Dr. François Guillemot FRS FMedSci

Francois Guillemot is a Programme leader in Molecular Neurobiology at the National Institute for Medical Research. He has worked extensively on proneural genes. He identified Mash1 and Neurogenins 1,2 and 3. He has gone on to elucidate their roles in neuronal versus glial cell fate decisions, in determination of regional identity and in the specification of oligodendrocytes, a glial cell type that is often affected in major neurodegenerative diseases. His work has shown us how mammalian proneural genes act as critical integrators of multiple extracellular inputs to regulate formation of a functional nervous system and in particular the cerebral cortex.