Magdalena Götz facts for kids
Magdalena Götz (born January 17, 1962) is a German neuroscientist. This means she is a scientist who studies the brain and the nervous system. She is famous for her work on special brain cells called glial cells. She teaches at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany.
Dr. Götz studies how new brain cells are made, even in adult brains. This process is called neurogenesis. She made an important discovery: she found that glial cells can act like neural stem cells in a developing brain. Stem cells are special cells that can turn into many different types of cells.
Her current research looks at how these adult stem cells know what kind of brain cell to become. She also works on ways to change glial cells into new neurons (brain cells that send messages). This could help people who have had a traumatic brain injury. In 2015, The German Stem Cell Network shared an interview where Dr. Götz talked about her exciting research.
Early Life and Education
Magdalena Götz studied Biology from 1982 to 1989. She went to the University of Tübingen in Germany and also studied in Zürich, Switzerland.
In 1992, she earned her PhD degree (called a Dr. rer. nat. in Germany). She completed this at the Friedrich-Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society. After getting her PhD, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow until 1996. She did this research at the National Institute for Medical Research in London and at Smith Kline Beecham in Harlow.
Career Highlights
From 1997 to 2003, Dr. Götz led her own research team. This was at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, near Munich.
Since 2004, she has been the Director of the Institute of Stem Cell Research. This institute is part of the Helmholtz Center Munich. She also holds a special teaching position at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Since 2011, she has been a Research Professor at the same university.
Dr. Götz is also a key member of the Münch Cluster for Systems Neurology. This group is also known as Synergy. She helps guide their research as a Principal Investigator.
Awards and Honors
Magdalena Götz has received many important awards for her scientific work.
- 2007 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
- 2007 Hansen Family Award
- 2008 Hans and Ilse Breuer Award
- 2010 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2013 Remedios Caro Almela Prize on Developmental Neurobiology
- 2014 Ernst Schering Prize
- 2014 Advanced Research Grant by the European Research Council (ERC)
- 2015 Carl-Zeiss Award of the German Society for Cell Biology
- 2015 German Stem Cell Network Female Scientist Award
- 2016 Prize of the Roger de Spoelberch Foundation
- 2018 Schellenberg Award
