In The Media
- As the brain develops, it does not simply get bigger. Like a building that depends on temporary scaffolds as its structures are assembled, the developing brain sets up the circuits that characterize the adult brain. Molnár, Luhmann and Kanold review the current state of knowledge about how brain connections are built and how autonomously established patterns are reshaped by activity from the sensory periphery. With the help of a transient population of neurons, the spontaneous activity of early circuits is molded by increasing inputs from the external world. When these normal developmental interactions are disrupted, consequent miswiring drives dysfunction in the adult brain (DPAG News, Oxford Neuroscience)
- Einstein Visiting Fellowship awarded to Zoltán Molnár. Professor Zoltán Molnár has been awarded an Einstein Visiting Fellowship to Charité - University Medicine, Berlin. This award sees him join the dynamic Oxford | Berlin collaboration, a strategic research partnership that supports high quality joint research initiatives across all disciplines of its member institutions, of which Neuroscience is a major focus. He will be working with the research group run by Professor Britta Eickholt, Director of Institute and Director of Centrum and Group Leader Signaling mechanisms in brain development and disease. Read more on Berlin University Alliance, Cluster of excellence NeuroCure, Oxford Centre in Berlin and Einstein Center for Neurosciences of the Charité.
- Oxford Martin School Program on 3D Printing for Brain Repair. A team of Oxford University scientists, comprising DPAG’s Zoltán Molnár and Francis Szele, the Department of Chemistry’s Hagan Bayley and Oxford Martin Fellow Dr Linna Zhou, are proposing a radical new approach funded by the Oxford Martin School: repairing the brain with 3D-printed neural tissues that are generated from human stem cells. Read the interview with Prof Szele and Molnár on DPAG News.
- Pre-clinical Medicine Undergraduate students Kacper Kurzyp, Rafee Ahmed and Oliver Bredemeyer achieved Oxford University's best ever performance in The National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition at the University of Southampton. Their participation was sponsored by DPAG with Professor Zoltán Molnár and Departmental Lecturer Dr Michael Gilder providing extra tuition to prepare them for their successful performances.
- Congratulations to one of the longest standing laboratory member Dr Anna Hoerder-Suabedissen who has been conferred the title of Departmental Lecturer in recognition of her high achievement in both research and teaching for the Department.
- Malnutrition linked with increased risk of Zika birth defects. The severity of Zika virus-related deformations in babies has been shown to be affected by environmental factors such as maternal nutrition. The study was partially funded by a joint MRC Grant between Professor Zoltán Molnár and Associate Professor Patricia Garcez of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Read more on the University of Oxford website).
- Zoltán Molnár has been Elected Member of Academia Europaea (Physiology and neuroscience), he was inducted during the Annual Meeting of the Academia Europaea entitled “Building Bridges 2019” in Barcelona.
- Zoltán Molnár was elected to deliver the 2019 Ray Guillery Lecture at the Grossman Institute of Neuroscience at University of Chicago. (DPAG News, St John's College News)
- Zoltán Molnár has edited a special symposium issue of Journal of Anatomy with Dr Gavin Clowry from the University of Newcastle on Human Brain Development. (DPAG News)
- History of neuroscience paper gives new insights into Cajal's interactions with Sherrington and the Croonian Lecture. (DPAG News)
- Cortex Club celebrates 10 years of student-run talks and discussions for Oxford's neuroscience community with Abishek Banerjee, Dennis Kätzel and Zoltán Molnár as founding members. (DPAG News)
- Lukas Krone from Vyazovskiy, Ackerman and Molnár Laboratories wins the Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar Poster Prize (DPAG News)
- Professor Zoltán Molnár elected Fellow of the Anatomical Society and received “The New Fellow of the Year Award" in 2018 (DPAG News)
- Researchers from across the Oxford Neuroscience Community pulled out all the stops for the Oxford Science and Ideas Festival (Oxford Neuroscience News)
- The BBC visited Zoltán Molnár to discuss the research undertaken by Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, during his time in the Laboratory of Physiology, as part of a new series on 'How the NHS Changed our World' (DPAG News)
- Mathematical modelling of cerebral cortical neurogenesis, joint project between St John's College, Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology and Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics. News releases Neuroscience news, The Daily Galaxy, Eurekalert, Medicalexpress, Techexplorists.
- Taste and Smell Workshop at DPAG and St John's College Research Centre by Professor Laura López-Mascaraque (Cajal Institute Madrid) organised by the Cortex Club and Molnár Lab.
- Major differences in early brain development between mammals and birds were revealed by Fernando Garcia-Moreno and colleagues that could explain the origin of mammalian cerebral cortex (DPAG News).
- Brain Diaries Exhibition Opened at Natural History Museum on 10th March 2017 and shall be open until 1st January 2018. OX Magazine published an interview with Zoltán Molnár about what we can expect from the exhibition and why it is well worth a visit.
- Oxford University deploying three research projects to fight Zika virus. Research has been funded by the UK Government through Globa Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund and by the Wellcome Trust.
- The latest investigations on the development of the dorsal forebrain in chick and mouse embryos showed a delay in the neurogenic properties of a subset of mammalian but not avian progenitors and could be responsible for the evolutionary origin of the corpus callosum. Link to paper and to HFSP news release.
- Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Shanghai Jiao Tong University and University of Oxford to strengthen collaborations in the field of Developmental Genetics and Biology.
- OxfordSparks public understanding of movement control video using original histological preparations prepared by Sir Charles Sherrington
- Interviews on the "Evolution of the Human Neocortex: How Unique Are We?" The Company of Biologists workshop Wiston House, Steyning, West Sussex, UK, September 2013.
- Unexpected origin of the subplate neurons (DPAG News, ABC.es, Madrimasd.org, Informaria Digital, elmercuriodigital.es)
- Oxford - McGill Mini Symposium (McGill's Brain Institute)
- CLoNe new tool to track cell lineages (HFSP, theNODE, DPAG news, Oxford Neuroscience News)
- Subplate cells express susceptibility genes for schizophrenia and autism (Time, Science Daily, Oxford Neuroscience, GenEng News, ENN, Scicasts, MedicalXpress, myScience, sify news)
- Mapping gene expression in layers of mouse brain (SFARI, Oxford University News, Daily Mail)
- Comparison of mouse and chick brain transcriptomes (HFSP, DPAG NEWS)
- New Theories on the Origin of Cerebral Cortical Convolutions (HFSP)
- History of Medical Sciences Website (Sociedad Española de Neurociencia)
- Exhibition: 'Revelaing the Brain' (The Oxford Times, Oxford Neuroscience, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, Oxford Neuroscience)
- The Oxford/HBI Summer Student Exchange scheme (Oxford Neuroscience)
- The first Fung Scholars in the Molnár lab (DPAG NEWS)