Prof. Giovanni Marsicano NeuroCentre Magendie, Bordeaux, France

Giovanni Marsicano, Italian, is veterinarian by formation, but he was very soon fascinated by laboratory research rather than medical practice (if your pets have a problem, do not ask him!). After working some years in Italy on different subjects such as stem cells in farm animals or genetic models of... read morexenotransplantation, in 1997 he moved to Germany (Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatrie, Munich) and turned his scientific interests to neurosciences, and in particular on the study of the physiological ad pathophysiological roles of cannabinoid CB1 receptors in the brain. In 2006, Giovanni Marsicano established his independent group at the NeuroCentre Magendie in Bordeaux (France), where he keeps on his work enthusiastically dedicated to the dissection of the roles of CB1 receptors in different cellular and subcellular locations in the brain. Using conditional mutagenesis approaches, he worked on the differential physiological and behavioral roles of CB1 receptors on brain inhibitory and excitatory neurons, and, more recently, on brain mitochondrial membranes and on astrocytes. The aim of his work is to contribute understanding the mechanisms of behavior, using the CB1 receptors as “tools” to penetrate the complexity of brain functions.