Johannes Passecker

Johannes Passecker serves as a Asst. Prof. at the Institute of Neurobiochemistry, Medical University Innsbruck. He holds a degree in Pharmaceutical and Medical Biotechnology and earned a PhD in Experimental Neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. The overarching aim of his collaborative research is to improve the neurobiological understanding of risk factors on frontal cortex linked neuronal circuit function to develop better model systems for stringent and efficient testing of potential rescue options for psychiatric disorders. To achieve this aim, an array of integrative approaches is applied with collaborators, ranging from expression profiling, neuroanatomical approaches, Genetic Mouse models, behavioral assays, as well as in-vivo Electrophysiology, Optogenetics, and advanced machine learning tools. This research interests has brought him to frontline labs at the Medical University of Vienna, Columbia University, New York and the National Institute of Health, Maryland.

  Johannes has been actively engaged in a number of public outreach activities and numerous mentoring activities. For his activities he received an Amgen Mentor Award in 2020 and IMC Alumni Award 2019 and most recently established a Life Science Career Mentoring Program at the Medical University Innsbruck. He is the local EBRAINS spokesperson and initiated the „Young Faculty“, a representative body for tenure track Professors. He further acts in several capacities as Neurotech Consultant, VC Fund Advisor and Neuroscience Columnist. Since Autumn 2021 he is also general secretary of the Austrian Neuroscience Association.

He is also a co-funder of a new startup project TiliaHealth, focused on novel digital psychiatric diagnostics for mental health disorders.