NHLI Seminar – Jan Niklas Hansen: Cellular decision making through the lens of the primary cilium

Meeting ID: 353 007 201 029 68

Passcode: no3D8ax9

Short Bio: Jan studied Molecular Biomedicine in Bonn while building not only wet-lab but also dry-lab skills. Since his undergraduate studies, he has developed several open-source image analysis tools, such as CiliaQ, SpermQ, and FreQ. In his PhD studies with Prof. Dagmar Wachten at the University of Bonn, Jan studied ciliary cAMP signaling with subcellular optogenetics and biosensors.  Next, Jan moved on to a postdoc with Prof. Emma Lundberg at KTH – Royal Institute of Technology and the Human Protein Atlas, both in Sweden, funded by a Wenner-Gren Fellowship. Later, Jan transitioned to Stanford University with the Lundberg Lab under an EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship. In his postdoc, Jan applies Spatial Proteomics approaches to study the ciliary protein repertoire and its cell-type specificity as well as single-cell variation.

Talk Description: How do cells know their tasks in a specific time and place? In this context, we study primary cilia, tiny hair-like structures that emerge from most body cells, allowing them to perform fine-tuned sensing of their environment and to respond accordingly. Our research focuses on how human cilia drive cellular decisions across scales, from ciliary protein localization and mechanisms to tissue functions.