Hanna Yeliseyeva

PhD Student

Hanna Yeliseyeva

Office Y11-J-20

Tel +41 44 635 48 84

Hanna received her Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and Biotechnology from Vilnius University, where she also participated in the iGEM contest as a part of ‘Vilnius-Lithuania’ team creating the project ‘SynDrop’. She continued her studies at Bonn University in Germany and gained the M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry in 2021. During her master’s studies, supported by a DAAD scholarship, she became fascinated by neuronal circuit development, and how neuronal networks orchestrate behavior. She was working as a master student in Prof. Dr. Gaia Tavosanis group studying Dynamics of Neuronal circuits at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). Her research was based on Drosophila olfactory system, focusing on APL, an inhibitory GABAergic interneuron that innervates all the mushroom body compartments, and might influence olfactory learning and memory. She employed confocal and super-resolution microscopy, in vivo two-photon calcium imaging to uncover how APL-mediated inhibitory input modulates olfactory information flow, thereby allowing for efficient associative memory formation. She is now pursuing the PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Zurich in the Stoeckli group. Hanna’s Ph.D. research focuses on the impact of FoxP family genes’ on the development of neural circuits associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). By applying loss-of-functions approaches and utilizing state-of-the-art techniques, such as confocal, and expansion microscopy or live imaging, changes in axon guidance and cell migration, linked with aberrant brain development in chick embryos, will be imaged to provide us with a better understanding of how prenatal misregulations in FoxP-driven neurodevelopmental processes cause ASDs. In her free time, Hanna enjoys doing sports (jogging, workouts, yoga) and travelling.