Hannah Monyer

Last updated
Prof. Dr. Hannah Monyer
Born (1957-10-03) 3 October 1957 (age 66)
Laslea, Romania
Alma mater University of Heidelberg
Awards Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
Scientific career
Fields Neurobiology
Institutions University of Heidelberg

Hannah Monyer (born 3 October 1957 in Laslea, Romania) is a Romanian-born (Transylvanian Saxon) German neurobiologist and, since 1999, [1] she has been Director of the Department of Clinical Neurology at the University Hospital in Heidelberg. [2] In 2004 she was awarded the 1.55 million euro Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. [3] She received the Philip Morris Research Prize—described by Bio-pro as "one of the most prestigious science awards in Germany"—in 2006. [4] In 2010, the European Research Council awarded her a total of 1.87 million euros for her research. [5]

Her research has examined the composition of NMDA receptors and their expression patterns in brain cell populations. [3] NMDA receptors are relevant to synaptic plasticity and ultimately to the brain's capacity to remember and learn. [3] She has also shown that there are different kinds of glutamate receptor, studied various neurological disorders, and the modulation of gamma-Aminobutyric acid interneurones in a genetic paradigm. [3] She developed the new techniques in molecular analysis that underlie her work. [3]

Monyer is an associate editor of Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, published by the University of Heidelberg, [6] and a member of the Senate of the Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen ((in German) "German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases".) [7]

After receiving her MD in 1983, Monyer did postdoctoral work at Stanford University Medical Centre. [1] She returned to Heidelberg in 1989, [7] where she received a Schilling endowment professorship before setting up her own research group. [4]

The Siebenbürgische Zeitung ((in German) "Transylvanian Newspaper") describes her as "multilingual and highly musical", mentioning her proficiency with the piano and her ability to speak to most of her multinational employees in their own language. [8]

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The N-methyl-D-aspartatereceptor (also known as the NMDA receptor or NMDAR), is a glutamate receptor and predominantly Ca2+ ion channel found in neurons. The NMDA receptor is one of three types of ionotropic glutamate receptors, the other two being AMPA and kainate receptors. Depending on its subunit composition, its ligands are glutamate and glycine (or D-serine). However, the binding of the ligands is typically not sufficient to open the channel as it may be blocked by Mg2+ ions which are only removed when the neuron is sufficiently depolarized. Thus, the channel acts as a "coincidence detector" and only once both of these conditions are met, the channel opens and it allows positively charged ions (cations) to flow through the cell membrane. The NMDA receptor is thought to be very important for controlling synaptic plasticity and mediating learning and memory functions.

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References

  1. 1 2 Hannah Monyer Archived 2008-02-17 at the Wayback Machine , Crossroads in Biology, received 27 May 2010.
  2. Why we remember and forget Archived 2012-03-01 at the Wayback Machine , European Molecular Biology Laboratory, retrieved 27 May 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Hannah Monyer receives Leibniz Prize Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine , University of Heidelberg, retrieved 27 May 2010.
  4. 1 2 Phillip Morris Research Prize Archived 2012-02-27 at the Wayback Machine , Biopro, retrieved 27 May 2010.
  5. Interdisciplinary Center for Neuroscience, Heidelberg University, retrieved 27 May 2010.
  6. Profile of Hannah Monyer Archived 2012-08-14 at the Wayback Machine , Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, retrieved 27 May 2010.
  7. 1 2 DZNE Archived 2012-02-27 at the Wayback Machine , The Senate of the DZNE, retrieved 27 May 2010.
  8. Interview with Hannah Monyer, (in German) Siebenbürgische Zeitung, retrieved 27 May 2010.