Topic: Role of extracellular matrix in regulating post-ischemic synaptic plasticity

Speaker: Prof. Dirk M. Hermann

Time: 4:10-5:30 PM, 10 Apr., 2025

Venue: Yidan Library, Lecture Room 301

Introduction:

Prof. Dirk M. Hermann obtained his MD from Justus Liebig University Gießen/ Germany in 1995. After postdoctoral studies at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich and Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research in Cologne, he performed his clinical training at the Department of Neurology at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, before becoming associate professor and consultant at the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital Zurich/ Switzerland. Currently, he is Professor of Vascular Neurology, Dementia and Ageing Research at the University Hospital Essen/ Germany. His research centers on the promotion of tissue remodeling and neuroplasticity in the ischemic brain. As author of more than 300 peer-reviewed articles (H index of 87 in Google Scholar), Prof. Dirk M. Hermann has made seminal contributions on strategies that enhance neurological recovery and neuronal rewiring in the stroke recovery phase. His work has been cited over 24000 times. 

Abstract:

Neuronal plasticity is reactivated post ischemia. Research efforts in the neuronal plasticity field largely focused on neuronal cell responses in the past. The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a fundamental role in shaping synaptic plasticity. In this talk, I will present studies of my group defining ECM responses to ischemia and describe their role in controlling synaptic plasticity in vitro and in vivo. This presentation will establish the ECM as a therapeutic target, via which stroke recovery processes can be stimulated.