(Vienna, 30th March 2015) Developmental biologist Igor Adameyko is moving from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet to the Centre for Brain Research at the MedUni Vienna. The researcher will push ahead with stem cell research in the Department of Molecular Neurosciences (headed by Tibor Harkany) thanks to the support of an ERC Consolidator Grant.
Igor Adameyko has been working since gaining his doctorate (in 2006) in the field of developmental biology and regenerative medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Soon after gaining his doctorate, he was able to demonstrate that nerve-associated precursor cells are multipotent and give rise to an unanticipated form of pigmented melanocytes. His publication in the journal "Cell" drew considerable international attention in the field and popular media.
Since 2012, Igor Adameyko has been working with his independent research group as assistant professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and most recently in the Institute of Physiology and Pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet. His key area of research lies in the multi-potency of nerve-associated glial precursor cells and how non-canonical functions of this cell pool contribute to the development of the peripheral nervous system and the regeneration of various cell types residing in the tissue. Together with a network of local and international collaborators, Igor Adameyko has recently established that autonomic parasympathetic neurons develop from multipotent, nerve-associated glial cells residing in presynaptic peripheral nerves (Science, 2014). A further breakthrough came when Igor and his team discovered the existence of glia-derived dental mesenchymal stem cells and showed how these cells facilitate the turnover of dentine-producing odontoblasts (Nature, 2014). Igor Adameyko is currently working on stem cells that determine the development of facial skeletal structures, with particular emphasis on shape-determination and regenerative aspects.
Tibor Harkany, Head of the Department of Molecular Neurosciences, is delighted to welcome his new colleague: "I'm very much looking forward to welcoming Igor Adameyko to our Department. I'm confident that his unique expertise will greatly enrich our scientific community and his future research successes will earn the MedUni Vienna an even greater international recognition."
About Igor Adameyko
He studied biochemistry at the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, and completed his PhD at Dartmouth Medical School. Dr Adameyko's doctoral thesis (2006) is entitled "Identification, cloning and functional study of novel heart-specific protein Serdin-1". He has worked as post-doctoral researcher in the research group led by Patrik Emfors at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet (Molecular Neurobiology Division within the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics). Since 2012, Dr. Adameyko has been an assistant professor at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet.
The Center for Brain Research
The Center for Brain Research at the MedUni Vienna specialises in the promotion of translational neurosciences and investigates the properties and functions of the central nervous system in relation to health and disease. It focuses on clinically relevant subjects such as the mechanisms of acute and chronic pain (Department of Neurophysiology), immune monitoring of the nervous system (Department of Neuroimmunology), peroxisome-mediated malfunction of the nervous system (Department of Pathobiology of the Nervous System), synaptic mechanisms of psychiatric and neurological diseases (Department of Molecular Neurosciences), synaptic mechanisms of learning and memory (Department of Neuronal Cell Biology) and the neuronal principles of cognitive functions (Department of Cognitive Neurobiology).
The work by independent research groups at the centre also broadens the spectrum of its research expertise in the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation (synapse formation section) and new imaging methods used in brain research (bioelectronics section).
ERC Grants
The European Research Council (ERC) sponsors fundamental research through generous research prizes (averaging Euro 2 million). Starting and consolidator grants are awarded to up-and-coming scientists, while advanced grants are awarded to established researchers. The consolidator grants are intended to enable young researchers to consolidate their position as independent researchers.
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Igor Adameyko joins the Center for Brain Research at the MedUni Vienna
Work by the Russian developmental biologist is sponsored by ERC Consolidator Grant