Catherina Gwynne Becker

Head and shoulders of Catherina G. Becker
Becker in 2021
Born (1964-10-30) 30 October 1964
Marburg, West Germany
(now Germany)
NationalityGerman
Alma materUniversity of Bremen
Scientific career
FieldsRegenerative Neuroscience
InstitutionsTU Dresden, University of Edinburgh

Catherina Gwynne Becker (née Krüger) is an Alexander von Humboldt Professor at TU Dresden,[1] and was formerly Professor of Neural Development and Regeneration at the University of Edinburgh.[2]

Early life and education

Catherina Becker was born in Marburg, Germany in 1964. She was educated at the Kippenberg Gymnasium in Bremen, before going on to study at the University of Bremen where she obtained an MSci of Biology and her PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in 1993, investigating visual system development and regeneration in frogs and salamanders under the supervision of Gerhard Roth.[3][4] She then trained as post-doctorate at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, the Department Dev Cell Biol funded by an EMBO long-term fellowship, at the University of California, Irvine in USA and the Centre for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH), Germany where she took a position of group leader in 2000 and finished her ‚Habilitation‘ in neurobiology in 2012.

Career

Becker joined the University of Edinburgh in 2005 as senior Lecturer and was appointed personal chair in neural development and regeneration in 2013. She was also the Director of Postgraduate Training at the Centre for Neuroregeneration up to 2015, then centre director up to 2017.[2] In 2021 she received an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, joining the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden[5] at the Technical University of Dresden.

Research

Becker's research focuses on a better understanding of the factors governing the generation of neurons and axonal pathfinding in the CNS during development and regeneration using the zebrafish model to identify fundamental mechanisms in vertebrates with clear translational implications for CNS injury and neurodegenerative diseases.[6] The Becker group established the zebrafish as a model for spinal cord regeneration.[7][8] Their research found that functional regeneration is near perfect, but anatomical repair does not fully recreate the previous network, instead, new neurons are generated and extensive rewiring occurs.[9][10][11][12] They have identified neurotransmitter signalling as one mechanism underlying regenerative neurogenesis.[13][14] More recently, they have established larval regeneration paradigms in which highly selective cell ablation can be introduced[15] and fundamental principles of functional repair, regenerative neurogenesis and rewiring can be analyzed.[16][17] This system is scalable, allowing fast genetic screens into spinal cord repair.[18]

Catherina Becker is on the executive board of the European Zebrafish Society EZB e.V. and on the advisory board of the International Society for Regenerative Biology ISRB.[19][20]

Awards

  • 2016 MRC LMS Suffrage Science Award (Life Sciences)[21]
  • 2016 Eurolife Distinguished Lecture[22]
  • 2021 Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship". AvH press releases. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 Becker, Catherina. "Beckers' group". Discovery Brain Science. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  3. ↑ Becker, C. G.; Becker, T.; Roth, G. (1993). "Distribution of NCAM-180 and polysialic acid in the developing tectum mesencephali of the frog Discoglossus pictus and the salamander Pleurodeles waltl". Cell and Tissue Research. 272 (2): 289–301. doi:10.1007/BF00302734. PMID 8513482. S2CID 21421453.
  4. ↑ Becker, T.; Becker, C. G.; Niemann, U.; Naujoks-Manteuffel, C.; Gerardy-Schahn, R.; Roth, G. (1993). "Amphibian-specific regulation of polysialic acid and the neural cell adhesion molecule in development and regeneration of the retinotectal system of the salamander Pleurodeles waltl". Journal of Comparative Neurology. 336 (4): 532–544. doi:10.1002/cne.903360406. PMID 8245224. S2CID 40389071.
  5. ↑ Becker, Catherina. "Becker Group CRTD". CRTD. TU Dresden. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "Beckers' Projects". Edinburgh Research Explorer. The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Becker, Thomas; Wullimann, Mario F.; Becker, Catherina G.; Bernhardt, Robert R.; Schachner, Melitta (1997). "Axonal regrowth after spinal cord transection in adult zebrafish". Journal of Comparative Neurology. 377 (4): 577–595. doi:10.1002/(sici)1096-9861(19970127)377:4<577::aid-cne8>3.0.co;2-#. PMID 9007194. S2CID 196584792.
  8. ↑ Becker, Catherina G; Becker, Thomas, eds. (2006). Model Organisms in Spinal Cord Regeneration. doi:10.1002/9783527610365. ISBN 9783527315048.
  9. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Reimer, M M (2008). "Motor neuron regeneration in adult zebrafish". Journal of Neuroscience. 20 (34): 8510–6. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1189-08.2008. PMC 6671064. PMID 18716209.
  10. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Reimer, M M (2009). "Sonic hedgehog is a polarized signal for motor neuron regeneration in adult zebrafish". Journal of Neuroscience. 29 (48): 15073–82. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4748-09.2009. PMC 2841428. PMID 19955358.
  11. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Kuscha, V (2012). "Plasticity of tyrosine hydroxylase and serotonergic systems in the regenerating spinal cord of adult zebrafish" (PDF). Journal of Comparative Neurology. 520 (5): 933–51. doi:10.1002/cne.22739. PMID 21830219. S2CID 1462095.
  12. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Kuscha, V (2012). "Lesion-induced generation of interneuron cell types in specific dorsoventral domains in the spinal cord of adult zebrafish". Journal of Comparative Neurology. 520 (16): 3604–16. doi:10.1002/cne.23115. hdl:20.500.11820/f7a31eeb-8583-4171-a8cc-8ff3ddd0b99d. PMID 22473852. S2CID 13184342.
  13. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Reimer, M M (2013). "Dopamine from the brain promotes spinal motor neuron generation during development and adult regeneration". Developmental Cell. 25 (5): 478–491. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2013.04.012. PMID 23707737.
  14. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Barreiro-Iglesias, A (2015). "Serotonin Promotes Development and Regeneration of Spinal Motor Neurons in Zebrafish". Cell Reports. 13 (5): 924–932. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2015.09.050. PMC 4635313. PMID 26565906.
  15. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Ohnmacht, J (2016). "Spinal motor neurons are regenerated after mechanical lesion and genetic ablation in larval zebrafish". Development. 143 (9): 577–95. doi:10.1242/dev.129155. PMC 4986163. PMID 26965370. S2CID 11840634.
  16. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Wehner, D (2017). "Wnt signaling controls pro-regenerative Collagen XII in functional spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish". Nature Communications. 8 (1): 126. Bibcode:2017NatCo...8..126W. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00143-0. PMC 5526933. PMID 28743881. S2CID 26098327.
  17. ↑ Becker, T; Becker, C.G.; Tsarouchas, T.M. (2018). "Dynamic control of proinflammatory cytokines Il-1β and Tnf-α by macrophages in zebrafish spinal cord regeneration". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 4670. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9.4670T. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07036-w. PMC 6220182. PMID 30405119. S2CID 53207557.
  18. ↑ Keatinge, M; Tsarouchas, T.M.; Munir, T; Larraz, J; Gianni, D; Tsai, H; Becker, C.G.; Lyons, D.A.; Becker, T (2020). "Phenotypic screening using synthetic CRISPR gRNAs reveals pro-regenerative genes in spinal cord injury". bioRxiv 10.1101/2020.04.03.023119.
  19. ↑ "Board". European Zebrafish Society.
  20. ↑ "Our Advisory Board". International Society for Regenerative Biology.
  21. ↑ "MRC Suffrage in Science Award". Ed archive. The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  22. ↑ "Eurolife Distinguished Lecture". Ed archive. The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
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