The lab: Hörnberg group
The lab is part of the Molecular Processes and Therapies research topic at MDC. We are a small international team dedicated to a supportive, collaborative and creative environment. Through NeuroCure we have collaborations with several clinical researchers and participate in a student- organized journal club that includes researchers from 5 diverse topics, including a clinical lab. Furthermore, the group leader has long-standing experience collaborating with clinical research consortiums and biotech companies for drug discovery and development.
The position
The lab is mainly focused on two projects with strong clinical ties: (1) development automated clinically-relevant social biomarker detection in rodent models of autism, and (2) identification of mechanism-based therapeutic interventions for social symptoms. 1. Development automated clinically-relevant social biomarker detection in rodent models: To improve the translational value of rodents in preclinical research, the development of experimental paradigms that can be used in both animals and humans is needed. Automatic quantification of social interactions in standardized settings are currently being tested in patients for more accurate and cost- effective diagnosis and biomarker detection of social interaction difficulties in autism and related conditions. Our research aims to back-translate these types of tests to rodent models by employing multiple-animal tracking in a naturalistic group-housed setting for investigation of self-selected social behavior in freely moving mice. We further employ neural circuit manipulations to provide a direct circuit link to distinct behavioral phenotypes. These experiments would combine behavioral neuroscience with automated video tracking and machine learning as well as chemogenetic manipulations of neural circuits, towards identification of clinically-relevant social biomarkers. 2. Identification of mechanism-based therapeutic interventions for social symptoms. Understanding the neurobiological underpinning of social symptoms is a crucial step towards better diagnostic and treatment approaches. We use proteomic and phosphoproteomics methods in cell- and circuit specific brain tissue of deeply phenotyped mice to identify behaviorally-linked molecular markers in multiple models, and examine how these markers change throughout development and predict behavioral and treatment outcome. By focusing druggable targets linked to distinct behavioral subgroups, we will validate the targets in patient samples towards mechanism-based stratification for a precision medicine approach to disorders with social symptoms.
Other positions
- IDIBAPS#4 – Mechanisms involved in strenuous exercise-induced atrial myocardial fibrosisDavid Brena2022-06-02T10:51:50+00:00
IDIBAPS#4 – Mechanisms involved in strenuous exercise-induced atrial myocardial fibrosis
- IC#4 – The role polyglutamylation in tauopathic neurodegenerationDavid Brena2022-05-18T16:35:32+00:00
IC#4 – The role polyglutamylation in tauopathic neurodegeneration
- IC#3 – Evaluation of the efficiency of immunotherapy by tracing ctDNA in metastatic NSCLC and triple-negative breast cancer patientsDavid Brena2022-05-18T16:17:43+00:00
IC#3 – Evaluation of the efficiency of immunotherapy by tracing ctDNA in metastatic NSCLC and triple-negative breast cancer patients
- IC#2 – New targetable vulnerabilities for the treatment of chemoresistant breast and ovarian BRCA1/2-mutated tumorsDavid Brena2022-05-25T10:09:18+00:00
IC#2 – New targetable vulnerabilities for the treatment of chemoresistant breast and ovarian BRCA1/2-mutated tumors
- IDIBAPS#3 – Mechanisms involved in vascular inflammation/remodeling in systemic vasculitisDavid Brena2022-05-17T10:38:48+00:00
IDIBAPS#3 – Mechanisms involved in vascular inflammation/remodeling in systemic vasculitis
- IDIBAPS#2 – Mechanisms and therapies for Myeloma, amyloidosis, macroglobulinemia and other gammapathiesDavid Brena2022-05-24T08:49:06+00:00
IDIBAPS#2 – Mechanisms and therapies for Myeloma, amyloidosis, macroglobulinemia and other gammapathies
- IDIBAPS#1 – Developing and investigating computing, machine learning and physiological modelling for understanding each individual heart towards personalised medicineDavid Brena2022-05-17T10:37:53+00:00
IDIBAPS#1 – Developing and investigating computing, machine learning and physiological modelling for understanding each individual heart towards personalised medicine
- BRIC#6 – Tumour evolution, heterogeneity, and understanding of the mutational processes leading to aggressive diseaseDavid Brena2022-05-12T16:57:52+00:00
BRIC#6 – Tumour evolution, heterogeneity, and understanding of the mutational processes leading to aggressive disease
- IC#1 – The role of RNASE1 in lung metastatic niche establishment by breast cancer cellsemerald_SCS2022-05-17T13:59:30+00:00
IC#1 – The role of RNASE1 in lung metastatic niche establishment by breast cancer cells
- MDC#3 – Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular Cell Biologyemerald_SCS2022-05-17T12:04:54+00:00
MDC#3 – Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular Cell Biology
- MDC#2 – Molecular and cellular basis of behavioremerald_SCS2022-05-17T12:05:10+00:00
MDC#2 – Molecular and cellular basis of behavior
- MDC#1 – Host-microbiome factors in cardiovascular diseaseemerald_SCS2022-05-17T12:05:25+00:00
MDC#1 – Host-microbiome factors in cardiovascular disease
- NKI#1 – Epigenetic regulation in hormone-driven cancers and therapy resistanceemerald_SCS2022-05-19T08:58:30+00:00
NKI#1 – Epigenetic regulation in hormone-driven cancers and therapy resistance
- VIB#8 – Mechanisms of inflammation and associated tissue damage in musculoskeletal diseasesemerald_SCS2022-05-16T20:44:33+00:00
VIB#8 – Mechanisms of inflammation and associated tissue damage in musculoskeletal diseases
- VIB#7 – Endothelial immunosuppressive mystery genes for alternative immunotherapy: artificial intelligence-driven target discovery and validationemerald_SCS2022-05-16T20:32:47+00:00
VIB#7 – Endothelial immunosuppressive mystery genes for alternative immunotherapy: artificial intelligence-driven target discovery and validation
- VIB#6 – Cellular metabolism and metabolic regulation in cancer metastasisemerald_SCS2022-05-18T08:52:10+00:00
VIB#6 – Cellular metabolism and metabolic regulation in cancer metastasis
- VIB#5 – Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of neuronal degeneration in motor neuron diseasesemerald_SCS2022-05-16T19:39:35+00:00
VIB#5 – Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of neuronal degeneration in motor neuron diseases
- VIB#4 – Identification of universal biomarkers of metastatic melanoma in CTCsemerald_SCS2022-05-18T08:43:51+00:00
VIB#4 – Identification of universal biomarkers of metastatic melanoma in CTCs
- VIB#3 – Basic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerationemerald_SCS2022-05-16T19:54:56+00:00
VIB#3 – Basic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration
- VIB#2 – Integrative genomics to underpinning somatic evolution, tumour heterogeneity, and treatment resistanceemerald_SCS2022-05-15T23:07:12+00:00
VIB#2 – Integrative genomics to underpinning somatic evolution, tumour heterogeneity, and treatment resistance
- VIB#1 – Medical biotechnology to improve hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosticsemerald_SCS2022-05-24T08:33:04+00:00
VIB#1 – Medical biotechnology to improve hepatocellular carcinoma diagnostics
- BRIC#5 – The impact of severe maternal respiratory tract infections on fetal brain development and offspring behavioremerald_SCS2022-05-19T18:49:58+00:00
BRIC#5 – The impact of severe maternal respiratory tract infections on fetal brain development and offspring behavior
- BRIC#7 – Understanding and overcoming drug resistance in acute myeloid leukemiaemerald_SCS2022-05-24T08:43:03+00:00
BRIC#7 – Understanding and overcoming drug resistance in acute myeloid leukemia
