Florian has moved to Cambridge, UK, where he is now a group leader at the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science in the Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Cambridge.
The Merkle laboratory will study the molecular and cellular basis of human disease, in particular obesity and the sleep disorder narcolepsy. Obesity and narcolepsy are both associated with the aberrant function of specific neuron types in the hypothalamus, an evolutionarily ancient brain region that regulates essential physiological and behavioral processes. Florian's lab will use a range of cutting edge techniques to elucidate disease mechanisms including directed differentiation of human stem cells, genome engineering, optogenetics, high content imaging, transcriptomics, and animal models.
Congratulations Florian!