Marie Curie Actions: Inspiring Researchers - Imdea

An international effortRecognising the potential of Dr Roska’s research, the EuropeanCommission awarded him a EUR 1.8 million Marie Curie ExcellenceGrant. The grants are designed to help promising scientists setup their own international research teams. With the grant, he wasable to put together a team of researchers from seven differentcountries, pooling expertise from around the world.Marie Curie Fellow Santiago Rompani left Brazil to join Dr Roska’steam and was particularly impressed with the Swiss lab’s facilities.‘The decision to join Botond’s lab was not diffi cult despiteSwitzerland being very far from my family in Brazil and friends inthe USA, in addition to the language barrier,’ says Dr Rompani.‘This was mostly because the Roska lab had institutional, fi nancialand intellectual resources that were unmatched in any other labat which I was interviewed for a position.’Japanese researcher Keisuke Yonehara came from Japan tojoin the team and echoed this sentiment: ‘I came to Basel tojoin the group because only his group had all multidisciplinarycutting-edge experimental techniques that I needed to reachmy scientifi c goal. I could not find any comparable groupsin the US or Japan.’Another Fellow, Dr Karl Farrow of Canada, wanted both the careeropportunity and the European experience: ‘I came to the laboratoryat FMI for two distinct reasons. Firstly, I wanted to learn aboutthe cutting-edge approaches being developed in the lab todissect neural circuits. I also wanted to have the experienceof working and living in a European city.’Basic insights in neural computationWorking with Connie Cepko of Harvard Medical School, Dr Roska andhis team pioneered a new area of neural science. By administeringa gene of light-activated protein from green algae to selected retinalcells, the team was able to treat blind mice. Those that receivedthe treatment were subsequently able to navigate behaviouraltasks requiring vision. The team’s achievement was hailed as abreakthrough in respected medical and scientifi c journals.‘Contrary to common belief, the retina is a complicated organ,with more than 50 types of neurons, performing sophisticatedimage processing tasks,’ says Dr Roska. ‘By targeting a selectpopulation of these retinal neurons, we have been able to restorea meaningful response to light.’The non-invasive technique developed by Dr Roska is also seenas a potential treatment for mascular degeneration. This conditiondestroys photoreceptor function and is particularly acute among282