Dr. Alberto Catanese

Dr. Alberto Catanese is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology led by Prof. Dr. Tobias Boeckers, where he is responsible for the coordination of the projects focusing on neurodegenerative diseases.

The main focus of this working group (Cell biology of neurodegenerative diseases) is understanding the pathomechanisms leading to the selective loss of motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Specific attention is given to the alterations affecting the degradative mechanisms (e.g., autophagy) and how these defects lead to synaptic failure during ALS progression. In order to answer these questions, human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) represent a patient-related valuable tool that can be used to generate 2- and 3-D in vitro models that are combined to a variety of cutting-edge technologies such as multi-omics, optogenetics, as well as novel therapeutic strategies like antisense oligonucleotides.

The ongoing projects are currently supported by the anatomical Institute, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE, Ulm site), the Bausteinprogramm of Ulm University, by the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung and the DFG.