DR. AMANDINE GRIMM

I completed a joint PhD thesis between the University of Strasbourg (France, specializing in Neuroscience) and the University of Basel (Switzerland, specializing in Pharmaceutical Sciences). The project was titled: 'Mitochondria, neurosteroids, and circadian rhythms: implications in health and disease states.' This joint PhD aimed to deepen our understanding of mitochondrial function regulation by identifying key factors, both endogenous and exogenous, critical in controlling mitochondrial bioenergetics and reduction/oxidation (redox) state. The results I obtained contribute to a better understanding of mitochondrial function and could have multiple implications regarding the regulation of metabolic homeostasis in health and disease states associated with mitochondrial impairments (e.g., in Alzheimer’s disease) and/or circadian disruption.

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After completing my first postdoctoral project in the laboratory of Prof. Anne Eckert at the University of Basel (Switzerland), I seized the opportunity to advance my scientific career by undertaking a research stay abroad. I chose to work in the laboratory of Prof. Jürgen Götz at the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, an internationally renowned expert with significant expertise in modeling Alzheimer's disease in vivo, dissecting pathomechanisms, and developing therapeutic interventions. The objective of this postdoctoral stay was to enhance our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease-related impairments, such as Tau protein aggregation and oxidative injuries, in neurodegeneration using state-of-the-art technology, including high-end microscopy techniques. By combining optogenetics with the use of fluorescent biosensors and photoactivatable green fluorescent protein, I demonstrated that neurons restrict the local increase in mitochondria-derived oxidative stress and the decrease in energy production to the damaged neuronal compartment, by quarantining mitochondria.

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I am now a junior group leader conducting independent research within the Research Platform of Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences at the University of Basel. I develop my research ideas on the role of organelle-organelle interactions in neurodegenerative disorders, particularly in Tau protein-related frontotemporal dementia. I am highly interested in further studying the role of neuronal mitochondria and brain bioenergetic metabolism in health and disease states, as well as broadening my research scope by investigating intercellular mitochondria transfer between neurons and astrocytes.