Professor Marianne BronnerCaltech, USA
Marianne Bronner is Professor of Biology at Caltech University. Her laboratory focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of the neural crest and cranial placode. During her career, Bronner’s lab greatly contributed to our understanding of how these cells develop, and to unravel the complex gene regulatory network that drives neural crest development.
Dr. Maria Eleni KastritiMedical Neuroscience Cluster, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Maria Eleni Kastriti is a Postdoc based at the Medical University of Vienna, in Igor Adameyko’s lab. Her research focuses on the classical and non-classical roles of Schwann cells and their precursors inhabiting peripheral nerves. Schwann cells and Schwann cell precursors are a perfect model for studying cell fate decisions as well as the mechanisms driving multipotency and stem-cell-like potential.
Dr. Ruth PalmerUniversity of Gotehnburg, Sweden
Ruth Palmer is a Professor at the University of Gothenburg. She is interested in understanding the role of ALK (Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase) during normal development and in pathological conditions. This gene is of particular medical interest given its role in neuroblastoma, a paediatric cancer of the sympathetic nervous system. To do so, her lab takes advantage of a number of biological models, from fruit fly to mice.
Dr. Eric TheveneauCentre for Integrative Biology, Toulouse, France
Eric Theveneau is a Group Leader at the Centre de Biologie Intégrative, in Toulouse. His lab is mainly interested in the mechanisms of cell dynamics: epithelial-mesenchymal transition, directional cell migration, cell polarity and tissue mechanics. The aim is to understand the mechanisms that rule cell movements during embryogenesis and cancer. To answer this question, he takes advantage of two well-studied animal models: chicken and frog.
Dr. Anestis TsakiridisUniversity of Sheffield, UK
Anestis Tsakiridis is a Group Leader and Lecturer at the University of Sheffield. His study focuses on understanding the mechanisms involved in cell lineage commitment, with the aim of using this knowledge for regenerative medicine and disease modelling. By mainly using hPSCs as an in vitro model, his lab is studying the factors that influence the antero-posterior axial identity in different cell types, such as spinal cord progenitors and neural crest cells.
Charlotte AshbyTrustee of Headlines Craniofacial Support
Charlotte Ashby was born with unicoronal craniosynostosis and became Headlines’ youngest-ever trustee in 2020, at the age of 19. She runs the charity’s Young Person’s Network, which allows people aged 16-30 with craniofacial conditions to connect. Charlotte is passionate about advocating for young people and adults with craniofacial conditions and utilizing her experiences of growing up and living with a craniosynostosis to raise awareness of the condition .