Anne Schaefer

Anne Schaefer is a Full Professor with Tenure at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, currently serving as Managing Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany. She co-directs the Center for Glial Biology within the Friedman Brain Institute, focusing on neuroscience and psychiatry.

• Education: Charité University Berlin (MD/PhD), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (undergraduate)

Research Interests: Schaefer’s work bridges neuroscience, neuroimmunology, and epigenetics, with a primary focus on microglial biology, neuronal activity regulation, and mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. Her studies explore how microglia interact with neurons to maintain brain homeostasis and drive plasticity.

Scientific Awards:

• Max Planck Sabbatical Award (2019)
• Inaugural NINDS Landis Award for Outstanding Mentorship (2018)
• NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2012)
• Kavli Frontiers in Science Fellow (2014)
• German Research Foundation DFG Research Fellowship (2006–2008)
• Summa cum laude, Charité University Berlin (2004)

Grants & Funding: Schaefer has secured significant third-party funding, including an ERC Synergy Grant (2021–2027) for the project "Micro-'COPS' - Microglia-control of physiological brain states."

Labs & Teams: She leads a research team at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing and collaborates closely with the Center for Glial Biology at Mount Sinai, where she has held leadership roles since 2017.