Dr. Ehud (Udi) Isacoff
Dr. Ehud (Udi) Isacoff
Join Dr. Ehud (Udi) Isacoff, a pioneering neuroscientist from UC Berkeley, as he reveals how optical control of brain circuits is transforming our approach to treating neurological disorders—from restoring vision in blindness to addressing Parkinson’s disease and depression.
Discover how Dr. Isacoff’s team developed photo-switchable molecules that use light to precisely activate or inhibit specific neurotransmitter receptors, enabling unprecedented control over synaptic function. Learn about the remarkable translational journey from foundational research to successful company formation and acquisition by Novartis, including critical insights on securing long-term funding and institutional support.
This session offers invaluable lessons for anyone interested in neuroscience innovation, drug discovery, or academic entrepreneurship. You’ll understand why treating complex neurological conditions requires more precision than treating a headache, and how photopharmacology provides that specificity. Whether you’re a researcher, clinician, or entrepreneur, gain practical insights into transforming scientific discoveries into real-world therapies that restore movement, vision, and mental health through persistence, collaboration, and innovative thinking.
Learning Objective
• Describe the mechanism of photochemical synaptic control, including light-sensitive switch attachment to NMDA, AMPA, and G protein-coupled receptors, and explain how this enables precise spatial and temporal modulation of neuronal activity.
• Identify translational applications of photochemical tools, including restoration of vision in retinal degeneration models and motor function in dopamine-depleted Parkinson’s models, and assess their pathway to clinical relevance.
• Evaluate the role of dopamine receptor modulation in motor control and reinforcement learning, and analyze how cell-type-specific neuromodulation offers mechanistic and clinical advantages over systemic pharmacology.
• Analyze the translational pathway from NIH-funded basic science to startup formation, using the Photoswitch Biosciences to Novartis acquisition as a case study, and identify the funding milestones, VC engagement, and institutional factors that enabled commercialization.
• Apply lessons from Dr. Isacoff’s entrepreneurial journey to evaluate how long-term foundational research investment, strategic partnerships, and staged translational milestones can inform scholars’ own neurotech commercialization strategies.
Dr. Ehud (Udi) Isacoff
Ehud (Udi) Isacoff is a neuroscientist and biophysicist whose research probes the molecular and cellular basis of brain function, with a particular focus on synaptic signaling, sensory perception, and circuit dynamics. By combining advanced imaging, electrophysiology, and genetic engineering, Isacoff’s lab explores how neural circuits process information and adapt to experience.
Isacoff is renowned for developing fluorescent sensors that visualize and control neurotransmission in real time, enabling new insights into how neurons communicate. His research has advanced understanding of learning and memory, sensory integration, and neurological disorders at both molecular and systems levels.
A leader in neurotechnology and synaptic biology, Isacoff is a professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley, where he also serves as Director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Berkeley’s component of Weill Neurohub, which joins with UCSF, University of Washington and the Allen Brain Institute to bring discoveries and new technologies of neuroscience to the clinic. Isacoff is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Research Expertise and Interest:
Ion channel function, synaptic plasticity, neural excitability, synaptic transmission, synapse
Resources