Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research
WIBR Café Seminar
‘Development and Homeostasis of
the Enteric Nervous System'
Professor Vassilis Pachnis
Research Group Leader The Francis Crick Institute
Host: Professor John Wood Harwell Mammalian Genetics Unit
We study how the nervous system develops and how its
organisation and function are maintained in adult animals.
The central nervous system (CNS) and the ganglia of the
peripheral nervous system (PNS) include many types of
neurons and glia which have unique roles in the assembly
and activity of neural circuits.
The aim of our research is to understand how the different
types of nerve cells and glia are generated in the embryo
and how they establish specific connections. We also study
how the development and organisation of the nervous
system is influenced by non-neural tissues and
environmental factors.
Our goal is to discover genetic and molecular cascades
implicated in the development, assembly and maintenance
of two sets of neural circuits: those that are intrinsic to the
gut wall and regulate gastrointestinal activity (enteric
nervous system-ENS) and those that provide inhibition in
the cerebral cortex.
Thursday 19th November 2015, 4pm
The Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research
st
Cruciform Café, 1 Floor Cruciform Building,
Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT / 020 7679 6134
www.ucl.ac.uk/wibr