Senior Scientist, Neuroscience and Aging Team
Tufts University
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Thomas Biederer received his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. He pursued postdoctoral training at the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas to investigate synapse formation. Dr. Biederer started his research group in 2003 as a faculty member at Yale University, was from 2013-2019 faculty at Tufts University, and joined the Yale faculty again in 2019. Since 2021, he holds in addition to being a faculty member at Yale a position as Senior Scientist at the HNRCA to advance nutritional neuroscience and investigate the effects of bioactive dietary compounds on synaptic connectivity.
Dr. Biederer’s multidisciplinary research focuses on the biology of synapses, the cellular structures that connect neurons into networks. His long-term goals are to define how synapses form and are maintained, understand their roles in cognition, and investigate the profound disease relevance of synaptic aberrations. Attaining these goals is important for human aging as synapse density is reduced when brains age. Pronounced synapse loss occurs in neurodegenerative disorders, and this reduced neuronal connectivity is linked to cognitive impairments.
Progress from the Biederer group is providing insights into synapse-organizing mechanisms. His group has also strongly supported that dietary micronutrients modify synapse number, structure, and function. Our laboratory at the HNRCA investigates nutritional compounds that support neuronal connectivity in the aging brain. This can be instrumental in increasing the ‘mindspan’, the period during which cognitive ability is maintained during aging.
Saturday, July 22, 2023
2:30 PM – 2:42 PM ET
Disclosure(s): Mead Johnson Nutrition/Reckitt: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)
Monday, July 24, 2023
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET
Disclosure(s): Mead Johnson Nutrition/Reckitt: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)