CavX - Calcium channels in excitable cells

Innsbruck is an international center of calcium channel research with a world-wide unique concentration of active scientists working in this field. Herewith the calcium channel scientists from both Innsbruck universities the Medical University (MUI) and the University Innsbruck (UI) propose implementing a joint PhD program, named CaVX Calcium Channels in Excitable Cells, in order to fully utilize their collective expertise to educate and train next generation neuroscientists with a strong focus on ion channel functions in nerve, muscle, and endocrine cells. In these electrically excitable cells voltage-gated calcium channels control numerous important functions like synaptic transmission and plasticity, muscle contraction, and hormone release. Conversely, malfunction of these channels results in a variety of diseases including autism, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, Parkinson, diabetes, night blindness and special forms of muscle weakness and many more. The scientists of the CaVX team study a broad spectrum of these calcium channel functions and associated disorders using a combination of state-of-the-art techniques as well as genetic cell and animal model systems. Therefore, PhD students in the CaVX program will be involved in highly attractive research projects addressing important problems of current biomedical research, and they will become proficient in a range of highly advanced methods including molecular genetics and gene editing, cell and tissue cultures, whole-cell and single-channel electrophysiology and biophysics, structural biology, and super-resolution microscopy. This focus on ion channel functions and diseases and the competences in biophysical methodologies in the CaVX program will perfectly complement the existing graduate program in Neuroscience. With this cutting-edge research training our graduates will be well-prepared to succeed in todays competitive job markets in industry and academia. The six research teams applying for the doc.funds PhD program and the three associate research groups already maintain intensive local collaborations among each other and with the broader neuroscience community, as well as numerous ties with leading scientists around the world. For example they participate and coordinate excellence network programs in neuroscience and molecular cell biology and they regularly organize one of the most prestigious scientific meetings in the calcium channel field. Implementation of the CaVX PhD program within the existing Neuroscience PhD program at the Medical University of Innsbruck will not only complement the local doctoral training, but also enhance the international visibility of this European center of calcium channel research. Thus, it will strongly enhance the attractiveness for students and faculty of Innsbruck as the center for neuroscience research and training in western Austria.

Calcium is an essential messenger substance in our body, and it regulates a wide range of critical functions including muscle contraction, hormone release, learning and memory as well as vision and hearing. Because of its important role, the amount and location of calcium release needs to be tightly controlled. To this end our cells express so-called voltage-gated calcium channels. These channels sense changes in the membrane voltage and translate it to a calcium signal which regulates the abovementioned functions. Hence, it is not surprising that dysfunctions of calcium channels result in various diseases such as autism, anxiety, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, eye diseases and various forms of muscle weakness. To improve available and develop new treatment strategies for such disorders, it is first and foremost necessary to understand how exactly calcium channels work and how their malfunction can cause disease. Over the last 20 years a growing team of researchers at the Medical University of Innsbruck and the University of Innsbruck joined forces to study calcium-channel dependent functions. To this end they have accumulated an excellent and broad scientific and methodological expertise. The doctoral program "CavX - Calcium channels in excitable cells" combined this worldwide unique research focus in Innsbruck to provide an excellent doctoral training environment for early career scientists within the field of Neuroscience. Within the CavX program 10 national and international PhD students were funded to investigate basic biophysical properties of calcium channels. The CavX training program also attracted students from closely related research projects and thereby contributed to the education of more than 30 PhD students during the 4-year funding period. With their research, CavX PhD students made important discoveries. For example, they discovered how calcium channels and their interacting proteins regulate the formation and function of synaptic connections in the brain and how mutations can cause the development of autism spectrum disorders, endocrine dysfunctions such as diabetes, as well as a congenital form of night blindness. Moreover, the team of early career and established scientists joined forces to reveal basic insights into how calcium channel sense voltage changes. The CavX PhD program established itself as an important training hotspot for ion channel researchers which helped to invite international scientists to Innsbruck. One of the highlights of this PhD program was its contribution to the European Calcium Channel Conference 2022. This conference in Alpbach (Tirol, Austria) brought together the world leading experts in calcium channel research and allowed the early career scientists to present and discuss their findings with scientists from all around the world. The international and long-lasting success of this specific training program helped to mentor next generation scientists who successfully applied for the funding for another 4-years from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).