MPI AGE seminar: "Targeting Homeostatic Networks to Reverse Neurological Dysfunction"

About Dr. Costa-Mattioli's talk:

Life depends on the capacity of cells to withstand stress, repair damage, and maintain functional balance —homeostasis. In the brain, when that balance erodes, the consequences are far-reaching: it is the common biological foundation of most chronic diseases, and its progressive deterioration underlies aging itself. Yet the field has largely studied these conditions in isolation: one gene, one pathway, one disease at a time.
Here, I argue for a disease-agnostic alternative, asking the more fundamental question of what sustains homeostasis and resilience in the first place. I will present some of the most recent work from my lab demonstrating that when the homeostatic machinery is chronically dysregulated, through specific genetic variants, aging, or neurodegeneration; cognitive resilience and brain function collapse. Crucially, this state is not fixed. Single molecular interventions can act as a homeostasis-resetter, reawakening the brain's intrinsic capacity to adapt and restoring brain function across neurological conditions. Finally, I will propose a new discovery engine aimed at targeting resilience itself, rather than chasing disease-specific mechanisms, as the foundation for the next generation of brain medicines.

This event is aimed at a specialist audience.