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Pierre Magistretti

Vice President for Research, Ibn Sina Distinguished Professor, Director, KAUST Smart Health Initiative

Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division

pierre.magistretti@kaust.edu.sa


Affiliations

Education Profile

  • Ph.D., Biology, University of California, San Diego, U.S., 1982
  • M.D. Doctorate en Médecine, University of Geneva, Switzerland, 1979
  • Diplôme Fédéral de Médecin, University of Geneva, Switzerland, 1977
  • Educational Commision for Foreign Medical Graduates Examination, 1977
  • Maturité Fédérale Type A (Classical Studies), 1977

Research Interests

Professor Magistretti has made significant contributions in the field of brain energy metabolism. His group has discovered some of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the coupling between neuronal activity and energy consumption by the brain. This work has considerable ramifications for the understanding of the origin of the signals detected with the current functional brain imaging techniques used in neurologic and psychiatric research. Magistretti’s research interests include the cellular and molecular bases of brain energy metabolism and brain imaging and the behavioral, cellular and molecular determinants of neuronal and glial plasticity.

Selected Publications

  • Cotte Y, Toy F, Jourdain P, Pavillon N, Boss D, Magistretti P, Marquet P, Depeursinge C (2013) Marker-free phase nanoscopy. Nature Photonics 7:113-117.
  • Lee Y, Morrison BM, Li Y, Lengacher S, Farah MH, Hoffman PN, Liu YT, Tsingalia A, Jin L, Zhang PW, Pellerin L, Magistretti PJ, Rothstein JD. (2012) Oligodendroglia metabolically support axons and contribute to neurodegeneration. Nature 487:443-U1502.
  • Suzuki A, Stern SA, Bozdagi O, Huntley GW, Walker RH, Magistretti PJ, Alberini CM. (2011) Astrocyte - neuron lactate transport is required for long-term memory formation. Cell 144:810-823.
  • Wyss MT, Jolivet R, Buck A, Magistretti PJ, Weber B (2011) In vivo evidence for lactate as a neuronal energy source. Journal of Neuroscience 31:7477-7485.
  • Allaman I, Gavillet M, Bélanger M, Laroche T, Viertl T, Lashuel HA, Magistretti PJ (2010) Amyloid beta-aggregates cause alterations of astrocytic metabolic phenotype: Impact on neuronal viability. Journal of Neuroscience 30:3326-3338.
  • Pellerin, L, Magistretti PJ (1994) Glutamate uptake into astrocytes stimulates aerobic glycolysis: A mechanism coupling neuronal activity to glucose utilization. Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) 91:10625-10629.