Postdoctoral Researcher

e-mail: c.schreiweis(at)icm-institute.org

 

I am a behavioral neurophysiologist, trained in a variety of behavioral paradigms, pharmacology, quantitative neuroanatomy, in vivo neuronal recording and neuromodulation (optogenetics, chemogenetics) in mouse models. After my PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I came to Paris on a fellowship by the “Fondation pour la Recherche Medical”, where I joined the “Neurophysiology of Repetitive Behaviour” team in 2016. I am also a founding and active member of a neuroscientific initiative that engages for gender equity / equality.

my background

Since my childhood, I have been curious about how the human brain could acquire something as complex and beautiful as language. In order to explore this question, I accomplished both a masters in science (biology) and in the humanities (linguistics & literature), before merging it into an interdisciplinary PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany, in the Department of Evolutionary Genetics with Prs. Svante Pääbo & Wolfgang Enard. There, I behaviourally characterized a mouse model of human language evolution and found that this model automatized learned contents faster than control mice. Crucial for my findings were the years in Pr. Ann Graybiel’s lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Having obtained an FRM fellowship, I moved to Paris, where I studied the neuroanatomy of the same mouse model at the Institut du Fer à Moulin before joining the research group of Eric Burguière at the ICM in 2016.

current projects

My projects address learning and automatization in cortico-basal ganglia circuits in health and disease. While automatization might render us efficient in our daily lives and might enable us to acquire such complex systems as language and speech, a loss of cognitive control might lead to neuropsychiatric disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or Tourette Syndrome. Together with my colleagues, I study the neurobiological basis of aberrant repetitive behaviours such as compulsions or tics using mouse models, a project for which I obtained the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO fellowship. My other projects investigate the role of dopamine during automatization (international ANR project) as well as motivational aspects of cognitive control (BigBrainTheory, Daunizeau & Burguière).

extrascientific engagement

I am a founding and active member of the gender equality movement “XX Initiative” as well as a member of the gender equity committee at the Paris Brain Institute. Together with my colleagues, we have developed a neuroscientifically-based action plan in order to achieve gender equity / equality (Schreiweis et al., Nat Hum Behav, 2019). We alert and educate about gender inequity / inequality based on data and scientific publications in order to break implicit gender stereotypes hindering gender equity / equality, reaching scientists, scholastic structures as well as the greater public.

 

Education

2007 – 2012        Doctoral thesis in Biology at the Max Planck Institute, Leipzig, Germany.

2003 – 2006        Master’s Degree in Biology and Linguistics. University of Freiburg, Germany.

2003 – 2005        Teaching qualification (Agrégation) in Biology and Linguistics. University of Freiburg, Germany.

Training and professional experience

2016 – present Postdoctoral Researcher, Burguière lab, Sorbonne University, France.

2014 – 2015        Postdoctoral Researcher, Groszer (IFM) & Oury (INEM) labs, Sorbonne & Paris 5 Universities, France (FRM Postdoctoral Fellowship)

2013                      Postdoctoral Fellow, Graybiel laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

2007 – 2012        Doctoral student, Enard & Pääbo laboratory, Max Planck Institute, Leipzig, Germany & Graybiel Laboratory, MIT, Cambridge, USA (50% of my thesis)

Grant, Prizes & academic awards

2019-2023            ANR-PRCI Grant for 48 months (co-supervisor with E. Burguière & W. Enard, 500k€)

2016                      L’Oréal-UNESCO prize “For Women In Science” 2016 (selection rate < 3%)

2014-2015          Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM)

2006-2011          Doctoral Fellowship of the Max Planck Society (International MP Research School)

2006                      Fellowship for 2-months internship in Human Molecular Genetics in Helsinki, Finland (German National Academic Foundation)

1999-2005          Prestigious fellowship to accomplish bachelor/master studies. German National Academic Foundation (selection rate ≈ 0.25%)

Selection of scientific talk invitations

2019                      Paris Brain Institute. Invited by Dr. Brian Lau. Paris.

2019                     Symposium “Génétique et troubles du langage ». Invited by Pr. Stanislas Lyonnet. IMAGINE, Paris.

2015                     Symposium of the German National Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy “Human evolution towards language: from genes to behaviour”. Invited by Prof. Dr. Angela Friederici, Max Planck Director & Vice-President of the Max Planck Society. IISER, Pune, India.

2013                     Research Seminar, Rutgers University. Invited by Prof. Dr. Laszlo Zaborszky. New Jersey, USA.

2012                     McGovern Institute. Invited by Prof. Ann Graybiel, MIT Institute Professor. Cambridge, USA.

2011                     Workshop “Comparative and Evolutionary Neurogenomics”, SMBE. Invited by Dr. Philipp Khaitovich, Max Planck Director. Kyoto, Japan.

2010                     Research seminar, University of Uppsala. Invited by the Graduate Student Committee. Sweden.

2009                     Research seminar, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Invited by the Graduate Student Committee. Zurich, Switzerland.

Selection of extra-scientific presentations

2020                      Selected for a short talk at the EMBO / HHMI conference on “Gender Roles and their impact in Academia”

2020                      Paris Brain Institute, representing ICM’s gender equality movement. Invited by the graduate student & postdoc organisation.

2019                      Panel discussion by EuropaNova on “Elles font bouger l’Europe!”

2018                       Panel Discussion “Growing up in Science/Gender Equity”. Workshop IoN London – ICM Paris.

2017                      Guest Scientist at the impro theatre program NEW Science

2016                      Interventions in high schools in Parisian suburbs as a female ambassador for the program “For Girls in Science” by the L’Oréal Foundation & UNESCO.

selection of Teaching responsibilities

Since 2020          Master class on the neurobiological basis of disorders with repetitive behaviours (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes).

Master class on chemogenetic and neuropharmacological approaches in models of psychiatric disorders (Sorbonne Université)

Since 2019          Co-Supervision of a PhD student

Since 2019          Tutor of the HotTopics Program & master class on in vivo electrophysiological recordings & neuromodulator approaches (iMIND, Master BIP)

2018                      Teaching at Paris Spring School

2011                      Lecture series about cortico-basal ganglia structure and function – Max Planck Institute, Leipzig

2010                     Lecture series “Principles of Brain Evolution” – Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, MIT, USA

2007-present     Instruction & supervision of 14 undergraduate and master students

2007                      Scientific English for animal technicians – Max Planck Institute, Leipzig

Technical skills

Behaviour  Design, realization and analysis of various behavioural paradigms including operant conditioning chambers, maze learning paradigms, pharmacological assays (amphetamine, morphine, aripiprazole, D1/D2 agonists…), fine-motor reaching & grasping skills, ultrasonic vocalization. In vivo electrophysiological recordings and optogenetic modulation in freely moving animals. Chemogenetics.

Surgery                      Stereotaxic injections. Fabrication and surgical implantation of devices for chronic recordings and optogenetic stimulation. Implantation of osmotic minipumps.

Husbandry                Colony establishment and management, genotyping, writing of proposals for animal experiments

Neuroanatomy      Transcardial perfusions, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, in situ hybridizations, stereology, embryo dissection, tissue clearing (Clarity, iDISCO), imaging (e.g. Apotome, Axioscan, Fiji, ZEN)

Data Analysis          R

Molecular Biol.       PCR, Western Blotting, cloning (construction of viral vectors)

Workshop Skills     3D Printing, Laser Cutter

 

scientific publications

Original Research Articles

2020      

Lamothe H*, Schreiweis C*, et al.: “The Sapap3-knockout mouse model manifests a spectrum of repetitive behaviours” – bioRXiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.22.915215

2019

Schreiweis C, Irinopoulou T, Vieth B, Laddada L, Oury F, Burguière E, Enard W, Groszer M: Mice carrying a humanized Foxp2 knock-in allele show region-specific shifts of striatal Foxp2 expression levels. Cortex. 2019 Sep;118:212-222. Epub 2019 Jan 30. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.01.008. (Corresponding Author).

2015     

Schreiweis C*, Hammerschmidt K*, Minge C, Pääbo S, Fischer J**, Enard W**: A humanized version of Foxp2 does not affect ultrasonic vocalization in adult mice. Genes Brain Behav14(8):583-90. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12237.

2014      

Schreiweis C*, Bornschein U*, Burguière E, Kerimoglu C, Schreiter S, Dannemann M, Goyal S, Rea E, French CA, Puliyadi R, Groszer M, Fisher SE, Mundry R, Winter C, Hevers W, Pääbo S, Enard W & Graybiel AM: Humanized Foxp2 accelerates learning by enhancing transitions from declarative to procedural performance. PNAS111(39):14253-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1414542111.

2012      

Maricic T, Guenther V, Georgiev O, Gehre S, Curlin M, Schreiweis C, Naumann R, Burbano HA et al.: A recent evolutionary change affects a regulatory element in the human FOXP2 gene. Mol Biol Evol30(4): 844-52. doi: 10.1093/molbev/mss271.

2009     

Enard W, Gehre S, Hammerschmidt K, Hölter SM, Blass T, Somel M, Brückner MK, Schreiweis C, et al.: A humanized version of Foxp2 affects cortico-basal ganglia circuits in mice. Cell137(5):96171. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.03.041.

Review Articles

Chamouni A, Schreiweis C, Oury F: Bone, brain & beyond. Rev Endocr Metab Disord16(2):99-113. doi: 10.1007/s11154-015-9312-5. 

scientific publications resulting from my institutional engagement

2019      

Schreiweis C, Volle E, Durr A, Auffret A, Delarasse C, George N , Dumont M, Hassan BA, Renier N, Rosso C, Thiebaut de Schotten M, Burguière E, Zujovic V:  A neuroscientific approach to increase gender equality. Nat Hum Behav. 2019 Dec; 3(12):1238-1239. doi: 10.1038/s41562-019-0755-7. (Corresponding Author).