The Functional Genomics department studies the presynaptic nerve terminal in health and disease.
We study presynaptic mechanisms that adjust synaptic transmission (presynaptic plasticity), the trafficking & fusion of neuropeptide vesicles (dense core vesicles) and presynaptic mechanisms of degeneration.
We love to share our work & insights with society. We have produced short films on brain myths and the Virtual Brain Experience, that allows you to see the brain from within. We also collaborate with the Museumnacht and explain our science to lay people, school children, patients & their caretakers and clinicians.
The Functional Genomics (FGA) department was established in 2001 when Matthijs Verhage moved in from Utrecht with a small team.
FGA is part of the Human Genetics Department of Amsterdam UMC, as well as the Life Sciences faculty of the VU University. Furthermore, FGA is embedded in Amsterdam Neuroscience.
The existing HIV medication Efavirenz may potentially also be effective for Alzheimer’s patients by lowering cholesterol in the brain. A clinical trial to test this led by Dr. Rik van der Kant, team leader at the Dementia Discovery, started in fall 2024 and now the first patient has completed treatment. Participants are still being recruited.
Ruud Toonen has officially delivered his inaugural lecture as Professor of Neuroscience and Knowledge Utilization at VU Amsterdam. His lecture, held on January 31, 2025, was part of the symposium Perspectives on Knowledge Utilization in Life Sciences at VU Amsterdam.
Alzheimer Nederland has awarded Jan van Weering a Major Award to investigate how neurotrophic signaling and mitochondrial function can be modulated to restore neuronal network function in neurons with tau pathology.
