Jan 2017: Congratulations to Prof Mike Cousin, Dr Carole Torsney and Dr Nathalie Rochefort on their Wellcome Trust grant success. Prof Mike Cousin has been awarded an Investigator Award in Science by the Wellcome Trust. This is a 5 year award totalling £1.78 million which will determine the role of activity-dependent bulk endocytosis in mammalian physiology at the molecular, synaptic, circuit and behavioural level. The Seed Award received by the Wellcome Trust will enable Dr Carole Torsney and her team to utilise neuronal activity marker transgenics to gain direct access to spinal allodynia circuitry in a clinically relevant chronic pain model. By gaining morphological, electrophysiological and genetic ‘access’ to this circuitry they aim to identify the neuronal subpopulations, interconnections and mediators that communicate allodynia. This is a necessary prerequisite to developing therapeutics to limit their activity and treat this debilitating symptom. Dr Nathalie Rochefort secured an enhancement fund for her project on 'Large population 2-photon imaging and targeted optogenetics in the mouse primary visual cortex'. This funding will help, developing the imaging technique Nathalie has implemented in CIP during the last 2 years. Nathale and her team are using this approach to investigate the Neuronal circuits and synaptic mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity. Related Links The Wellcome Trust Prof Mike Cousin's research profile Dr Carole Torsney's research profile Dr Nathalie Rochefort's research profile This article was published on 2022-10-17
