Anne Schaefer elected as EMBO Member
Recognition for outstanding achievements in the life sciences
The European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) has elected Anne Schaefer, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Biology of Ageing, as a new member. She joins a community of leading life scientists in Europe and beyond. A total of 69 researchers were appointed as new members.
Schaefer's research focuses on the role of microglia, the brain's innate immune cells, in regulation of neuronal function and aging. Schaefer proposes that brain homeostasis relies on phenotypic matching between neurons and microglia, and that mismatch between functional states of these two cell types leads to inflammation and neurodegeneration. Schaefer also identified neuro-modulatory functions of microglia. Her most recent studies focus on microglia subpopulations that can act as suppressors of brain inflammation and can slow progression of neurodegenerative disorders.
"It is a great honor for me to have been elected as an EMBO member and to join this community of outstanding scientists," comments Schaefer.
About Anne Schaefer
Anne Schaefer comes from Offenbach near Frankfurt and studied medicine in Mainz and Berlin. In 2001, she went to the Rockefeller University in New York as a visiting student, and then returned to the Rockefeller University in 2004 as a postdoc in the laboratory of Nobel Prize winner Paul Greengard after completing her doctorate. In 2011, she started her own research group at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, where her innovative research was recognized within a few years with a tenured professorship and the Vice Chair of the Neuroscience Department. In May 2021 Schaefer joined the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing as director.
About EMBO
EMBO Members and Associate Members are more than 2000 researchers in Europe and around the world. New EMBO Members are elected annually. Election of EMBO Membership is recognition of research excellence and the outstanding achievements made by a life scientist.
