With a special interest in the molecular mechanisms underlying human brain development, Lisa Sophia van Gaalen is eager to start the pre-PhD year.
With a master’s degree in Neuroscience from the Netherlands, Lisa's interest in research grew through lab internships and hands-on experience. Here, she learned how to move beyond textbook knowledge and towards real scientific questions and challenges. The opportunity to independently pose interdisciplinary research questions and shape her own scientific journey is what led her to apply for the NAD PhD programme:
“I value the opportunity to explore and merge interdisciplinary neuroscience topics. In addition to the lab rotations, I like the possibility of having multiple supervisors from different disciplines, as I do not see myself focusing exclusively on a single field. I am interested in bridging research areas to combine expertise and eventually gain a deeper understanding of the brain. I believe impactful findings in neuroscience arise from interdisciplinary collaborations,” Lisa says.
Lisa takes special interest in the molecular mechanisms underlying human brain development and complex traits. Her interests span from fundamental cell biology to systems-level questions about how specific cell populations shape disease risk. She is particularly drawn to research that uses molecular and genetic approaches in human stem cell models to uncover new disease mechanisms. She will spend her first rotation in the Cilia Group at the University of Copenhagen, where she will learn to phenotype primary cilia in human hypothalamic stem cell cultures.
Running and CrossFit help Lisa clear her head for the scientific challenges to come, and travelling provides her with new inspiration and fresh perspectives.