Dr. Christoph Schwarzer

Biography

Dr. Christoph Schwarzer is currently serving as the University Professor in Department of Pharmacology, Innsbruck Medical University, Austria. Dr. Christoph Schwarzer and his team investigates the role of the endogenous dynorphin / kappa opioid receptor system in epilepsy and antiepileptic properties of kappa opioid receptor agonists. They focus on the investigation of the potential of such drugs in pharmaco-resistant epilepsy. Moreover, they want to gain insight into potential side-effects of kappa opioid receptor agonist treatment through investigation of behavioral and neurochemical alterations in response to treatment with G-protein-biased and unbiased kappa agonists. An additional special interest is the developmental process of epilepsy, termed epileptogenesis. Although a number of animal models resemble several aspects of epileptogenesis, this process is not well understood. In fact, the lack of understanding the neurobiochemical background of epileptogenesis did not allow the introduction of antiepileptogenic drugs in clinics so far. The aim is the identification of biomarkers for the progression of epileptogenesis by combination of in-vivo EEG recordings, neuropathological, neurobiochemical and functional investigations. In a specialized project they investigate alterations in mitochondrial function and structure during this process. In a second line of investigations they study the functional neuroanatomy of the endogenous dynorphin/kappa opioid receptor system is emotional control, fear and anxiety. They aim to characterize the role of dynorphin in specific brain areas or neuronal groups by means of conditional knockout, viral vectors and behavioural testing.

Research Interest

We try to understand the functional implications of the endogenous dynorphinergic system in health and disease.