NCCR-Synapsy

The Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases

From academia to entrepreneurship – seizing an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the treatment of neurological disorders

We spoke with Charles Finsterwald, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of the start-up Gliapharm about his career path and his decision to switch from fundamental research to application. An interest in neuroscience After a bachelor in biology and a Read more…


Lactate, a prospect for the treatment of depression

According to WHO, more than 264 million people in the world suffer from depression, a disorder that has a major impact on all facets of the lives of those it affects. It became the first cause of invalidity in 2020. Read more…


Holography and cellular reprogramming in the quest for biomarkers

Bipolar disorders affect some 2% of the population. Patients present a wide variety of clinical symptoms of which many can be especially handicapping. A new approach to find biomarkers, driven by Pascal Jourdain, could change the game by improving treatment Read more…


A career at the intersection of physics and psychiatry

Pierre Marquet’s career path has been rather untypical. Combining qualifications in physics and psychiatry-psychotherapy, he is a clinical researcher “par excellence”, engaged for over 20 years in the development of knowledge about the biological dimensions of mental disorders. His career Read more…


From science to yoga — and back to science

After initial studies in science, Zeynep Knight-Celen opts for a life practicing and teaching yoga. Ten years later her interest in the workings of the mind rekindles her scientific curiosity and leads her to a PhD position in the Mindfulness Read more…


A psychologist in a clinical research team

Ryan Murray’s work within Synapsy WP#5 focuses on measuring brain reactivity to and recovery from psychosocial stress within clinical patients and healthy controls. He talked to us about his role as a psychologist in a clinical research group and his Read more…


Genetics to stratify the WP#5 cohort

Giorgio Pistis is profiling polygenic scores to understand whether genetic risks associated with particular pathophysiological pathways are higher in specific sub-groups of patients of the mood disorder cohort. Synapsy met him to find out more about his project. Giorgio Pistis Read more…


Editorial – by Camilla Bellone

2020 has been a challenging year for the Synapsy community and for the whole society. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, economy and employment has been unprecedented worldwide. Like many other domains, science has been hit hardly by Read more…


Editorial by Camilla Bellone, Carmen Sandi and Philippe Conus

Dear Colleagues, It is with a profound grief that we are writing the editorial of this issue of the NCCR Synapsy Newsletter. As you certainly all know, Alexandre Dayer, the Director of the NCCR Synapsy tragically passed away on June Read more…