Understanding the inner workings of the brain requires knowledge spanning from molecules to behavior. Current technologies are very limited in their ability to address these, and most can only prod a single feature at a time. To bridge this gap, my multidisciplinary group at the Technion develops state-of-the-art genetic and opto-chemical tools to control, image and monitor neurons. With these, we aim to better understand and explore novel aspects of synaptic plasticity, not to mention explore diseases of the brain. Our combined efforts are particularly focused on studying, and controlling, neuronal ion channels and receptors in the brain, notably NMDARs.
The projects in the lab revolve around:
|
Characterization of NMDARs
|
Engineering light-gated receptors
|
|
Mutimodal imaging-agents
|
Designing novel genetically encoded fluorescent probes
|
| Novel viral vectors
|
Studying intact brains via light-sheet microscopy and MRI
|
