Interested in how astrocytes influence brain states and contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders, Laurence Vince Riesselmann hopes to explore how these cells shape neuronal network activity.
Laurence holds a master’s degree in Molecular Biomedicine and conducted his thesis research at the Center for Translational Neuromedicine, where he investigated neuromodulator and ion homeostasis across sleep and disease conditions using in vivo approaches. He continued work in the lab as a research assistant after completing his thesis and developed a particular interest in how astrocyte–neuron interactions affect circuit dynamics and metabolic balance in the brain.
The structure of the NAD PhD programme attracted him as an opportunity to approach these questions from multiple experimental perspectives before defining a project:
“My previous research experience has shown me that good science rarely comes from a single idea or technique alone. It emerges through discussion, critical feedback and collaboration. I applied to the programme because it gives a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with different researchers, learn how they approach problems and then design a project grounded in both theory and experiment,” Laurence explains.
During his first rotation in the Berg Lab at the University of Copenhagen, Laurence will work with tissue clearing and light-sheet imaging and perform the associated analyses.
Outside the lab, Laurence enjoys cooking and kitesurfing.