Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience

and

Rintveld Center for Eating Disorders- Altrecht

 

Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience

Location: Utrecht, The Netherlands
Link: www.rudolfmagnus.nl/

 

Location: Zeist, The Netherlands
Link: www.altrecht.nl/

 

Based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the Rudolf Magnus Institute is dedicated to Neuroscience.

The institute was named after the first professor of Pharmacology in the Netherlands, Rudolf Magnus.

In 1968, on the initiative of David De Wied, the Department of Pharmacology was renamed "Rudolf Magnus Institute of Pharmacology", to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first chair for Pharmacology in The Netherlands.
Under the directorship of De Wied's successor, Willem Hendrik Gispen, who was director in 1988-2000, the Rudolf Magnus Institute was transformed into a Neuroscience institute, aptly named Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, which encompassed many research groups from three Faculties of Utrecht University.
The present director Jan M. van Ree (director since 2001), has taken on him the task to redefine the aims of the research within the institute. To this end, functional Sections were formed, each around a defined research topic, to maximise the use of resources and research output. The new elan of the Institute is among others expressed in the modernised logo.

Structure of the Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience

The research within the Rudolf Magnus Institute is presently organised into three departments, each consisting of 3 sections with more closely defined foci of research.

Department Neurology and Neurosurgery

  1. Section Cerebrovascular Disorders: The research is aimed at the epidemiology, prevention, and cognitive dysfunctioning in patients with cardiovascular attack and arachnoidal bleeding.
  2. Section Neuromuscular Diseases: In this section two themes are studied: a. diseases of the motoric nerves of the spinal cord, in particular ALS and spinal muscle atrophy and b. Immune-system mediated polyneuropathies.
  3. Section Brain Function and Plasticity: Next to research that is related to brain surgery on therapy-resistant patients, the influences of genetic factors are studied that relate to the aetiology of epilepsy and the pharmacotherapy of this disease.

Department Neuroscience and Pharmacology

  1. Section Neurodevelopment: Processes are studied in brain development, which influence the development and functions of the nervous system. Emphasis is placed on the research on the mechanisms of brain development at molecular, electrophysiological and behavioural levels.
  2. Section Neurobiology of behaviour: This section is involved in studies of the role of genes in the brain in physiological and pathophysiological processes (gene/ function relationships), in particular in the field of reward and motivation and related disorders .
  3. Section Behavioural Genomics: Central in this section is the research on the genetic backgrounds of behaviour.

Department Psychiatry

  1. Section Brain changes in developmental disorders: Research is concentrated around the changes in the brain of patients with a psychiatric disorder, in particular autism, ADHD and schizophrenia.
  2. Section Genetic basis of developmental disorders: Research is concentrated around the effects of genetic and environmental factors on developmental disorders of the brain, in particular autism and schizophrenia.
  3. Section Psychopathology of developmental disorders: The research is focussed on psychopathological processes in specific disorders among which disruptive behaviour disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder.

Several other groups also participate in the Rudolf Magnus Institute:
University Medical Centre Utrecht: Otorhinolaryngology, Division Head and Neck Surgery Anaesthesiology, Division Perioperative Care and Emergency Medicine
Faculty of Pharmaceutical sciences: Psychopharmacology
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine: Dept. Animal, Science, and Society

Training

Graduate school: The Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience offers a contemporary Research Training Programme to PhD students in Neuroscience, integrated into the Rudolf Magnus Graduate School, which is part of the Graduate School of Life Sciences of the Utrecht Medical Center Utrecht. Furthermore the Institute participates in the prestigious master program Neuroscience and Cognition of the Utrecht University and provides several bachelor and master courses in the medical and biomedical programs of the University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University. The PhD training programme is accredited by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1994.

PhD student platform: A PhD-studentplatform has been formed, representing all PhD-students within the Rudolf Magnus Institute, with one or two students per department. The studentplatform is a medium in which the coordinator of the Institute discusses matters concerning the PhD-education with the PhD-students. On a two monthly basis there is a meeting in which the PhD-students report on issues regarding the PhD-education at their department and the coordinator reports on organisational matters which concern the PhD-students and their education. Furthermore events, like summerschool, introduction course and workshops, are discussed.

The network team:

Scientist in Charge:
RAH. Adan, PhD
AA. van Elburg, MD PhD
Marie Curie Researcher:
M Brandys, MA
Local Scholars:
UN Danner, PhD
N Sanders, MD
 

Intact Studies:

Associated Studies:

  • Decision making in BN and BED
  • Anorexia Nervosa: biomarkers in clinical use