Name: Partner 4: National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland)

Address: University Rd, Galway, Ireland

Link: http://www.nuigalway.ie/

Summary: The National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) takes its beginning in 1845, the year Queen’s College Galway was founded. Following construction of the iconic Quadrangle building, the University opened its doors four years later to the first cohort of just 68 students.

NUI Galway has grown massively in size and reputation over the past 175 years, with a student population today of over 18,000. According to QS World University Rankings, we are ranked 259 in the world and have been increasing our global reach and reputation over the past decade.

Embryonic and larval stages of clawed toads (Xenopus laevis): Dr. Gerhard Schlosser is a principle contributing researcher from NUI Galway, Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI).

His research team is focused on the development and evolution of the vertebrate nervous system and sense organs. \"One major focus of our research are cranial placodes, the precursors of most ganglia and sense organs in the vertebrate head. We mainly use the clawed toad Xenopus laevis as a model organism to study their development. In addition, we try to elucidate evolutionary origins and modifications of cranial sense organs by comparison with other chordates. In previous studies we cloned the Xenopus Eya1 gene and pro­vided the first de­tailed descrip­tion and fatemap of pla­c­ode development in Xenopus. We also did the first comprehensive functional anal­y­ses of upstream regulators of Eya1 and Six1 in Xenopus placodes and analysed the role of Eya1 and Six1 in regulating neuro­gene­sis in placodes. In recent studies, we used RNA-Seq of the placodal transcriptome after injection of hormone-inducible constructs of Eya1 and Six1 to identify putative Eya1 and Six1 target genes. We currently study the function of these target genes and of Eya1 protein interaction partners in placode development. We also pursue broader questions of sensory development and evolution as well as more general theoretical problems concerning the evolution of developmental processes.\"

In the frames of NEUcrest project, Dr. Schlosser will be hosting the young researchers ESR7 and ESR8 who will be conducting experiments on embryonic and larval stages of Xenopus laevis.

Click here for research team details