International expertise gathers at RCSI

2003

YEAR BOOK

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Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Jochen Prehn

International expertise gathers at RCSI

Professor Jochen Prehn

An international authority on single-cell analysis and molecular control of nerve cell death has been appointed Professor of Physiology at RCSI. The appointment of Professor Prehn as a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Fellow and Research Professor represents a significant increment in achieving critical mass in biomedical research. RCSI has identified genomics and proteomics as they apply to human disease as a major institutional theme. To that end, it has established a Proteomics Core and a Mass Spectrometry facility. Professor Prehn's research expertise perfectly supplements RCSI's ongoing genomics and proteomics initiatives, and there will be a high degree of synergy both for research and graduate and postgraduate training.

College Commitment
He heads up a team of talented researchers with the assistance of the Research Professorship and the commitment of the College that includes molecular physiologists, biophysicists, and physicists with high levels of experience in both academia and biotech industry.

Bringing Change
Professor Prehn employs advanced live cell imaging techniques and functional single-cell proteomics approaches such as fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis to characterise and identify protein dynamics and protein-protein-interactions in real-time during cell death (apoptosis). A leading researcher in the field, he demonstrated that apoptosis is a highly efficient, co-ordinated process triggered by the formation of large multiprotein complexes within cells. His findings that individual cells frequently, if not always, respond in an 'all-or-none' fashion, initiated a change of mind in the field.

In an integrated research approach, Professor Prehn combines live cell multiparameter imaging and functional single-cell proteomics with functional genomics. He has a strong expertise in microarray technology and bioinformatics, and has analysed changes in the neuronal transcriptome during hypoxia, ischemia, and ER stress.

Global Recognition
Professor Prehn joins RCSI from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. A world-leading expert in his field, he has received significant and competitive funding and has an impressive record of publications in high-ranking scientific journals. He has been an invited speaker at international scientific meetings, including the Gordon Research Conference, NIH meetings and symposia of the MaxPlanck-Society. He is an external reviewer for international funding organisations.

Contact: Professor Jochen Prehn, Professor of Physiology, RCSI,
126 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2;
Tel: +353 1 402 2261; E-mail: [email protected] ; Web: www.rcsi.ie