R. Jeroen Pasterkamp

Jeroen Pasterkamp

Professor

Head Department of Translational Neuroscience & Scientific Director

UMC Utrecht Brain Center

University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands

About the Speaker:

Jeroen Pasterkamp is Professor of Translational Neuroscience at Utrecht University Medical Centre and Utrecht University. He is also scientific director at the UMC Utrecht Brain Center and director of the MIND Facility. His research focuses on the formation of nerve pathways and the causes of change and loss of nerve pathways in neurological disorders such as ALS and epilepsy. Jeroen leads the Pasterkamp research group and collaborates with clinical and industrial partners in the development of translational models and pre-clinical applications. A multidisciplinary approach is central within the research group to study and manipulate both healthy and diseased nerve pathways. Among other things, the group uses brain organoids to better map the development of the young brain.

Jeroen's work has been published in prestigious journals such as Cell, Journal of Neuroscience, Nature, Nature Genetics and PNAS. He also regularly contributes to Current Opinion, Trends and Nature Reviews.

Areas of interest:

Brain development in early childhood

Stem cells

Language acquisition and language development disorders

Organoids

Nerve fibers

Selected Recent Publications:

1. Rybiczka-Tešulov M, Garritsen O, Venø MT, Wieg L, Dijk RV, Rahimi K, Gomes-Duarte A, Wit M, van de Haar LL, Michels L, van Kronenburg NCH, van der Meer C, Kjems J, Vangoor VR, Pasterkamp RJ (2024) Circular RNAs regulate neuron size and migration of midbrain dopamine neurons during development. Nat Commun 15:6773.

2. Garritsen O, van Battum EY, Grossouw LM, Pasterkamp RJ (2023) Development, wiring and function of dopamine neuron subtypes. Nat Rev Neurosci 24:134-152.

3. Hol EM, Pasterkamp RJ (2022) Microglial transcriptomics meets genetics: new disease leads. Nat Rev Neurol 18:191-192.

4. van Rheenen W, van der Spek RAA, Bakker MK, van Vugt JJFA, Hop PJ, Zwamborn RAJ, de Klein N, Westra HJ, Bakker OB, Deelen P, Shireby G, Hannon E, Moisse M, Baird D, Restuadi R, Dolzhenko E, Dekker AM, Gawor K, Westeneng HJ, Tazelaar GHP et al. (2021) Common and rare variant association analyses in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identify 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biology. Nat Genet 53:1636-1648.

5. Robinson RA, Griffiths SC, van de Haar LL, Malinauskas T, van Battum EY, Zelina P, Schwab RA, Karia D, Malinauskaite L, Brignani S, van den Munkhof MH, Düdükcü Ö, De Ruiter AA, Van den Heuvel DMA, Bishop B, Elegheert J, Aricescu AR, Pasterkamp RJ, Siebold C (2021) Simultaneous binding of Guidance Cues NET1 and RGM blocks extracellular NEO1 signaling. Cell 184:2103-2120.e31.