Thomas C. Südhof

Biography
Thomas Christian Südhof is a neuroscientist whose work has focused on how neurons communicate with each other at synapses. Südhof’s postdoctoral work with Drs. Mike Brown and Joe Goldstein at UT Southwestern in Dallas, TX, examined cholesterol metabolism, but he switched his research focus to neuroscience to study synapses when he started his own laboratory in 1986. Here, Südhof’s research initially studied how a presynaptic neuron rapidly secretes neurotransmitters, which initiates synaptic transmission. This work revealed a general mechanism of regulated secretion which was honored by a Nobel Prize in 2013 shared with Jim Rothman and Randy Scheckman. More recently, Südhof’s studies focused on how synapses in brain are formed and shaped, resulting in the identification of trans-neuronal signaling networks that control synaptic connections. Moreover, Südhof’s work addressed how these synaptic connections become impaired in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, with the hope of gaining access to possible new therapeutic avenues.