program is run by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in cooperation with the Humboldt and Freie University as well as the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, the Berlin Institute of Health, the Leibniz Center for Molecular Pharmacology and the Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development. Lutz Steiner has conceptualized graduate education for the Berlin School of Mind and Brain and NeuroCure, both funded through the excellence initiative, as well as for the Center for Stroke Research Berlin. He managed an EU funded Early Stage Training (FP6) and currently represents Medical Neurosciences in the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree Neurasmus.
At Charité, he is an active member of the internal working groups on Master programs, accreditation and internationalization.
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