Simon Jacob’s focus will be on neuronal circuit reorganization after brain injury. He and his team use chronic brain implants (brain-computer-interfaces) with single-neuron resolution in stroke patients to explore the contributions of individual neurons and large neuronal populations, particularly to cognitive functions. These signatures are then compared across brain areas and across time as the patients recover from the stroke. Jacob and his team combine this human-centered research with animal experiments that allow deeper investigation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms. “Our longer-term hope is that we will eventually be able to engineer these neuronal patterns to promote functional recovery from brain injury”, says Jacob.

Jacob especially looks forward to the interdisciplinarity in SyNergy, allowing him to collaborate with colleagues from clinical medicine and basic science. “Compared to other disciplines in medicine, there are not many breakthroughs for patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders. Translational (bench-to-bedside) work is needed more than ever in neuroscience and neuromedicine,” concludes Jacob.