Karl Deisseroth
Karl Deisseroth
Karl Deisseroth, studied Biochemical Sciences at Harvard University, and obtained his medical degree and PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University. Today he is the DH Chen Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, California, USA.
Karl Deisseroth’s work is focused on developing and applying methods for studying intact biological systems with fine spatiotemporal resolution, and high molecular and genetic specificity. In developing optogenetics between 2004 and 2013, his team integrated genetics and optics to enable experimental gain- or loss-of-function of well-defined events in specific cell-types within intact systems, using genes taken from evolutionarily distant organisms such as algae and archaebacteria. Since transducing of microbial opsins into neurons in 2004, applications of such technologies have spanned from basic work on motivated behavior to disease-focused work on Parkinsonism, anxiety, social dysfunction, depression, and other neuropsychiatric diseases.
The Brain Prize 2013 is also awarded to:
