Zoltan Molnar

Professor Molnár works on the development and evolution of the mammalian cerebral cortex. He contributed to the understanding of how cortical neurons are born, migrate and assemble into circuits. Molnár pioneered the study of transient connectivity during cerebral cortical development. He argued that the unique set of inputs and outputs plays a fundamental role in shaping the early cortical development. Molnár developed methods for in vitro study of cortical circuit formation, relating this to specific cortical developmental events. Molnár and colleagues identified the earliest generated cortical neurons in human. He and Blakemore proposed that ascending thalamic axons confront corticofugal fibres at the pallial-subpallial boundary and grow over the corticofugal scaffold. Molnár provided explanations for human clinical conditions by identifying key cortical developmental mechanisms, such as neurogenesis and migration in animal models. Molnár’s laboratory produced the first transcriptomic atlas of mouse neocortical layers (with Chris Ponting) and linked gene expression networks in specific cortical layers to neurological disease. Molnár demonstrated that developmental gene expression in the early-generated and largely transient cortical subplate neurons overlaps significantly with gene networks that have been specifically linked to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and autism. Molnár has made unique contributions to the understanding of brain evolution. With comparisons in metatherian and eutherian mammals he established that the subventricular zone, with its intermediate progenitors, is a key developmental milestone in the formation of a 6-layered mammalian neocortex.

Positions: 1988-1989: Resident in Neurological Surgery, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University, Szeged, Hungary; 1989-1990: Soros - Hungarian Academy of Sciences Scholarship, Hertford College, Oxford; 1990-1992 Baring Senior Scholar, Hertford College, Oxford; 1990-1992: Wellcome Trust Research Assistant, University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford; 1992-1995: Junior Research Fellow, Merton College, Oxford; 1994-1997: MRC Research Training Fellow, University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford; 1997-1998: MRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford; 1998-1999: Premier assistant, Médecine, Institut de Biologie Cellulaire et de Morphologie, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 2000-2007: University Lecturer, Department of Human Anatomy and Genetics, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QX (appointed until the age of retirement in 2005); 2000-present: Official Fellow and Tutor in Human Anatomy at St John's College, Oxford; 2007-present: Professor of Developmental Neuroscience, DPAG, University of Oxford, England, UK.

Other professional activities (last 5 years, selected): 2015-2019: Member of Neurosciences and Mental Health Board, Medical Research Council (MRC); 2015-2018: Councillor, Anatomical Society; 2013-2014: Deputy Head of Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford; 2010-2013: Member of Oxford McGill Neuroscience Collaboration Committee; 2014-present: Member of the Neuroscience Strategic Oversight Committee, University of Oxford; 2011-2014 Member of the Neuroscience Management Board, University of Oxford; 2010-present Member of the MSc in Neurosciences Management Board, University of Oxford; 2011-2018: Management Committee, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford; 2002-2004 Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Human Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford; Founding senior member of the University Oxford Cortex Club (http://cortexclub.com/about/). Founded the History of Medical Sciences Website (https://history.medsci.ox.ac.uk/). Visitor at the History of Science Museum, Oxford and a member of the FENS History Committee. Publishing: 2002-2008: Section editor of The European Journal of Neuroscience (Developmental Neurobiology), Editorial Board: Cerebral Cortex, Journal of Comparative Neurology, Journal of Anatomy, Brain Structure and Function, Faculty of 1000, Frontiers of Neurogenesis, Frontiers of Neuroanatomy, Frontiers of Cellular Neuroscience; Progress in Neurobiology.

Honors (selection): 2019: Elected Member of Academia Europaea (Physiology and Neuroscience); 2019: Elected member to the European Neonatal Brain Club (society involved in the study of neonatal brain); 2018 Elected Fellow of the Anatomical Society, Awarded New Fellow of the Year Award for 2018; 2018 Professorial Merit Pay Awards, University of Oxford; 2012: Elected Member of “Circle of Willis” Association of medical teachers at Oxford; 2006: Elected Member of “Bundle of His” Association of medical teachers at Oxford; 2015: Allan & Maria Myers International Visiting Fellowship, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; 1999: Krieg Cortical Kudos Cortical Explorer Prize of the American Anatomical Society's Cajal Club. DPhil thesis won the Biennial Rolleston Memorial Prize of Oxford and Cambridge Universities (for the best DPhil thesis for 1994-1995 at Oxford and Cambridge).