Vinicius da Cruz Neris Geßner

A little bit about my Scientific career - I made my bachelor´s in the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Biophysics and after I kept on with my master's degree in Germany at Karlsruhe Institute für Technologies (KIT) in Optics and Photonics with an emphasis in Biomedical optics. Therefore, my academic background is with a focus on the intersection of Biomedicine/Medicine, photochemistry, and microscopy. To sum up, my aim is to improve and use optical tools for research and investigation of biological systems and/or biomedical problems.

With this diverse background, I was assigned to have a translational project that involves the research and investigation of polyneuropathy using dermal nerve fibers using a super-resolution technique, mainly dSTORM. I am working closely in the intersection with the translational bioimage institute (Rudolf Virchow Center for Integrative and Translational Bioimaging - RVZ), more specifically at Heinze Group, and with the Neurology Department of the University Clinic of Würzburg with Doppler and Sommer Groups.

The project aims to evaluate and quantify the main structural proteins and channels from the nodes of Ranvier and axonal cytoskeleton using a super-resolved technique of skin biopsies of PN patients.

The main techniques that I am working with are immunohistochemistry (IHC) of skin samples, optical clearing/refractive index match (reduction of optical aberrations), and optimization of blinking buffer for super-resolved imaging of dermal nerve fibers.