AGH University of Krakow, Poland, has featured the work of Dr Gloria Lesly Jimenez Miranda, from the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, in optogenetics, a technique that uses light-sensitive proteins to control selected neurones. The field was recognised by the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
She leads a project funded by the National Science Centre (NCN) that aims to combine imaging with microscopic temperature sensing. In the university’s photonics laboratory, her team studies nanoparticles that convert near-infrared light into visible light, which could reduce reliance on implanted optical fibres.
She says she is particularly excited about less invasive ways of controlling neuronal activity. She previously gained hands-on experience at Stanford University in Professor Karl Deisseroth’s laboratory.
