Marcus studied biology and computer science now works at Newcastle University in the field of Neuroinformatics which combines both areas. He observes how the human brain is connected and how the wiring from patients with developmental diseases differs from healthy subjects. By using computational tools he aims to better diagnose brain disorders and to inform about the most suitable therapy for individual patients. Current projects involve the simulation of human brain development to understand the rise of schizophrenia, Tourette Syndrome, and epilepsy (http://www.greenbrainproject.org/ ) as well as the development of novel treatments for epilepsy patients.
Schematic drawings, or comics in other terms, are an essential tool to communicate ideas within my lab and with other researchers. These are exciting times for our research field as, for the first time, we have enough data to build realistic models of human brain development and brain function. More information about our research can be found at http://www.biological-networks.org/ and there are various Neuroinformatics training opportunities at Newcastle (http://research.ncl.ac.uk/neuroinformatics).
