About the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine
The Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg is accelerating biomedical research by closing the link between systems biology and medical research. Collaboration between biologists, medical doctors, computer scientists, physicists, engineers and mathematicians is offering new insights in complex systems like cells, organs, and organisms. These insights are essential for understanding principal mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and for developing new tools in diagnostics and therapy.
The LCSB combines experimental and computational approaches to analyse complex biological systems and disease processes with a strong focus on neuropathology including neurodegeneration and epilepsy. The overarching strategy of the interdisciplinary research centre is to combine systematically experimental and theoretical approaches to develop mechanistic disease models.
More information can be found on the LCSB website.
The organiser
Prof. Michael Heneka, Director of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine at the University of Luxembourg, is a neurologist and clinician-scientist with a research focus on neurodegenerative diseases spanning from basic to translational research. He has contributed to the elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease and, in particular, has investigated the role of microglia and the NLRP3 inflammasome in this context. At the clinical level he has established a neurodegenerative outpatient unit at both the University of Münster and of Bonn.
The Neuroinflammation group led by Prof. Heneka focuses on the combined analysis of neuronal network activities and behavioral performance in murine models of Alzheimer’s disease under modulation of innate immune pathways. In addition, the group investigates the intercellular communication between different cell types such as microglia, neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, through tunneling nanotubes. From a translational perspective, the group’s goal is to develop novel biomarkers as well as insights into medical interventions for various aspects of neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases.