Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Biophysics
Cells are the fundamental building blocks of all living organisms. Our aim is to acquire novel insights into the structure and function of cells and to decipher the cellular basis for human disease such as cancer and neurological disorders. To achieve this goal we combine the latest methods and technologies in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics and microscopy.
Research Groups
Anna Akhmanova: Cellular Dynamics
We investigate cytoskeletal organization and trafficking processes, which contribute to cell polarization, differentiation, vertebrate development and human disease.
Lukas Kapitein: Biophysics
Our goal is to obtain a physical understanding of the mechanisms by which cells establish and maintain their precise shape and intracellular organization. We focus on the cytoskeleton.
Florian Berger: Theoretical Biophysics
All forms of life display a variety of active processes on different length scales. We develop biophysical descriptions to understand how these active processes mediate the flow of energy and matter to self-organize cellular order and function.
Agathe Chaigne: Cell division dynamics
We aim at understanding how the fundamental mechanisms of cell division can control fate transitions, with a developmental and evolutionary perspective. We are particularly interested in the last step of cell division, abscission, which is the final cut between the sister cells.
Ginny Farías: Neuronal Organelle Dynamics
The goal of our lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms by which organelles are organized within neurons, and how organelle organization and networking contributes to neuronal development and function.
Martin Harterink: C. elegans neurobiology
Our goal is to understand the mechanisms that shape and organize neurons in vivo, using the C. elegans model system and advanced imaging techniques.
Casper Hoogenraad: Molecular Neuroscience
The primary goal of the lab is to understand how intracellular protein trafficking underlies neuronal development and function.
Maarten Kole: Axonal Signalling
Our group aims to understand how axons generate and conduct electrical impulses by investigating the properties and functions of its axonal domains and the myelin sheaths.
Ting-Feng Lin: Cellular and Circuit Neuroscience
My group is dedicated to uncovering the mechanisms of learning and memory, with a particular focus on the cerebellum.
Emmanuel Marquez Legorreta: Neuroethology
The lab currently focuses on the neuronal circuits underlying predator avoidance behaviours. Detecting threats and generating appropriate defensive responses are essential for survival, so many animals are born with the neural machinery to react immediately. Larval zebrafish can display predator avoidance behaviours within days of hatching, providing an ideal model to dissect these circuits using available optical and genetic tools.
Sabrina Oliveira: Molecular Targeted Therapies
We develop improved therapies that are directed to relevant molecular targets. We are currently focused on using nanobodies to render photodynamic therapy of cancer more selective.
Anne Rios: Vision-based immunotherapy
Our research group applies advanced microscopy technologies to discover how cancer and immune cells interact across space and time in human-relevant models. We establish both healthy tissue organoid models, as well as genetically engineered or patient-derived organoids to model tumor progression and response to treatment. We, furthermore, increase their complexity by introducing additional environmental and immune cells.
Ihor Smal: Image Analysis, Smart Microscopy and AI
Our research focuses on combining statistical signal and image processing with advanced data modeling, with a particular focus on motion analysis in biological systems. We strive to move from pure image processing and analysis to completely automated image/data understanding, based on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Frederik Verweij: Extracellular Vesicle Biology
We study various facets of extracellular vesicle biology; from biogenesis to function. We do so by combining the development of smart molecular tools and transparent zebrafish in vivo model systems with state-of-the-art (live) imaging techniques.
