Insulin's impact on brain and behaviour: Can mice help us understand more?

Simone Macrì is a research scientist at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National Institute of Health), Rome, Italy. He obtained his MS in Experimental Psychology at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 2001 and his PhD in Natural Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) in 2005. After his PhD, he was a research fellow at the McLean Hospital – Harvard affiliate – where he investigated the early predictors of stress system development. His research is mainly devoted to the development and validation of animal models of human psychiatric disorders. In particular, he is now investigating the role of impaired insulin signalling on the onset/exacerbation of cognitive abnormalities. He is the author of more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is the recipient of several grants from international charities, public funding agencies, EU, and private companies.

Mairéad Sullivan is a PhD student at University College Dublin, Ireland. She obtained her BSc. in Human Genetics, and MSc in Neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin. Her PhD focuses on the role and mechanisms of insulin signalling in behavioural inflexibility through the use of animal models including mice and drosophila. In particular, she is investigating the role of insulin-associated potassium channels in the generation of compulsive behaviour, and their therapeutic potential.