Attila Kaszas, a neuroscientist and beneficiary of the HUN-REN Welcome Home and Foreign Researcher Recruitment Programme, brings home his interdisciplinary expertise acquired in France. The aim of his newly established research group at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology of the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences (HUN-REN TTK) is to investigate one of the most aggressive types of brain cancer, glioblastoma, and one of its severe complications, tumor-associated epilepsy, using methods developed abroad.
Attila Kaszas gained experience in several research institutes in France, combining imaging, electrophysiological, and neurotechnological methods. In his work, he participated in the development of brain-implantable devices that allow the integration of two-photon imaging methods with electrophysiological recording and stimulation. The transparent nature of such devices, which minimally shadows the illuminating and collected light during imaging, enables the simultaneous tracking of brain electrical activity.
Through the neurotechnology he brings, his goal is the multi-level observation of glioblastoma. Moreover, with a unique stimulation protocol, he aims to reduce tumor growth and influence the pathological epileptic activity associated with the tumor by modifying the tumor microenvironment. Through close collaboration with French research groups, the new research team further integrates the HUN-REN Research Center for Natural Sciences into the European scientific circulation.
As part of the HUN-REN Welcome Home and Foreign Researcher Recruitment Programme, which was announced for the first time in 2023 by the HUN-REN HQ, six Hungarian researchers and one foreign researcher from the international elite are coming to Hungary to form research groups at HUN-REN research sites to undertake their outstanding scientific projects as part of the winning proposals.