Matthias
Hebisch

Dr. Hebisch received a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biomedicine, a master’s in Neuroscience, and a PhD in Experimental Medicine from the University of Bonn, Germany. His thesis work focuses on human stem cell-derived models of Alzheimer’s disease under the mentorship of Dr. Oliver Brüstle. For his postdoctoral training, he joined the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital under the co-supervision of Drs. Doo Yeon Kim and Rudolph E. Tanzi, where he contributed to the first 3D in vitro model of Alzheimer’s disease to recapitulate phospho-tau pathology in response to ß-amyloid (Aß) accumulation. To this day, the central mechanism behind Alzheimer’s disease, Aß-driven neurodegeneration, is too poorly understood to be targeted for therapeutic intervention. To address this issue, Dr. Hebisch studies two main types of Aß found in Alzheimer’s disease that exhibit paradoxical effects (Aß42 and Aß40). He employs induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology and precision genome engineering to trigger isoform-enriched, genetically standardized, and chemically controllable Aß generation in brain organoids, the most complex human brain-like constructs currently available. Using this unique disease model together with analysis methods ranging from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) to micro-electrode arrays (MEA), he aims to untangle why and how specific Aß species drive AD’s pathogenic cascade.