Michael Häusser

Michael Häusser. He is a prominent British neuroscientist and Professor at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at University College London. His pioneering research focuses on understanding the cellular basis of neural computation, particularly in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex, using innovative techniques like two-photon microscopy and optogenetics. Häusser's work has fundamentally advanced the field of systems neuroscience by revealing how single neurons and neural circuits process information.

Biography

Michael Häusser completed his undergraduate studies in Physiology at University of Oxford before earning his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge. Following his doctorate, he conducted postdoctoral research at Bell Laboratories and AT&T in the United States, working under leading figures in biophysics. He returned to the United Kingdom to establish his laboratory at University College London, where he has held a professorship for many years. He is a founding director of the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, a major research institute funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Research and contributions

Häusser's research program is centered on deciphering the neural code at the level of individual neurons and microcircuits. A major contribution was his early adoption and development of two-photon microscopy for imaging neuronal activity in living brain tissue, allowing unprecedented views of dendritic integration. His laboratory demonstrated that dendrites in the cerebellum and cortex are electrically active and can perform complex local computations, challenging classical models of neuronal function. He was also among the first to apply optogenetics in vivo in the mammalian brain, using light to control specific neuronal populations and study their role in behavior and sensory processing. His work on the cerebellum has provided key insights into its role in motor learning and timing.

Awards and honors

Michael Häusser has received numerous prestigious awards for his scientific contributions. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the highest honors in British science. In 2021, he was a co-recipient of the Brain Prize, awarded by the Lundbeck Foundation, for his pioneering work in optogenetics. He has also been awarded the Feldberg Foundation Prize, the EMBO Gold Medal, and the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. He is an elected member of both the Academy of Medical Sciences and EMBO.

Selected publications

Häusser has authored many influential papers in top-tier journals. Key publications include studies on dendritic calcium spikes in Purkinje cells published in Nature, pioneering optogenetic control of cortical circuits in Science, and investigations into the cellular mechanisms of cerebellar learning in Neuron. His work on in vivo two-photon imaging of dendritic activity has appeared in journals like Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature Neuroscience. He is also a co-editor of several major textbooks in neuroscience.

Professional affiliations

He holds a professorship in the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology at University College London. He is a founding director and group leader at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre. Häusser serves on the editorial boards of several leading journals, including Neuron and Nature Reviews Neuroscience. He is a senior investigator for the Wellcome Trust and has served on scientific advisory boards for institutions like the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Neuroscience.

Category:British neuroscientists Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:University College London faculty Category:Living people