Plenary lecture

Born in Basel, Switzerland, Carlos Ribeiro studied Bio II at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel and performed his diploma under the supervision of Dr. Markus Affolter and Prof. Walter Gehring studying how TGF-beta signaling and HOX transcription factors affect transcription in the Drosophila embryo. After graduating in 1999 he continued in the laboratory of Prof. Affolter for his PhD studies until 2003 where he used 3D time lapse imaging approaches in the living embryo to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms used to sculpt the tubular breathing network of the fruitfly. In 2004 he joined the laboratory of Barry Dickson at the IMP in Vienna, Austria, for his postdoctoral training where he first characterized Robo receptor trafficking in living Drosophila embryos and then became interested in decision making in the adult fly. Carlos Ribeiro became principal investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the IGC in 2009. His laboratory studies how neuronal systems sense metabolic needs and modify neuronal processes to generate the correct behavioral decisions needed for the survival and reproduction of organisms.

Ribero Lab works at the interface of behavior, metabolism and physiology in the adult fruitfly. They use a combination of powerful molecular circuit manipulations, sophisticated behavioral analyses, and imaging approaches for a mechanistic understanding of how neuronal circuits control nutritional decisions to regulate important traits such as aging and reproduction.