Mathias has always been fascinated by neuronal networks, leading him to study biology and neuroscience for his BSc and MSc. During his MSc thesis on information transfer in cultured neural networks, he realized how limited our capabilities to interface with neurons were, leading him to design and characterize light-gated proteins for neuronal activity control during his PhD with Ofer Yizhar. Equipped with the extended optogenetic toolbox he returned to study information transfer between distant brain areas in the lab of Andreas Lüthi. First as EMBO and then as Marie Curie Individual fellow. Since 2023, Mathias is leading the research project valence in decision-making as Ambizione fellow.

Aside from his fascination with neuronal networks, Mathias likes tinkering with proteins, light, and electronics to study brain function. He is leading a research project that is examining the role of amygdala activity on cortical processing during value assignment and decision-making. This project specifically looks at the long-range connections between the basolateral amygdala and prefrontal cortex in mice.

• PhD in Neuroscience, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
• MSc in Systemic Neuroscience, LMU Munich, Germany
• BSc in Biology, University of Constance, Germany

Stephen grew up near Vancouver in BC, Canada and studied Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University. He then went on to do a PhD in Experimental Medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. During his PhD he studied the molecular mechanisms that generate a diverse antibody repertoire during the immune response.

Wanting to switch gears after his PhD, Stephen moved to the lab of Susan Gasser to study chromatin regulation in C. elegans. He was awarded an EMBO Long Term Fellowship in 2018 to pursue his postdoctoral work with Prof. Gasser.

Stephen is interested in understanding how chromatin is actively regulated during development and in differentiated tissues. In the Grosshans lab he is using the C. elegans developmental oscillator as a model system to study how dynamic changes to chromatin can regulate rhythmic transcription.

• PhD in Experimental Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• BSc in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada