SSN Honorary Members | Zurich, Switzerland |

2023 Honorary Member Marco Celio, MD

Prof. emeritus, Université de Fribourg

The SSN awarded honorary membership in recognition of

his important contributions in studying calcium-binding proteins as markers of nerve cells

and his leadership in the academic development of neuroscience

Short CV of Prof. Celio

After completing my medical studies in Zurich, I became a collaborator at the Institute of Anatomy. During this period, I moved with my family to San Diego, for a postdoc at the Salk Institute in La Jolla (USA). From Zurich we then emigrated to Kiel in Germany, where I taught anatomy for three years. In 1989 we returned to Switzerland, where I took over the teaching of histology and embryology at the University of Fribourg. I have held this position until 2021, spending sabbaticals in Neuroscience at Harvard in Boston and Singapore.

Influenced by the saying “the gains in brain are mainly in the stain” I have exploited antibodies to calcium binding proteins as markers of nerve cells and as detector of yet unknown brain centres. Parvalbumin was found as the most reliable and robust marker of the cortical inhibitory, GABA-neurons. The development of Pvalb:Cre mice opened the possibility to study and influence specifically the function of inhibitory interneurons, by tagging them with fluorescent dyes or infecting them with chemo or optogenetic tools. Parv is not only a marker, but also a surrogate of GABA for state-of-the-art molecular research on inhibitory interneurons. Recent publications, in collaboration with other groups, demonstrated that a cluster of brainstem neurons positive for calbindin D-28k (Nucleus Papilio) affects eye movement during REM-sleep. Another cluster of parv neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (Parvafox) contributes to the expression of emotions. In parallel with my research, I taught medical and biomedical students, contributed to the administration of the medical department and the Faculty of Science, introduced different types of online teaching (e.g., www.embryology.ch) and founded Swant (Swiss antibodies).

2022 Kevan A.C. Martin