Chulalongkorn University BRIDGES Nobel Laureate Talk Series: Navigating the Frontiers of Medical Discovery

As the Chulalongkorn University BRIDGES Nobel Laureate Talk Series continues its illuminating journey, the third session, held on February 12th, 2024, will explore the frontiers of medical discovery. This event, a pivotal part of the JAPAN-ASEAN BRIDGES Event Series, facilitated by the International Peace Foundation, is committed to hosting a distinguished Nobel Laureate in Medicine after the first two engaging sessions in Physics and Economics.

The upcoming session promises to be a profound exploration of medical insights, featuring a keynote address by a Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Professor Edvard Moser. Renowned for his groundbreaking role in the discovery of grid cells in the brain, Professor Moser’s work has revolutionized our understanding of spatial representation in the mammalian brain, offering crucial insights into spatial deficits in neurological diseases and the neural processes involved in memory and thinking. In recognition of his contributions, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded him with a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2014, which he shared with his wife, a Norwegian neuroscientist May-Britt Moser, and a British-American neuroscientist John O’Keefe. His research focusing on identifying neural networks in the hippocampus, has had far-reaching implications. The discovery of grid cells, along with other cell types in the medial entorhinal cortex, has unveiled the intricacies of spatial navigation, providing a neural code comparable to GPS.

In his keynote speech entitled “The brain’s GPS: how we know where we are”, Professor Moser will delve into the critical functions of organizing space and time in the mammalian brain. The lecture will focus on how the mammalian brain encodes space and time. Also, he will share insights from his Nobel-awarded discoveries on space, highlighting the entorhinal cortex’s role in spatial representation. The lecture will also explore how time can be inferred from the joint activity of cells in a different region of the entorhinal cortex. This comprehensive brain system, adapted
for encoding both space and time, holds particular significance in understanding neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Not only does the Talk Series aim to promote global collaboration and understanding on an international scale through comprehensive research in the field of Medicine but also stands as a testament to the university’s commitment to nurturing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Following the keynote speech, the Q&A session will provide a platform for further discussion and intellectual exchange.

The Chulalongkorn University BRIDGES Nobel Laureate Talk Series will be concluded by one more event on March 25th, 2024. Interested participants can obtain more information on our website (https://www.inter.chula.ac.th/) . For those who wish to attend the session are welcomed to join the event, free of charge, by simply clicking the registration link (https://bit.ly/Chula_BRIDGES) . For further information and media inquiries, please contact The Office of International Affairs and Global Network, Chulalongkorn University, at int.off@chula.ac.th or 02-2183126.