GATTO LAB Sensorimotor Adaptation
Graziana Gatto
I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Naples in 2008 and my doctorate degree at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Munich, in the laboratory of Prof. Rüdiger Klein. I am interested in the molecular and circuit changes driving the adaptation of sensorimotor responses in physiological and disease states.
Current lab members
Ines Klein (Postdoc)
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I completed my undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Würzburg and in Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Cologne. During my PhD in Prof. Helmar Lehmann`s laboratory I gained expertise in peripheral neuropathies, specializing on glia, nerve injury, drug- and inflammatory-induced peripheral neuropathies. Now, I want to extend my knowledge to the central nervous system and bring together the interactions between central and peripheral nervous system.
Felix Kohle (Clinician Postdoc)
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I studied Medicine in Bochum and Oviedo before graduating in 2018. My interest in neuroscience was sparked during my doctoral thesis which focused on an autoimmune neuropathy model. Subsequently, I started my residency in Neurology in Cologne and worked as a clinical-scientist on improving the functional outcome in neuropathies under the guidance of Helmar Lehmann.
In the Gatto Lab, I will now focus on sensorimotor deficits occurring in diabetic neuropathy and their underlying neuronal circuits in both the spinal cord and PNS.
Ebru Ozer Yildiz (Postdoc)
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I studied Biology at Çanakkale University in Turkey before earning my Master’s degree at the Aziz Sancar Institute of Experimental Medicine, Istanbul University. During my Master’s, I worked on Alzheimer’s disease, which introduced me to the field of neuroscience and sparked my interest in working alongside neuroscientists and clinicians. This led me to pursue a PhD in neuroscience in the Kononenko’s lab at the University of Cologne. I am now continuing my research and expanding my expertise in the Gatto Lab, where I am excited to explore new approaches to understanding neural mechanisms and contribute to ongoing projects in the lab.
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Sandrina Maçãs (PhD Student)
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In 2015 I graduated in Biochemistry at the University of Beira Interior (Portugal). As a Marie Curie fellow, I worked one year in the project R’Birth (Lund, Sweden) and two years on Parkinson’s disease at the Training4CRM project (Madrid, Spain). During my path, I found my passion for neuroscience and with that, the curiosity to find out more about how molecules and circuits function in the brain to control body movement.
Quinn Silverman (PhD student)
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After receiving my degree from UCSD in Neuroscience and Physiology in 2018, I worked at the Salk Institute in the Goulding Lab. Under the guidance of Martyn Goulding and Graziana Gatto I pioneered a project developing an atlas of premotor neurons in the mouse spinal cord. Falling in love with motor systems and spinal cord research I wanted to continue along this path. Now in the Gatto Lab I am dissecting the circuitry of proprioception and its implications in motor control while exploring the other side of the globe.
Carla Laumann (Medical student, MD/PhD)
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I started studying medicine at the University of Cologne in 2020. At the Gatto Lab I’m doing my medical doctor about the nursing driven anatomical and functional changes in peripheral and central circuits. I was always interested in neuroscience and that interest got promoted during my first science project in the neurological department. Additionally, I have strong interest in gynecology, which aligns perfectly with the focus of my project.
Anna Becker (Medical student, MD/PhD)
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When I studied anatomy in university, I discovered my fascination and interest in the spinal cord. Its wiring and projections within itself, to the brain, and the periphery stands as an ever complex topic to
explore. After discovering the Gatto lab, my interest was only fueled and I decided to do a doctoral thesis for a year with them. I will be working on motor control and expanding my knowledge of neuroscience beyond what is taught in classrooms in universities.