Colloquia/Seminars
Time: 11:00am, Apr 8, 2025
Venue: Room 219, International Center for Primate Brain Research (Building 5, No. 500 Qiangye Road)
Speaker: Dr. Peter Mombaerts
Director, Max Plank Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany
Biography:
Education
Medical School: 1980-1987. Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. M.D. degree in June 1987 with summa cum laude and congratulations of the examining board (highest grade).
Graduate School: 1987-1992. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. Department of Biology. Ph.D. degree in Biology in June 1992 with thesis "Studies on Lymphocyte Development and Function with Mutant Mice Created by Gene Targeting." Advisor: Dr. Susumu Tonegawa, 1987 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.
Postdoc: 1993-1995. Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Advisor: Dr. Richard Axel, 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.
Faculty Positions
The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
Head, Laboratory of Developmental Biology and Neurogenetics.
Assistant Professor: 1995-2001. Associate Professor: 2001-2003. Professor: 2003-2007.
Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt, Germany.
Director, Department of Molecular Neurogenetics: 17 July 2006-16 July 2013.
Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany.
Director, 17 July 2013-now.
Fellowships and Awards
As graduate student
1987-1988: Graduate Fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation.
1988-1992: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellow in Biological Sciences.
As faculty member at The Rockefeller University
1996: Searle Scholar Award.
1997: Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award (March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation).
1997: Irma T. Hirschl Trust Career Scientist Award.
1997: Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.
1997: Klingenstein Fellowship Award in the Neurosciences.
1997: McKnight Scholar Award in Neuroscience.
1997: Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (from President Clinton).
1998: Guggenheim Fellow.
1998: Rita Allen Foundation Scholar Award.
2001: Takasago Award for Research in Olfaction (Association for Chemoreception Sciences).
2001: Firmenich Fragrance Award.
2004: R. H. Wright Award in Olfactory Research, and Distinguished Visiting Professor, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
2004: Honorary Professor, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
As Director of the Max Planck Society
2008: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
2010-2015: Advanced Grant, European Research Council.
2013-2015: Julius von Haast Fellow, Royal Society of New Zealand.
Editorial Activities
2002-: Member of the editorial board of Molecular Cellular Neuroscience.
2005-2011: Associate Editor of The Journal of Neuroscience.
Abstract:
The discovery of olfactory bulb glomeruli was reported by Camillo Golgi 150 years ago. Their exact number is still unknown. The 1141 odorant receptor genes in the mouse genome are key determinants of the coalescence of axons of olfactory sensory neurons into distinct glomeruli at recognizable positions in the olfactory bulb. We developed a methodology for the measuring of the number, size, and shape of these glomeruli. We utilized serial two-photon tomography to generate complete image stacks of immunolabeled mouse olfactory bulbs. We manually segmented the glomeruli based on the immunoreactive signal for the glomerular marker VGLUT2. We counted a median of 2851 glomeruli per olfactory bulb at postnatal day 56. At this adult age, their effective diameter has a median of 77.54 µm and follows a Gaussian distribution. We quantified glomerular shape with aspect-length ratios and sphericity, and propose the descriptor "tuberiform" to encompass their diversity of non-regular shapes.