Professor Lutz Birnbaumer

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, USA

Molecular makeup and physiology of TRPC channels

Lutz Birnbaumer, Ph.D., heads the Transmembrane Signaling Group within the Laboratory of Neurobiology. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires in 1966. He has published over 320 peer-reviewed articles in leading biomedical journals, as well as close to 150 reviews and book chapters. His research has led to major discoveries about the nature and physiological significance of membrane signalling through G protein coupled receptors, calcium signalling, and TRPC channels, including the initial cloning of the mammalian TRPC channels in 1995-1996. Reflecting the outstanding impact of his research, Birnbaumer has the extraordinary distinction of having 33,000 citations, an average citation per peer reviewed publication of 89 and an H factor of 93. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Joe Lynch

Queensland Brain Institute, Australia

Joe Lynch completed a BSc in Physics at the University of Melbourne. He subsequently completed a M.Biomed.E. and a Ph.D. at the University of NSW. Following postdoctoral periods in Germany, France and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, he moved to University of QLD in 1996 as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences. He was awarded an NHMRC Research Fellowship in 2004 (renewed in 2009) and relocated to the QBI in 2007. His major research interests concern the molecular structure and function of the glycine and GABA-A inhibitory neurotransmitter ion channels.

Professor Håkan Westerblad

Karolinska Inst, Sweden

Scandinavian Exchange Lecturer - Muscle fatigue

Håkan Westerblad is professor of cellular muscle physiology at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. He and his colleagues developed techniques to study contractile function and Ca2+ handling in isolated, intact fibres from mammalian skeletal muscle. A major focus of his research is cellular mechanisms of skeletal muscle fatigue. Recent research also involves mechanisms underlying skeletal and cardiac muscle disorders. He is Senior Editor of the Journal of Physiology and Editor in Chief of the European Journal of Applied Physiology. He has published over 160 peer-reviewed papers and these have been quoted more than 6000 times.