Cristina Boers Escuder

During my Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, I first became interested in how glial cells modulate synaptic plasticity during my time at the lab of Prof. JA Esteban. After that I obtained my Master’s in Neuroscience at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where I continued to specialize in neuron-glia interactions at the lab of Dr. Maarten Kole, studying how myelin influences inhibitory circuits in the hippocampus using electrophysiology and holographic optogenetics, and the lab of Dr. Mark Verheijen, where I studied how astrocytes influence memory and engrams.

To further pursue my interest in astrocytic modulation of synapses, I joined the Glial Plasticity lab of Dr. Mark Verheijen and Prof. Guus Smit at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where I explore how astrocytic functional and structural plasticity controls synaptic function and its alterations in the context of Alzheimer’s disease. For this purpose, I use CRISPR-Cas9 technology, behavioral analysis and in-vivo tagging of engram synapses in combination with proteomics and live-cell imaging techniques.

Find me on LinkedIN