The leader of the laboratory of Circadian Physiology of Neurons and Glia will receive 2 million euros to develop StarTicking an ambitious project aiming to understand when and how the circadian clock starts to work.
Dr. Mariana Astiz, currently Ikerbasque Research Fellow at ACHUCARRO leading the laboratory of Circadian Physiology of Neurons and Glia has been awarded with an ERC Consolidator Grant 2022. The project StarTicking is funded with 2 million euros, and will be developed during 5 years.
The 24-h (circadian) timing system develops during the perinatal period and rules our physiology later in life. It has the essential task of anticipating daily recurring changes in the environment (day/night) to find the best time for each molecular and cellular process. It is organised hierarchically, with a master pacemaker in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is able to perceive environmental light and tell the body what time is it. StarTicking proposes to answer a long-standing question in the field: When and how the circadian clock starts ticking with a multidisciplinary and integrated approach focused on the development of the central pacemaker in mice and human.
Her project will provide ground-breaking mechanistic evidence and valuable knowledge on a process that ends up ruling our physiological fitness.
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