image: Drs. Anant Jain (left) and Ryohei Yasuda (right).
Credit: MPFI
The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience will establish its first International Partner Group in India. Dr. Anant Jain, a former MPFI scientist in the lab of Dr. Ryohei Yasuda, will begin his own research group at CHINTA (Centres for High Impact Neuroscience and Translational Applications), TCG Centres for Research Education Science and Technology (CREST).
“I am thrilled to head the Max Planck Partner Group, which will create a formal channel of collaboration between my new group and the experts at MPFI. This partnership will help launch my research program in India,” says Dr. Jain.
The Max Planck Partner Group program aims to support emerging scientists while building international collaborations with countries interested in strengthening their research. The program is aimed at talented junior researchers who have previously worked at a Max Planck Institute and enables them to continue their work while establishing a new research group abroad. There are more than 70 Max Planck Partner Groups worldwide.
Dr. Jain’s research will focus on mechanisms that maintain brain stability. These mechanisms, known as homeostatic plasticity, compensate for rapid changes during learning to maintain brain activity within a range required for brain health. “These changes are critical to rebalance our brain circuits and maintain the ability to keep learning throughout life,” explains Dr Jain. “We have a limited understanding of how homeostatic mechanisms work in the context of learning, and hope to provide insights into this.” Jain’s research will also use cellular models of autism to investigate how homeostatic processes work differently in people with autism. Children with autism have a much higher incidence of epileptic seizures, which are a hallmark of homeostatic failure.
Critical to Jain’s work is the development of novel biosensors to see homeostatic mechanisms as they function. This biotechnology innovation is one area that will be aided by his partnership with MPFI, home to two world experts in biosensor development, Dr. Ryohei Yasuda and Dr. Lin Tian.
Dr. Yasuda describes his enthusiasm for the partnership, “I am excited to support and celebrate Anant as he launches his own research program addressing critical unanswered questions of brain function. Given his scientific talent and accomplishments, and with the continued support from MPFI through the Max Planck Partnership program, he will be able to significantly impact the understanding of altered plasticity in autism and will expand cutting-edge neuroscience research in India.”
TCG CREST was founded in 2020 by private equity firm The Chatterjee Group. The institute focuses on creating a global scientific collaboration to facilitate fundamental research. Located in Kolkata, India, the organization also provides graduate and postgraduate education programs as well as executive education programs. In addition to neuroscience, TCG CREST focuses on AI, sustainable energy, and quantum engineering.
Dr. Jain expressed his hope for a growing relationship between the institutes, “I look forward to exposing my trainees to the cutting-edge research at MPFI and introducing MPFI scientists to CHINTA, TCG CREST. I hope this partnership starts a lasting and productive scientific and training collaboration between the institutes.”
About the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI), a not-for-profit research organization, is part of the world-renowned Max Planck Society, Germany’s most successful research organization with over 80 institutes worldwide. Since its establishment, 31 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists, including six in the last four years alone. As its first U.S. institution, MPFI provides exceptional neuroscientists from around the world with the resources and technology to answer fundamental questions about brain development and function. MPFI researchers employ a curiosity-driven approach to science to develop new technologies that make groundbreaking scientific discoveries possible. For more information, visit https://mpfi.org/.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Katie Edwards, Head of Communication
Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
katie.edwards@mpfi.org | +1 (561) 679-7395 | @MPFNeuro