Pierre Magistretti
Pierre J. Magistretti (born 1952 in Milan, Italy) is an Italian and Swiss neuroscientist and physician. He is a professor emeritus of neuroscience at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; until 2017), University of Geneva (until 2017) and University of Lausanne (until 2018). Until 2012, he was the director of the EPFL's Brain Mind Institute and director of the Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience of the University of Lausanne and Lausanne University Hospital. Since 2012 he has been distinguished professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology where he was Dean of the Division Biological and Environmental  Sciences and Engineering between 2012 and 2020. Career. Magistretti studied medicine at University of Geneva, and received his diploma in 1977 and his medical doctor degree in 1979 for his thesis on "Etude de la liaison spécifique du ³H-spiropéridol dans la fraction membranaire de la rétine de mammifère" suppervised by Michel Schorderet. He then joined Floyd E. Bloom's A.V. Davis Center for Behavioral Neurobiology Laboratory at Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla and enrolled in a graduate program for neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. In 1982, he received his PhD for a thesis  on "Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide: A Regulator of Cellular Homeostasis in Cerebral Cortex" co-supervised by William Shoemaker. Until 1987 he was Maître Assistant (postdoctoral researcher) at University of Geneva's Department of Pharmacology and worked on the synergistic interactions between vasoactive intestinal peptide and norepinephrine in forming cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). In 1988, he became professor at the University of Lausanne's Department of Physiology, whose chairman he was from 2001 to 2004. From 2004 to 2012 he was the founding director of the Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience at the University of Lausanne. In 2005, he became professor and co -director of EPFL's Brain Mind Institute, whose sole director he became in 2008. From 2010 to 2016 he acted as director of the Swiss National Center for Competence SynaPsy. Since 2012, he has been distinguished professor and from 2012 to 2020 dean of the department of Biological, Environmental Sciences and Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. He was given emeritus status at EPFL in 2017, University of Geneva in 2017, and University of Lausanne in 2018. Research. Magistretti's research is focused on the study of brain energy metabolism and in particular the field of neural  glia cell biology. He has contributed to understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms coupling neuronal activity and energy consumption. He investigated the key physiological role that glial cells, especially astrocytes, play in neural activity. He provided insight into the role of lactate produced by astrocytes through the astrocyte neuron lactate shuttle, which acts as both an energy substrate for neurons and also as a signaling molecule. His contributions help to explain the source of the signals detected by functional brain imaging, clarified the role of astrocytes and lactate in neuronal plasticity, memory and neuro-protection. More recently he was involved  in translational research in psychiatry by investigating the role of glia cells in psychiatric diseases. Distinctions. Magistretti is member and for former president of the Swiss Society for Neuroscience (1997–1999), the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FESN; 2002–2004), and the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO; 2014–2019). He was a member of the board of trustees of the Human Frontier Science Program (2003–2018), vice chairman of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB; since 2002), honorary member of the Chinese Association for Physiological Sciences (since 2014), "ad personam" member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (since 2001), and member  of Academia Europaea (since 2001). He is the recipient of the 2016 IPSEN Foundation Prize (together with David Attwell and Marcus Raichle), the 2011 Camillo Golgi Medal Award from the Golgi Foundation, and the 2009 Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Scholarship from Canadian Psychological Association. He was International Chair Professor at Collège de France (2007–2008), and Emil Kraepelin Guest Professor at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (2002).