Thomas KnÖpfel
Researcher
Faculty of Medicine
National Heart Lung Institute
United Kingdom
Biography
Professor Thomas Knopfel became Chair of Optogenetics and Circuit Neurosciences at Imperial College, Division of Brain Sciences, in 2013 During the early years of his scientific career (1985-1998), he made seminal contributions in the fields of glutamate receptors and neuronal calcium signaling. In 1998, he joined the foundation of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan where he contributed to the development of RIKEN BSI to the renowned institute that it is today. He founded his lab at RIKEN with the vision of combining genetics and light-based methods for the study of neuronal circuit dynamics. His main focus over the last five years was the development and application of genetically encoded voltage indicators. This work was flanked by electrophysiological and optical imaging studies mainly aimed at understanding the neuronal dynamics in cerebral and cortical circuits.
Research Interest
Neurosciences
Publications
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Akemann W, Mutoh H, Perron A, et al., 2012, Imaging neural circuit dynamics with a voltage-sensitive fluorescent protein, Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol:108, ISSN:0022-3077, Pages:2323-2337
