New professorship:Olivia Masseck accepts Junior Professorship for Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy

New research group investigates anxiety and depression

Acquisition of new high-resolution multi-photon microscope

On May 1^st, 2016, Olivia Masseck was appointed to a junior professorship for Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy at the Ruhr University Bochum. The professorship was created as part of North Rhine-Westphalia’s master program. With a positive half-time evaluation, the position is funded for a term of six years.

Researching molecular mechanisms of anxiety

As head of her newly founded research group Junior-Professor Dr. Olivia Masseck will investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying anxiety and depression, with a particular emphasis on the complex system of serotonin in the brain. Light-sensitive opsins are combined with serotonin receptors and transferred into the brain tissue of mice. By this new optogenetic method intracellular serotonergic signalling can be activated by light. Effects of serotonergic signalling activation during different anxiety and depressions-paradigms may provide valuable insights into the complex serotonin system and its role in these diseases. Among other projects, the team is also attempting to develop a serotonin sensor, which will visualize serotonin neurotransmission with high spatial and temporal resolution.

New microscope for research and teaching

The upcoming research projects will make use of a newly acquired microscope, which will be purchased with funds from the new professorship. A high-resolution multi-photon microscope, equipped with fluorescence-lifetime imaging will be used to look inside the depressed brain. The microscope facilitates in vitro studies of cell cultures and slices, as well as in vivo imaging of awake animals. Masseck aims to put a special focus on the training of young scientists. “My long-term goal is to give students an insight into advanced microscopy and its application in biomedical research. I also envisage the new microscope to be the first step in establishing an imaging centre for our Biology and Biotechnology faculty.”

Ruhr University alumna and IGSN graduate

Olivia Masseck is alumna of the Ruhr University Bochum and obtained her PhD in neuroscience as a scholarship-holder at the International Graduate School of Neuroscience. As a post-doc she worked amongst others with Prof. Dr. Stefan Herlitze, chair of General Zoology and Neurobiology, whose team was one of the first worldwide to establish optogenetic methods.