Tim Gruber, PhD

Tim Gruber, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher in Neuroscience

Biography

Tim Gruber works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Pospisilik Lab at the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, USA. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity (IDO), Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany. He studied neuroscience at the Universities of Excellence Technical University Munich and Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, Germany with research stays abroad at Imperial College London, UK and ETH Zurich, CH. He received his PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in neuroscience from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2020. His research is currently focussed on neuroscience and epigenetics with applications in fighting metabolic diseases. Furthermore, he is driven to improve our understanding of the structure and function of neural circuits and systems in our brains, especially reward dysfunction and addiction.

Interests
  • Neuroendocrinology
  • Epigenetics
  • Metabolic Diseases
  • Systems Neuroscience
  • Reward Dysfunction and Addiction
Education
  • Dr. rer. nat. in Biology, 2020

    Technical University Munich, Germany

  • M. Sc. in Molecular Biosciences - Neurosciences, 2015

    Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Germany

  • B. Sc. in Life Science, 2013

    Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Germany

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Van Andel Institute
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Apr 2022 – Present Grand Rapids, MI, USA
 
 
 
 
 
Institute for Diabetes and Obesity (IDO), Helmholtz Center Munich
Postdoctoral Scientist
Oct 2021 – Apr 2022 Munich, Germany
 
 
 
 
 
Institute for Diabetes and Obesity (IDO), Helmholtz Center Munich
Graduated Student
Apr 2015 – Sep 2020 Munich, Germany
 
 
 
 
 
Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit Mannheim
Working Master Student
Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 Mannheim, Germany
 
 
 
 
 
ETH Zurich, Institute of Health and Nutrition
Research Fellow
Nov 2013 – Jan 2014 Zurich, Switzerland
 
 
 
 
 
Max-Planck-Institut for German Medical Research, Heidelberg
Student research assistant
Jan 2012 – Feb 2013 Heidelberg, Germany

Activities

Prizes and awards

Keystone Symposia scholarship travel grant
HMGU Best Paper Award 3rd place
DZD twinning grant
DAAD German Academic Exchange Service - program “Rise worldwide”
Publication highlighted in Nature Reviews Endocrinology (see here)

Past Conferences

Year Conference Activitiy
2022: Deutscher Kongress für Endokrinologie oral
2022: Cell Symposia – The Neuro-Immune Axis poster
2021: Helmholtz-Nature Medicine Diabetes Conference
2020: Helmholtz-Nature Medicine Diabetes Conference
2019: Keystone Symposia Fairmont Banff oral; travel award
2019: WCNH World Conference Neurohypophysical Hormones poster
2019: Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society oral
2019: Bioscience Conference – Metabolism in action poster
2019: Cellular Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration
2018: OXYTOCIN Meeting Erice oral
2018: ICN International Congress of Neuroendocrinology poster
2018: Helmholtz-Nature Medicine Diabetes Conference
2017: Keystone Symposia poster
2017: GLIA European Meeting on Glial Cells poster
2017: Helmholtz-Nature Medicine Diabetes Conference
2016: Helmholtz-Nature Medicine Diabetes Conference
2015: Helmholtz-Nature Medicine Diabetes Conference
2014: Helmholtz-Nature Medicine Diabetes Conference

Recent Publications

Global, neuronal or β cell-specific deletion of inceptor improves glucose homeostasis in male mice with diet-induced obesity
High-calorie diets uncouple hypothalamic oxytocin neurons from a gut-to-brain satiation pathway via κ-opioid signaling
Epigenetic dosage identifies two major and functionally distinct β cell subtypes
Estradiol regulates leptin sensitivity to control feeding via hypothalamic Cited1
The dietary sweetener sucralose is a negative modulator of T cell-mediated responses
An analgesic pathway from parvocellular oxytocin neurons to the periaqueductal gray in rats
Analysis of the hypothalamic oxytocin system and oxytocin receptor‐expressing astrocytes in a mouse model of <scp>Prader–Willi</scp> syndrome
Diet triggers specific responses of hypothalamic astrocytes in time and region dependent manner
Independent phenotypic plasticity axes define distinct obesity sub-types
Coupling of oxytocin and cholecystokinin pathways in the hypothalamus is required for gut-to-brain homeostatic feeding control
Auto-aggressive CXCR6$mathplus$ CD8 T cells cause liver immune pathology in NASH
Control of Systemic Metabolism by Astrocytes in the Brain
Insulin action on astrocytes: From energy homeostasis to behaviour
Obesity-associated hyperleptinemia alters the gliovascular interface of the hypothalamus to promote hypertension
The Neuroanatomical Organization of Hypothalamic Feeding Circuits
Functional identity of hypothalamic melanocortin neurons depends on Tbx3
Coordinated targeting of cold and nicotinic receptors synergistically improves obesity and type 2 diabetes
Chronic D-serine supplementation impairs insulin secretion
Astrocytic Insulin Signaling Couples Brain Glucose Uptake with Nutrient Availability
A New Population of Parvocellular Oxytocin Neurons Controlling Magnocellular Neuron Activity and Inflammatory Pain Processing

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