Imme van der Knaap

Short CV

With a background in Biology, I am broadly fascinated by how cellular processes shape brain function. My first MSc research project focused on the use of genetically encoded biosensors to study neuronal activity in dissociated hippocampal cultures after exposure to Aβ42 oligomers, a peptide linked to Alzheimer’s disease. I then moved to New York for an internship at Weill Cornell Medicine, where I developed a passion for electrophysiology. There, I used patch-clamp recordings to measure 1) spontaneous inhibitory activity in somatostatin-expressing interneurons and 2) intrinsic properties of pyramidal neurons in a mouse model carrying a CaV1.2 gain-of-function mutation associated with neurodevelopmental defects. During my PhD, I aim to use electrophysiology to probe neuronal energetic constraints under metabolically demanding conditions and investigate how metabolic defects contribute to neuronal vulnerability in sporadic frontotemporal dementia.

Project Description

“Energetic demands of human neurons and metabolic vulnerability in frontotemporal dementia”