The research team is headed by Prof. Kobi Rosenblum of the University of Haifa's Department of Neurobiology and Ethology and has been awarded a grant of $815,000

A research team composed of 14 European groups, headed by Prof. Nils Brose of the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, has been awarded 11.9 million Euro, on behalf of the European Union, to study the role of synaptic proteins in neurological and psychiatric diseases. One of the research teams is headed by Prof. Kobi Rosenblum of the University of Haifa's Department of Neurobiology and Ethology and has been awarded a grant of 600,000 Euro. The topic of the grant is "Synaptic protein networks in neurological and psychiatric disease."

Many neurological diseases result from mis- or damaged expression of proteins in the links between the nerve cells - the synapses. The goal of the research is to cause deliberate damage to the function of various proteins in the synapses, so as to create disease models that result from abnormal functioning of proteins in the brain, such as autism and schizophrenia. The process is based on the existing knowledge of the function of different proteins and according to medical knowledge relating to people with different brain disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

Source:
Rachel Feldman
University of Haifa