André Fischer

Before Dr. Fischer joined the European Neuroscience Institute and later the University Medical Center (UMG) in Göttingen, Germany, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School and MIT with Prof. Li-Huei Tsai. At present, he is Professor of Epigenetics and Systems Medicine at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at UMG and the speaker of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Göttingen site.

His laboratory studies the role of epigenetic and epitranscriptomic processes in neurodegenerative diseases, including the action of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). The role of ncRNAs has gained increasing attention because translational research has, so far, mainly focused on understanding the coding regions of the genome, which encompass genes encoding proteins. These proteins serve specific functions and may become dysregulated during pathogenesis. Studying these proteins as drug targets has been highly fruitful in the past and will remain a major line of research in the future. However, it’s worth noting that only 1.5% of the human genome is transcribed into protein-coding genes, and many of these proteins are currently considered “undruggable.”

On the other hand, the majority of the transcribed genome, sometimes dismissed as “junk,” gives rise to various ncRNAs. These ncRNAs have emerged as crucial regulators of diverse cellular processes, including gene expression control. The development of RNA-based therapies offers an opportunity to significantly expand the space for therapeutic approaches.

In his presentation, Dr. Fischer will present the latest data on the role of ncRNAs as screenable liquid biopsy biomarkers and drug targets for neurodegenerative diseases. At the functional level, he will describe how ncRNAs control neuroinflammatory processes in astrocytes and microglia cells via the regulation of chromatin plasticity.