Rate My Professor Michel Herde

Dr Michel Herde is the CNE Laboratory Coordinator in the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Otago. He is a key member of the Centre for Neuroendocrinology, overseeing laboratory operations and facilities that support neuroendocrinology research groups.

Dr Herde has contributed to neuroscience and neuroendocrinology through numerous peer-reviewed publications. His research encompasses the morphology and projections of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons, astrocyte roles in epilepsy and synaptic plasticity, and sensor development for neurotransmitters. Key publications include: 'GnRH neurons elaborate a long-range projection with shared axonal and dendritic functions' (Journal of Neuroscience, 2013); 'Gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons extend complex highly branched dendritic trees outside the blood-brain barrier' (Endocrinology, 2011); 'Astrocyte uncoupling as a cause of human temporal lobe epilepsy' (Brain, 2015); 'LTP induction boosts glutamate spillover by driving withdrawal of perisynaptic astroglia' (Neuron, 2020); 'Subcellular reorganization and altered phosphorylation of the astrocytic gap junction protein connexin43 in human and experimental temporal lobe epilepsy' (Glia, 2017); 'Spatial properties of astrocyte gap junction coupling in the rat hippocampus' (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2014); 'Construction of a robust and sensitive arginine biosensor through ancestral protein reconstruction' (Protein Science, 2015); 'Monitoring hippocampal glycine with the computationally designed optical sensor GlyFS' (Nature Chemical Biology, 2018); 'Highly redundant neuropeptide volume co-transmission underlying episodic activation of the GnRH neuron dendron' (eLife, 2021); 'Heterogeneity and development of fine astrocyte morphology captured by diffraction-limited microscopy' (Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 2021); 'Morphological assessment of GABA and glutamate inputs to GnRH neurons in intact female mice using expansion microscopy' (Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 2021); and 'Epileptic activity triggers rapid ROCK1-dependent astrocyte morphology changes' (GLIA, 2024). These works reflect his involvement in advancing knowledge on neuronal structure, glial cell dynamics, and neuropeptide signaling.