Dr. Gaia Tavosanis

Biography

Gaia Tavosanis studied Biology at the University of Pisa, Italy and at the Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg, Germany. She carried out her PhD studies in the lab of Dr. Cayetano Gonzalez at the European Molecular Biology Laboratories in Heidelberg (1995 - 1999) and obtained her PhD degree at the Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg in 1999. She carried out post-doctoral work in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Yuh-Nung Jan at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF), USA. In 2003 she became Junior Group Leader of the Dendrite Differentiation Group at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried - Munich. In 2013, Gaia Tavosanis habilitated in Neurobiology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich.Since 2017 she is Full Professor of Neurogenetics at the University of Bonn. Since 2011 she is a research group leader at the DZNE in Bonn.

Research Interest

Our group is interested in the differentiation and the plasticity of neuronal dendrites.  Dendrites represent the input compartment of neurons:  they collect information through specific connections that they build with suitable neuronal partners within the nervous system. Thus, the formation of appropriate dendritic arbors is essential for the generation of functional connections within the nervous system and for correct processing of information. Indeed, several human syndromes that lead to mental retardation are accompanied by defective dendrite organization in the central nervous system.  Importantly, dendrites remain plastic during adult life and rearrangements of dendrite subdomains accompany plastic process, including adaptation to a changing sensory environment and potentially the formation of long-term memories.