Boris Valery Zemelman

Boris Valery Zemelman (born September 10, 1967) is an American neuroscientist of Russian origin, a founder of a new science branch called Optogenetics.

Personal life

Boris Zemelman, at the age of ten, immigrated to the United States with his parents Valery and Evelina Zemelman, and lived in Wilton, Connecticut. He graduated from Wilton High School, and for his excellent academic performance was awarded Charles G. Mortimer Scholarships.^[1]

He studied Biochemistry at Stanford University, where he received his Doctorate with a dissertation on purification and characterization of a novel mammalian recombinase under professor I. Robert Lehman.^[2]

He is now an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at The Center for Learning and Memory at the University of Texas at Austin.^[3] In the past, he was a guest researcher at the Dudman Lab at The Janelia Farm Research Campus Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Research

After completing his dissertation, Zemelman began working in the laboratory of James Rothman on SNARE proteins and their influence on the intracellular membrane fusion.^[4]

Subsequently, Zemelman worked jointly with Gero Miesenböck to perform seminal experiments in 2002 and 2003 on selective stimulation of neurons using light.^[5][6][7][8] These experiments are now regarded as basic principles of neuroscience research branch of Optogenetics, improved by Karl Deisseroth in 2005.^[9][10] Zemelman and Miesenböck set up first experiments in cultured neurons using Drosophila rhodopsin arrestin and G-protein alpha to control the activity of the neuron. Then they developed heterologous ion channels as switches for controlling neurons with optical and pharmacological stimuli. These studies has led to these scientists being regarded as candidates for the Nobel Prize in 2013. ^[11]

Currently, Zemelman conducts research on the role of the hippocampus in the formation of memory, including diseases such as Alzheimer's. In 2015, Boris Zemelman and his colleagues received three grants totaling $4 million, to develop unique techniques for imaging and manipulating the activity of neurons in the brain. The research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), president Barack Obama's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative launched in 2014.^{[12] [13]}

References

1. Gordon E. Fairclough: Wilton students reap awards for excellence, in: The Hour vom 11. Juni 1985, S. 9f. auf Google News Archivsuche
2. "'Purification and characterization of a novel mammalian recombinase'". WorldCat. March 3, 1997. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
3. "'Boris Zemelman'". UT Texas. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
4. "'Purification and characterization of a novel mammalian recombinase'". Cellpress. March 20, 1998. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
5. "Selective Photostimulation of Genetically Charged Neurons". Cell. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
6. "Photochemical gating of heterologous ion channels: Remote control over genetically designated populations of neurons". Pnas. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
7. "Bio-synthetic photostimulators and methods of use". USPTO. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
8. "Heterologous stimulus-gated ion channels and methods of using same". PATF USPTO. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
9. "'Patents by inventor Boris V. Zemelman'". Justia. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
10. "'Selective Photostimulation of Genetically Charged Neurons'". Justia. January 3, 2002. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
11. "'2013 Nobel Prize Predictions'". Understanding Animal Research. September 17, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
12. "UT Austin Receives $4M to Develop Techniques for Brain Imaging & Manipulation'". UT News. October 2, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
13. "'Three brain research teams awarded $4 million from BRAIN Initiative'". The Daily Texan. October 7, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2015.