Stress Resilience: Molecular and Behavioral Aspects

Prof. Alon Chen is a world leading neuroscientist and the 11th President of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Prof. Chen's research into the neurobiology and neuroendocrinology of stress focuses on the genomic, epigenomic and cellular mechanisms by which the brain regulates the response to stressful challenges and how this response may be linked to a number of psychiatric and physiological disorders. The long-term goal of his research is to elucidate the genetic, epigenetic, and cellular pathways and mechanisms by which stressors are perceived, processed, and converted into neuroendocrine and behavioral responses under healthy and pathological conditions.His lab has made significant discoveries in the field, revealing fundamental genetic, epigenetic, and cellular aspects of the stress response in both animals and humans, including actions that link specific stress-related genes, epigenetic mechanisms and brain circuits to anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders and metabolic syndrome.Prof. Chen was the Head of the Department of Brain Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and a Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.