Zoom-In on Champalimaud: Terufumi Fujiwara

I received my Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan, and joined Eugenia Chiappe's lab as a postdoc in 2013. I am studying how the brain monitors and controls walking movements by combining patch-clamp electrophysiology and head-fixed behaviour in the fruit fly animal model. I will be moving back to Japan and starting my lab at Riken in November 2022! 

Ana Luísa Correia joined the CF in December 2021. Prior to that, she worked for several years at the Basel University Hospital in Switzerland. During her stay there, she made breakthrough discoveries with potentially important therapeutic implications. She intends to pursue this line of work at the CF.

Learning new motor skills is a critical aspect of our lives. From playing the piano to riding a bike, it would be difficult to imagine life without it. But how does the brain do it? A new study published in the scientific journal Science Advances sheds light on a newly discovered brain circuit that may endow us with this remarkable ability.

The new season of Zoom-In is here! Now in a written format, but with the same goal of giving you a sneak-peek into the lives of the people that make up our community.

This time, John Lee, a member of our Communication, Events & Outreach Team, tells us why bad jokes are the best jokes and reveals his ‘tnelat neddih’... 

Up until the discovery of the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, in 1982, diseases of the stomach were thought to be due to excess gastric acidity. Today, we know that the vast majority of stomach cancers are caused by a sustained infection by Helicobacter, and that eradicating it is enough to drastically reduce stomach cancer risk. However, it is less known that, even after the bacteria’s eradication, unhealthy diets can promote the development of gastric cancers. And what almost nobody knows is that one of the main risk factors for stomach cancer is… salt.

But there’s more! During the interview, they also told us about great places to visit, cool music, fascinating podcasts and other discoveries they made this year. We couldn’t fit everything in the final cut, so we’ve listed their top recommendations below.

To view all 2021 individual episodes, tune in to the Zoom-In on Champalimaud YouTube playlist.

Smell has the power to transport us across time and space. It could be the sweet fragrance of jasmine, or the musty scent of algae. Suddenly, you are back at your childhood home, or under the burning sun of a distant shore.

This association between smells and places seems to be a deeply embedded aspect of human cognition. But how are the two linked in the brain? A study published today (December 22nd) in the scientific journal Nature presents a potential explanation.

A series of landmark studies by Henrique Veiga-Fernandes, Director of the Champalimaud Cancer Research Programme, led to the formation of LiMM Therapeutics in 2018. The young company is geared towards generating first-in-class therapeutic products for cancer, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases. 

The Ocean Campus will involve the redevelopment of a total of 64 hectares, in Lisbon and Oeiras. With an investment of 300 million euros, from mostly private funds, the campus will create multifunctional and environmentally sustainable spaces and teaching units, and will promote technological development and innovative research.

Once in a while, we hear that the Physics world is overjoyed with the discovery of a new elementary particle, often decades after theoretical models have predicted its existence. But Neuroscience news has a different stroke, with novel insight mainly emerging through experiments. Can theoretical approaches also provide testable predictions about how the brain works?