Erin Schuman is awarded The Körber European Science Prize

The prestigious award was presented to Prof. Dr. Erin Schuman last September for revolutionising our understanding of brain cells.

Prof. Dr. Erin Schuman, Director of the Department of Synaptic Plasticity at the Max Planck Institute for Brain research, has received The Körber Prize for her ground breaking work in unravelling the complexities of brain cell communication. Throughout her distinguished career, the innovative researcher has developed pioneering techniques to better understand synapses. We congratulate our IMPRS faculty member and celebrate the recognition of her research.

Text: Pamela Ornelas

With a background in psychology and a PhD in neuroscience, Prof. Schuman has always been fascinated by the brain and its ability to store information. During her career, she has delved deeply into the black box of neuronal communication, becoming a leading scientist in her field through her studies of neural circuits. Her lab focuses on the processes of protein synthesis and degradation in neurons, leading to the discovery that brain cells can produce proteins locally at the interfaces between neurons, known as synapses. The ability of the synapses to adapt over time is called synaptic plasticity, and it is fundamental for memory and learning.

Prof. Schuman’s research group solves problems with creativity.

Working at the cutting edge of science isn’t always easy, but this has never stopped Prof. Schuman. In order to study axons and dendrites, her group uses special microfluidic chambers that allow them to align the neurons for perfect visualization using light microscopy. Furthermore, over ten years ago, she pioneered a technique to tag amino acids in newly synthesized proteins in mammalian cells. Known as bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging, this technique has now become well-stablished in the scientific community. Beside this, her recent work on proteomics provides a framework to integrate proteomic information for synapse subtypes of interest with cellular or circuit-level experiments.

A role model for all scientists.

Prof. Schuman’s work has had great impact in our understanding of the brain. Synaptic health is closely linked to multiple neurological diseases, whether due to faulty brain circuitry during development or disrupted circuits caused by neurodegenerative disorders. The Körber European Science Prize honours Prof. Schuman’s significant contribution to the improvement of living conditions on our planet.

However, it is not only through science that Prof. Schuman has become a role model for all. For years, she has been an active voice promoting careers of women in science. Prof. Schuman plans to use the prize money to further encourage female talent. Her initiatives already inspire girls and teenagers that attend seminars in her lab during summer research programs. Now, she further plans to encourage students from under-represented groups with hands-on research experience by offering research internships.

Further reading

• Do not miss this extended article about Prof. Schuman’s research trajectory by the Körber Foundation: Erin Schuman – Körber Prize Winner 2024: Deciphering the mystery of brain cell communication:  Koerber Stiftung.
• Nor this interview where Prof. Schuman explains her work and its impact:  You Tube.
• Click here to go the the Schuman Lab website.