Prof Catherina Becker

The Becker group use zebrafish to investigate how injury of the spinal cord can be successfully repaired. The fish are small and easily kept in the laboratory, and, importantly, can replace lost neurons (nerve cells) from scratch, because they have active stem cells. This means that zebrafish are also excellent models to study how motor neurons develop and how they can be repaired in motor neuron diseases. Catherina works with colleagues who use mouse models of motor neuron diseases so findings from fish can be used to develop possible therapies for MND.

Catherina Becker obtained an MRes in Human Genetics and a PhD in Neurosciences from the University of Bremen, Germany, studying regeneration of frog and salamander brains. She then worked in Switzerland, California and Hamburg. Together with her husband, Thomas Becker, Catherina moved to the University of Edinburgh in 2005 where she is now Professor for Neural Development and Regeneration and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences.