Jeroen Pasterkamp - Biography#

Jeroen is a prominent developmental and translational neuroscientist, and a world leader in his field. He publishes in renowned journals (e.g. Cell, Neuron, Nature) and has been awarded prestigious grants (e.g. VENI-VIDI-VICI). During his career, Jeroen has focused on understanding how neural circuits develop and change after injury or during disease. At every stage of his career, Jeroen has contributed major novel scientific concepts to the field. For example, by showing that developmental guidance cues can actively inhibit regrowth of adult injured nerves (PhD), unveiling novel ligand-receptors important for nerve growth and guidance (postdoc and PI), and developing unique mouse and human brain organoid models for neurological diseases (PI). Further, he was one of the first to apply brain organoids to neurobiological questions in the Netherlands and remains a frontrunner in this area in his field, especially in the area of neuromuscular connectivity and disease. Recognizing the potential of human in vitro models for questions related to connectivity, he founded the MIND research facility, providing many (inter)national colleagues access to brain organoid technology. He is the recipient of a prestigious Gravitation Award and recently co-led the application for a National Growth Fund grant (125 mEUR; funding pending minor revision). He is a regular (keynote) speaker at and organizer of prestigious conferences (e.g. EMBO, CSH, KNAW, AXON, Utrecht BRAIN conference), and is spearheading different national and European research initiatives focused on neural circuit development and disease (e.g. ZonMW, Horizon Europe). He is an influential (inter)national faculty member who trains neuroscience students and postdocs at different levels in neural circuit biology and disease (he has supervised 41 PhD students and 11 postdocs, 6 of which are currently running a research group). He leads both a major translational neuroscience department (Dept. Translational Neuroscience) and one of the largest neuroscience institutes in the Netherlands (UMC Utrecht Brain Center), and contributes to science policy and outreach at different levels (e.g. by organizing outreach events with New Scientist). Overall, he has a unique scientific profile, visible scientific and managerial qualities, knowledge, commitment and track record.