Group leader

Originally from Toronto, Canada, I pursued my doctoral research with Axel Borst at the Max-Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Munich, Germany. There I focused on dissecting the neural circuits guiding optic flow process in the Blowfly. As a postdoc I worked with Richard H. Masland at Harvard Medical School, then Botond Roska at the FMI in Basel dissecting the neural circuits of the retina that enable each cell-types to encode a different feature of the visual scene.

Postdoc

I am fascinated by the computations of the brain, how sensory signals are effectively parsed through neural circuits to give the appropriate response. Determining the detailed input-output functions of a neural circuit is my goal. Before I started studying the mysteries of the brain, I did a diploma in physics at the University of Leipzig, Germany, where I looked at how stochastic dynamical systems behave far from equilibrium. Putting theory into practice, I joined the lab of Tim Gollisch at the University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany, for my PhD, where I investigated the encoding of motion in the retina. Here, I found new mechanisms of how the brain can decode small stochastic eye movements from groups of retinal neurons that are sensitive to specific motion directions. The question how the visual information extracted by the retina is used in the rest of the brain, brought me to the lab of Karl Farrow. Here, I look at how the signals from identified retinal neurons are combined along the dendrites of a collicular neuron that triggers freezing responses to an approaching predator. Understanding how neurons combine their thousands of inputs to a single output is, among knowing how they are connected, one of the keys for understanding the brain.

Marie-Curie Post-Doctoral Fellow (2018–2020) see FeaGatSu 
FWO Senior Fellow (2020–2023)

Postdoc

I am from Barcelona and started my Neuroscience career during my master’s in biomedical sciences and then Neurosciences at the labs of Lluis Fuenemilla and Carles Sindreu, both at the University of Barcelona. There, I first studied memory generalization processes in humans and later circuits for memory retrieval in mice. In 2016 I started my PhD at Karl Farrow’s lab and developed an approach to study cell-type specific brain-wide networks using optogenetics and functional ultrasound imaging. This allowed me to reveal the downstream networks of the superior colliculus that mediate different innate orienting behaviors. Currently, I am starting to investigate the networks that are naturally driven by visual stimuli known to trigger innate defensive behaviors and the process of habituation to such behaviorally relevant stimuli.

FWO PhD Fellow (2017–2021); FWO Junior Postdoctoral Fellow (2022 - 2025).

Postdoc

I was born and raised on Vancouver Island, Canada where I obtained my BSc in Microbiology and Biochemistry at the University of Victoria. I then completed my PhD in Neuroscience in the lab of Gautam Awatramani where I studied circuitry and mechanisms involved in visual processing in the retina. This research made me curious to understand how the retinal signals are being integrated in higher order visual areas to drive behaviors. I joined the Farrow lab to study this process in the superior colliculus and investigate how visually evoked innate behaviours can be modulated across different life stages.

Postdoc 

I was born and raised in Italy, and I have always been intrigued by biology and in particular by animal behavior. During my BSc in Molecular Biology at the University of Padua I discovered a passion for the brain, that I pursued with a MSc in Neuroscience at the University of Trieste. There, I joined Davide Zoccolan’s Lab at SISSA to study visual object recognition. I then moved for my PhD to University College London in Sam Solomon’s Lab, where I investigated the functional properties of visual neurons in the mouse superior colliculus and how vision helps mice make instinctive behavioral choices. Fascinated by flexible perception and behavior I decided to join Tania Barkat’s lab at the University of Basel, where I characterized how neuronal responses along the auditory pathway are modulated by behavioral state. I then moved to Santiago Rompani’s Lab at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory to study multisensory integration in the visual thalamus. Wanting to deepen my understanding about how the brain uses sensory information for generating appropriate behaviors, I started a synergistic collaboration with Karl Farrow’s Lab at NERF, where I am currently investigating multisensory integration in the early visual system.

FWO postdoctoral fellow

MSc student

I was born in Leuven and lived there my entire life. Growing up here means that you see the IMEC tower on a regular basis and as a kid such a large and beautiful building really speaks to your imagination. You hear that real great things are being accomplished there and you are even proud that this facility is in your hometown. This is actually how I still feel. So I’m very happy and motivated to do my thesis there myself and contribute to the research being done at NERF.

I obtained my BSc degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the laboratory of biomolecular discovery & engineering in the research group of Joleen Masschelein at the KU Leuven. Now I’m obtaining my MSc degree from the KU Leuven at the Karl Farrow lab at NERF.

MSc student

I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt where my childhood passion for basic biology guided my academic journey. I earned a bachelor's degree in science from Cairo University's Faculty of Science where I studied Biotechnology and Biomolecular chemistry. Following that, I worked as a researcher at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and afterwards, had the opportunity to pursue a master's degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at KU Leuven. Currently, my focus lies in the field of neurobiology, where I intend to integrate my prior knowledge with new insights for any future endeavors.

MSc student

I am born and raised in Hasselt, Belgium. I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at KU Leuven. Currently, I am pursuing my Master’s degree. During my studies, my interests in neuroscience grew, particularly in its information processing mechanisms and how it controls our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This year, I am conducting my Master’s thesis at the Farrow lab, focusing on the evolution of the mammalian visual system. This project will enable us to gain insights into the visual perception and responses of two different species within their unique habitats.
 

MSc student

I study Biochemistry and Biotechnology at KU Leuven and join the Farrow lab for my MSc thesis where I will perform freely-moving mouse behavior experiments and analyze the gathered data to characterize the effects (or absence of effects) of inhibiting specific cell types in the superior colliculus.