Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Karl Deisseroth

Name: Karl Deisseroth Born: 18 November 1971

Main areas of research: , CLARITY method (Clear Lipid-exchanged Anatomically Rigid/Immunostaining-compatible Tissue Hydrogel), Channelrhodopsin, Channelrhodopsin-2, neurological diseases, depression, autism diseases

Karl Deisseroth is a US American psychiatrist and neuroscientist. He was one of the founders of optogenetics and also developed the CLARITY method. Unimagined insights into the brain have been gained through the use of both methods. Deisseroth hopes that these will then lead to a greater understanding of neurological diseases.

Academic and professional career since 2014 Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Maryland, USA since 2013 Extraordinary Professor, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden since 2012 D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering, Psychiatry and Behavioral Research, , USA since 2012 Professor of Bioengineering and Psychiatry, Stanford

2009 - 2013 HHMI Early Career Investigator

2009 - 2012 Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Psychiatry, Stanford University

2005 - 2008 Assistant Professor of Bioengineering und Psychiatry, Stanford University

2004 - 2005 Principal Investigator and Clinical Educator, Institute of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine

2000 - 2004 Assistant physician in Psychiatry, Stanford University

2000 - 2001 MD internship/licensure, Stanford University

Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina www.leopoldina.org

1 1994 - 1998 Ph.D. Stanford University (Neuroscience)

1992 - 2000 M.D., Stanford University Medical School (MSTP Program)

1988 - 1992 Studies of Biochemistry, Harvard University, USA

Functions in Scientific Societies and Committees since 2009 Member of the Scientific Board, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (formerly NARSAD) since 2007 Scientific advisor, nonprofit: Kinetics Foundation for Parkinson's Research since 2007 Ad hoc Member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), study sections

2007 - 2009 Member of the National Institutes of Health Molecular Neurogenetics chartered study section (MNG)

2006 Diplomate, American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry

2005 - 2007 Scientific advisor, nonprofit: Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

Honours and awarded memberships

2020 Heineken Prize 2020

2018 Berthold Leibinger Zukunftspreis

2017 Else Kröner Fresenius Preis für Medizinische Forschung

2015 in life sciences 2016

2015 in Medicine

2015 Albany Medical Center Prize

2015 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences, for optogenetics and CLARITY since 2014 Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina

2014 Keio Medical Science Prize

2014 Dickson Prize in Science

2013 Richard Lounsbery Prize from the National Academy of Sciences

2013 Brain Prize

2013

2012 Zülch-Preis of the Max Planck Society since 2012 Member of the US-National Academy of Sciences

Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina www.leopoldina.org

2 2012 Record Prize, Baylor

2012 Perl/UNC Prize

2011 Alden Spencer Prize, Columbia since 2010 Member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM)

2010 Nakasone Prize laureate, International Human Frontier Science Program/HFSP

2010 Koetser Prize

2010 Gill YIA Award, Indiana University

2009 Society for Neuroscience YIA Award

2008 Schuetze Prize, Columbia University

2008 Lawrence C. Katz Prize, Duke University

2008 William M. Keck Foundation Medical Research Award

2008 World Economic Forum Lecturer

2008 Brilliant 10 Award, Popular Science

2007 Top 10 Technologies Award, MIT Technology Review

2007 McKnight Foundation Scholar Award

2006 Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE)

2005 NIH Director's Pioneer Award

2005 Coulter Foundation Early Career Translational Research Award

2005 McKnight Foundation Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award

2005 American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education Young Faculty Award

2005 NARSAD Young Investigator Award

2005 Whitehall Foundation Award

2005 Klingenstein Fellowship Award and Robert H. Ebert Clinical Scholar Award

2004 Charles E. Culpeper Scholarship in Medical Science Award

2004 American Psychiatric Association Resident Research Award

2002 NIMH Outstanding Resident Award

1997 Stanford Yanofsky Graduate Research Award

1992 Highest Honors, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Harvard

1992 Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard

1990 - 1992 John Harvard Scholarship: Academic Achievement of the Highest Distinction, Harvard

Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina www.leopoldina.org

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Main research interests

Karl Deisseroth was one of the founders of optogenetics and also developed the CLARITY method. Unimagined insights into the brain have been gained through the use of both methods. Deisseroth hopes that these will then lead to a greater understanding of neurological diseases.

Optogenetics is a combination of optics and genetics. Proteins that react to light (channelrhodopsin) like, for example, those that are found in green algae, are introduced into nerve cells with the aid of a virus. The proteins act like a light switch by which the nerve cells in the brain can be externally controlled. Deisseroth was able to demonstrate his method on living animals. His team used viruses to implant the blueprint for the gene channelrhodopsin-2 in the brains of mice. When exposed to a certain light, the switch opened an ionic channel and the nerve cells fired signals. For the first time, researchers were thus able to selectively turn nerve cells on and off.

In the case of the mice, neurons that utilize dopamine could be turned on and off, which meant that the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease could possibly be palliated. Deisseroth hopes that his method will lead to a better understanding of neurological diseases like depression, anxiety disorders and Parkinson’s disease. What is more, he has been able to gain new insights into motivation, aggression and addiction. In the meantime, working groups all over the world are doing research using the optogenetic method.

The second method developed by Deisseroth is called the CLARITY method (Clear Lipid-exchanged Anatomically Rigid/immunostaining-compatible Tissue hydrogel). The team headed by Karl Deisseroth has succeeded in making the brain “transparent”. Brain tissue is immersed in a hydrogel and the lipids are dissolved out. What remains is a realistic, transparent brain-hydrogel hybrid. This allows post-mortem tissue to be investigated in its anatomic structure. In this way an entire brain of a mouse with all its nerve connections and cellular details can be made transparent. The method also has implications for cancer research.

In addition to his work in the lab, Karl Deisseroth continues practicing psychiatry. He treats patients with severe therapy-resistant depression and autism. His research is primarily undertaken for the benefit of his patients. He seeks to identify the neural networks that are impaired by psychiatric diseases. For this he plans on combining the optogenetic and CLARITY methods in the future.

Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina www.leopoldina.org

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