Prof. Frank Bradke – Group Leader at the Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE), Bonn, delivered a talk titled “Mechanisms of Axon Growth and Regeneration” as part of the EMBO Global Lecture Series on 12th November 2025 at IIT Bombay.
Prof. Frank Bradke is a leading neuroscientist and Group Leader at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn, Germany, and a Professor at the University of Bonn. His research explores the mechanisms of axon growth and regeneration, uncovering how neurons can recover after injury. He has held positions at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology, UCSF, and Stanford University, and is a member of EMBO, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and Academia Europaea. Prof. Bradke is a recipient of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany’s highest scientific honor.
Prof. Bradke gave a captivating lecture exploring how developmental mechanisms and cytoskeletal dynamics drive neuronal polarization and axon growth — and how these insights could be harnessed to promote axon regeneration following spinal cord injury. He discussed how reactivating the neuron’s intrinsic growth program can open new avenues to repair damaged axons, and how axon growth and synapse formation may represent distinct, sometimes competing processes in the adult nervous system.
It was an engaging and interactive session, attended by a large gathering of faculty members, PhD scholars, and students, who participated enthusiastically and gained valuable insights into the cellular and molecular underpinnings of neuronal regeneration.
Title: Mechanisms of Axon Growth and Regeneration
Speaker: Prof. Frank Bradke – Group Leader at the Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE), Bonn
Venue: Seminar Room A, Ground floor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering (BSBE), IIT Bombay
Date: Wednesday 12th November 2025
Time: 4:00 PM
