Heike Blockus, Ph.D.

K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award
Image
photo of Heike Blockus
Institution
Columbia University, New York City, NY

NINDS K99/R00 Awardee - January 2020

Heike Blockus is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Neuroscience at Columbia University. Under joint mentorship from Franck Polleux and Attila Losonczy, she studies how neurons switch their developmental state from axon and dendrite growth and guidance to forming synapses and postsynaptic targets. More specifically, she will test how axon guidance effectors Slit/Robo may have a role in circuit function and behavior, specifically spatial learning and memory in the hippocampus. She received her Ph.D. in neurodevelopment from Sorbonne Universités, her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in molecular biomedicine and chemical biology from the University of Bonn, and her Baccalaureate in biology, English, and music from Carl-Bosch-Gymnasium.