MPI welcomes new Max Planck Research Group Leader Andrija Sente
New group leader will investigate the molecular mechanisms of neuronal communication
From January 2026, Andrija Sente will establish his independent Max Planck Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund. His group will investigate how neurons communicate with one another. Max Planck Research Group leaders are appointed by the President of the Max Planck Society and, like the directors of Max Planck Institutes, enjoy an autonomous status within the institute.
Andrija completed the Medical and Veterinary Science Tripos at the University of Cambridge. He earned his PhD at the renowned MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the Neurobiology department under the supervision of Radu Aricescu and continued there as a post‑doctoral researcher. During that period, he investigated Type-A GABA receptors, a class of inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors targeted by many common medicines such as anti-anxiety drugs, anti-epileptics, and general anaesthetics. He discovered a previously unrecognized diversity in how these receptors are built and determined the first structure of the receptor in an unassembled form. He also took part in a collaboration that produced the first atomic‑resolution reconstruction of a biological specimen by cryo‑electron microscopy (cryo‑EM).
His scientific achievements have been recognized with the British Neuroscience Association's Postgraduate Prize and Grand Prize of the 2024 Science and SciLifeLab Award for Young Scientists.
We are delighted to welcome Andrija as a new group leader at the MPI and wish him a smooth start and great success in building his research team.
Learn more about Andrija and his work in the following interview.
Andrija, what will your lab research focus be and what lead you to this area of research?
Andrija, what will your lab research focus be and what lead you to this area of research?
The group will investigate the mechanisms by which neurons talk to each other. This communication underlies all of our cognitive functions and is disrupted in common neurological and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. One way by which neurons exchange and process information is through specialized connections called synapses and, despite decades of research, we still do not understand the molecular and cellular processes responsible for synapse formation, maintenance, specialization, remodelling as a function of activity, and elimination. This also means we don't understand why they become dysfunctional in disease which hinders rational drug development.
Why does cryo-EM play such a big role in your science?
In the past several years we have relied heavily on cryo-EM as a means of obtaining insights into, for example, the mechanisms by which cells assemble neurotransmitter receptors. We have also used it as a discovery tool - for example, to identify the vast diversity within a class of inhibitory receptors called Type-A GABA receptors, a principle by which cells can diversify signaling through these receptors from a limited number of building blocks, and entirely new receptor types and drug pockets. That said, our research is not built exclusively around structural biology and cryo-EM. My goal is to build an interdisciplinary team of scientists that are driven by biological problems and are willing to use any approach and method required to solve them.
Why did you choose to establish your group at the MPI Dortmund?
The institute has everything we need for our research, including a world-class facility for electron microscopy. The institute also offers an excellent synergy for us: Stefan Raunser’s department is at the forefront of in-situ cryo-EM imaging, and Andrea Musacchio’s department sets the standard for the rigorous mechanistic investigation of cellular pathways. Our group will sit right at the intersection of these two approaches. Moreover, everyone I met during the visits was friendly and from the beginning I felt I have a great rapport with Stefan and Andrea. I also loved their vision of a collaborative, open institute, which is extremely helpful for a Max Planck Research Group, and we will make sure to contribute our own spark of enthusiasm for research, and hopefully some scientific content as well.
What are you trying to achieve through your research and how is it going to impact science and society?
Diseases of the brain are arguably the most important concern and challenge of our society. For the majority of neurological and psychiatric disorders we do not currently have effective therapies because we do not understand why people become unwell and what is happening in the brain when people become unwell. Therefore, the most important challenge in neuroscience, as far as clinical medicine and societal impact are concerned, is to understand the molecular mechanisms and cellular processes that underly disease pathogenesis. I hope that our work will provide a clearer picture of some of these processes and that this may one day directly benefit affected individuals. More generally, the brain is thought to constitute the essence of what makes us human and working towards understanding even slightly better some of the processes that underly our reasoning abilities, our emotions, our memories and so on, is incredibly exciting.
What do you like to do in your spare time, aside from scientific work?
I like to do many things depending on the mood, season, etc. Sorted approximately by the time I spend doing any of the following activities: I play several musical instruments (a traditional Croatian string instrument called Tambura, as well as guitar and piano), I do many sports (football, I have a black belt in karate, I am also an avid chess player...), I love reading (fiction, biographies, science history etc.), watching movies. Recently I've become an enthusiastic user of the Merlin Bird ID app.