11 Mar In-person UBC Seminar (16:00Apr8)@MIN0.15, UU. “Molecular architecture of the mammalian brain”
On Monday, April 8 at 16:00, Dr. Kimberly Siletti from the Department of Translational Neuroscience, UMCU will share her most recent bioinformatics related research.
Just come without registration. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about the work of one of our new PIs and to catch up with other UBCers with drinks!
Molecular architecture of the mammalian brain
The human brain executes a wide range of highly complex functions, but the cell types that underlie these abilities are poorly understood. Single-cell technologies are providing unprecedented insight into this question, enabling researchers to comprehensively profile the brain’s molecular make-up. However, most efforts have focused on the cerebral cortex, largely overlooking other brain regions critical for our most essential functions. We therefore set out to conduct the first cell census of the entire human brain. Our work indicates that the brain contains thousands of cell types that vary across brain regions. How these cell types relate to one another mirrors other mammals like the mouse and moreover reflects their developmental origins. The census therefore sets the stage for exploring the developmental and evolutionary origins of the human brain, and how these origins relate to disease.
There will be a 35-min presentation followed by a 15-min in-depth discussion.
Speaker overview
Dr. Kimberly Siletti is a single cell biologist who wants to understand the cellular heterogeneity of the brain. She did her PhD on sensory neuroscience at the Rockefeller University and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institutet using single-cell RNA sequencing to study cell types in the developing mouse brain and the adult human brain. Kimberly became an Assistant Professor at University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU) in 2023. Her group seeks to understand the emergence of neural diversity. They are particularly interested in the brainstem, where their data reveal an especially high number of cell types. The brainstem underlies some of our most essential functions, playing a central role in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disease. In their research they use mouse models and high-throughput genomic technologies.
Location: Minnaert Building, Room 0.15, Leuvenlaan 4, 3584 CE.
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