Peeking inside the brain
Pierre Magistretti, Distinguished Professor of Bioscience and Dean of the Biological and Environmental Science Division, talks to us on Facebook Live about how he first became interested in the brain and reflects on more than 30 years of experience in the field of brain energy metabolism.
In case you missed it, watch the full interview here.
Magistretti has made significant contributions to neuroenergetics. His research has focused on exploring the cellular and molecular basis of brain energy metabolism and brain imaging as well as the behavioral, cellular and molecular determinants of neuronal and glial plasticity. His group discovered some of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the coupling between neuronal activity and energy consumption by revealing the key role that glial cells, in particular astrocytes, play in this physiological process. This finding is particularly relevant to understanding the origin of signals used in functional brain imaging (fMRI).
Magistretti received an M.D. from the University of Geneva in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California San Diego in 1982. He has authored papers in more than 240 peer-reviewed journals and has held posts at such elite institutions as International Brain Research Organization, the Brain Mind Institute at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and the European Dana Alliance for the Brainamong others. Most recently, he was awarded the 2016 Fondation IPSEN Neuronal Plasticity prize for contributions to the field of neuroenergetics.