Lab Members
Some profiles are still under construction and will be updated soon.
Dr. Julia Schuller
PostDoc
Dr. Julia Schuller
PostDoc
Dr. Adel Ben-Kraiem
PostDoc
Dr. Adel Ben-Kraiem
PostDoc
Contact
adel.ben-kraiem@helmholtz-munich.de
Project
Adel is interested in the central nervous system, specifically the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus (mPOA), as a key integrator and regulator of metabolism. mPOA is a long-time known hub in thermoregulation and energy expenditure. Adel specifically focuses on PNOC neurons, a recently discovered neuronal population expressing prepronociceptin (PNOC). He investigates the role of PNOC neurons in the regulation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) function and whole body energy expenditure.
Career
2023 Doctoral degree in Neuroscience on the temporal characterisation of the blood nerve barrier and specialized pro resolving mediators as therapeutic targets in neuropathy at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
2016 Master’s degree in Neuroscience, Behaviour and Cognition at the Paul Sabatier University of Science, Toulouse, France
2014 Bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology and Physiology at the Paul Sabatier University of Science in Toulouse, France
Prizes & Awards
2025 Price for the outstanding poster presentation at the TRR333 BATenergy conference
2024 Travel Grant of the early career training programme of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies
2024 Price of the best poster at the 17th Leipzig Research Festival for Life Science
Lea Dropmann
Doctoral Researcher
Lea Dropmann
Doctoral Researcher
Asma Saidi
Doctoral Researcher
Asma Saidi
Doctoral Researcher
Contact
asma.saidi@helmholtz-munich.de
Project
Asma is interested in the neural control of metabolism, with a particular focus on white adipose tissue biology and sympathetic adipose tissue innervation. Their research explores how hypothalamic circuits, including prepronociceptin (PNOC)-expressing neurons in the medial preoptic area, regulate adipose tissue function and whole-body metabolic homeostasis. By integrating chemogenetic, physiological, and transcriptomic approaches, they investigate the mechanisms through which brain-adipose tissue communication influences metabolic health.
Career
January 2025 - present Ph.D. Researcher at HI-MAG, Germany, Investigating the role of prepronociceptin (PNOC)-expressing neurons in the medial preoptic area (mPOA) in regulating adipose tissue metabolism and systemic metabolic homeostasis.
January 2024 - June 2024 Master’s Thesis Researcher, INSERM, Lille, France, within the Development & Plasticity of the Neuroendocrine Brain team. Research focused on the role of tanycytic VEGF receptors in metabolic regulation.
September 2022 - June 2023 Euromediterranean International Master in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, University of Bordeaux, France, and Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Morocco
September 2019 - June 2022 B.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Morocco
