Event Date
Nicola Allen, Associate Professor, Salk Institute, presents "Astrocyte regulation of neuronal synapses".
Nicola Allen is an Associate Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA. Dr. Allen received her PhD from University College London studying neuronal responses to ischemia, and performed Postdoctoral research at Stanford University where she identified how astrocytes induce synapse formation via the release of specific secreted proteins. Dr. Allen established her lab at the Salk Institute in 2012. Dr. Allen has been recognized with a number of prestigious awards, including an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, a Career Accelerator Award from CZI, and being named a Pew Scholar and Ellison Scholar in Aging.
Research in the Allen lab investigates how astrocytes, a type of glial cell present throughout the brain, regulate neuronal synapse number and synaptic function across the lifespan in health and disease. The lab has discovered numerous astrocyte-secreted proteins that instruct synapse formation, maturation and stabilization. Further, they have found that dysregulation of astrocyte protein secretion occurs in neurological disorders, including genetic neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as disorders of aging including Alzheimer’s disease. The lab is using this knowledge of astrocytes to repair synapses when they are dysfunctional in neurological disorders.
Host: Stephanie Lozano (salozano@ucdavis.edu)