30 | 2025 GIGA Annual Report Anneline Pinson HER PROJECT Involvement of GnRH in alterations in neocortex development induced by exposure to endocrine disruptors We are all exposed to a growing number of endocrine disruptors. These endocrine disruptors have harmful effects on our health and represent a major public health problem. At the same time, we are facing a drastic increase in the incidence of cognitive and behavioral diseases such as autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or anxiety, which cannot be explained by genetic factors alone. It has therefore been proposed that environmental factors, which affect essential developmental processes, are risk factors for neurodevelopmental diseases. My team will therefore aim to determine whether developmental exposure to endocrine disruptors affects the development and maturation of extra-hypothalamic circuits of the neuroendocrine system, within the neocortex, and alters cognitive functions. ABOUT HER Anneline Pinson obtained a Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Liège in 2012. She then completed her doctoral thesis in the laboratory of Prof. Anne-Simone Parent, within the Neuroendocrinology unit of the GIGA. Her research focused on the effects of persistent endocrine disruptors - such as polychlorinated biphenyls - on the hippocampus, a brain region essential for memory. During her doctorate, she spent two research periods in Portland, in the laboratory of Prof. Gary Westbrook, where she learned specialist techniques. After defending her thesis in 2016, Anneline Pinson continued her training in Germany, in Prof. Wieland Huttner’s laboratory at the Max Planck Institute (MPI-CBG) in Dresden. There, she became interested in the development of the neocortex, the largest region of the human brain. In 2023, she returned to Belgium to join Professor Anne-Simone Parent’s laboratory. New Research Associates
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