Researcher profile

P. Jesper Sjöström

Jesper Sjöström, PhD, is a full professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery and the Department of Medicine at McGill University. He is Acting Leader of the Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) program at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) as well as Director of the Centre for Research in Neuroscience (CRN) at McGill University. He is a recipient of UK MRC Career Development, CIHR New Investigator, FRQS Chercheur-Boursier, and Donald S. Wells Distinguished Scientist awards. His team explores plasticity in the brain using multiple patch-clamp, optogenetics, computer modelling, and custom 2-photon laser-scanning microscopy. His research has unveiled plasticity learning rules, neocortical connectivity patterns, and unorthodox forms of NMDA receptor signalling, which has had implications for Alzheimer disease and epilepsy research. Current and past leadership roles include Chair of the Montreal General Hospital Facility Animal Care Committee, Society for Neuroscience Theme B Chair, and Chief Editor of Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience. Dr. Sjöström's findings and novel ideas have been published in journals such as the Neuron, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, eLife, Frontiers, and Current Opinion in Neurobiology. His work has received support from the European Union, the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ). Dr Sjöström obtained his PhD in 2002 at Brandeis University, working under the supervision of Dr Sacha B. Nelson. Between 2003 and 2007, he did his postdoctoral studies in the lab of Michael Häusser at University College London. Until 2011, Dr Sjöström ran an independent lab at University College London as a Medical Research Council Career Development Fellow.