Ingelheim, Germany/Barcelona, Spain, 16 July 2012 – This year's Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Award was granted to Ilka Diester from Stanford University Department of Bioengineering, Stanford, USA at the 8th FENS Forum of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies, July 14-18 in Barcelona. The biannual Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Research Award is endowed with 25 000 Euro in recognition of outstanding research of young scientists in the field of neuroscience.
Ilka Diester's scientific interest focuses on the neural mechanisms controlling movements with a particular focus on the differences in neuronal connectivity between mammalian species. The 34-years old scientist wins the award for her outstanding work combining optogenetics – a novel method using genetic and optical techniques – with the investigation of complex behaviours in rodents and rhesus monkeys to dissect the neural circuits underlying movements.