Researcher's Profile

Research interests: 

• Analysis of the structure/function relationship
• Trafficking behavior and clinical significance of neurotransmitter transporters
• G-Protein coupled receptors and associated proteins
• Psychopharmacology
• Cocaine, Amphetamine and Congeners
• Addiction

Career highlights:

Further Professional Activities:

• Since 2018 PI, doc.funds "Neuroscience" funded by the Austrian Science Foundation/FWF
• Since 2016 PI, WWTF "Imaging the functional and molecular impact of Poly-unsaturated fatty acids on dopamine-dependent cognitive functions"
• Since 2008 Speaker of the Special Research Programme SFB35, funded by the Austrian Science Foundation/FWF - Further information: sfb35.at
• Director of the Curriculum of Dentistry at the Medical University Vienna (2006 - 2011)

Activities and Positions within the Scientific Community (Memberships):

• Austrian and German Societies for Pharmacology and Toxicology
• Austrian and American Societies for Neuroscience
• American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Reviewer for the following Journals (selection):

• J. Biol. Chem.
• J. Neurosci.
• J. Neurochem.
• Mol. Biol. Cell.
• Biological Psychiatry
• Annals of Neurology
• J. Fluorescence
• Biophysical Journal

Editorial Boards:

• Neurochemical Research

Organization of Congresses:

• Member of the Local Organizing Committee for the Joint Meeting of the International and European Societies for Neurochemistry, Innsbruck, July, 2004
• Organizer, Annual Symposia of SFB35, Vienna, 2008 - 2018

Ongoing MolTag research projects as supervisor:

• Oliver John BELLEZA: Pharmacological characterization of fluorescent/optical probes for imaging neurotransmitter transporters
• Nina KASTNER: Diffusion Barriers and spatiotemporal organization of the serotonin transporter in the plasma membrane in relation to its oligomeric state

Ongoing projects as co-supervisor:

• Viktor SAVIC: Photochemically Susceptible PIP-Analogs for the Investigation of Peptide Assemblies

Completed projects as supervisor:

• Thomas STEINKELLNER: Amphetamine action at dopamine and serotonin transporters is modulated by aCaMKII; finished 12/2013
• Santosh K. VENKATESAN: LRET-based distance measurements in a bacterial homolog to mammalian glutamate transporter GltPh, finished 02/2016
• Kusumika SAHA: LRET-based distance measurements in the mammalian glutamate transporter EAAC1; finished 02/2016
• Felix MAYER: Characterization of mephedrone and its bioactive metabolites, finished 04/2017
• Kumaresan JAYAMARAN: Oligomerization of human dopamine transporter (hDAT), finished 07/2018
• Marco NIELLO: Pharmacological characterization and selectivity profile of different synthetic cathinones among monoamine transporters, finished 12/201
• Ralph GRADISCH: The energy coupling in the human serotonin transporter; finished 10/2023

Completed projects as co-supervisor:

• Florian VOGEL: GABA_A receptors - functional and pharmacological studies, finished 11/2023
• Katharina SCHLÖGL: Development of a Platform of Photoswitchable Monoamine Transporter Ligands; finished 09/2023
• Jasmin MORANDELL: Illuminating the Role of Cul3 in Autism Spectrum Disorder Pathogenesis, finished 08/2020
  
• Daniela CINTULOVA: Synthesis and biological profiling of bioactive molecules for the investigation of monoamine transporters, finished 12/2019
• Konstantina BAMPALI: Structural basis of allosteric GABA_A receptor modulation, finished 10/2019
• Eva HELLSBERG: Computational studies of molecular interactions in the human dopamine and serotonin transporters, finished 09/2019
• Dominik DREIER: Optically Switchable Serotonin Transporter Ligands, finished 08/2018
• Andreas JURIK: Comparative Modeling Studies for Profiling of the GABA Transporter System, finished 05/2015
• Amir SEDDIK: Substrate Selectivity Profiling of Monoamine transporters, finished 07/2015