.: Freund, Tamás F.

Tamás F. Freund is a Professor and Director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, and Head of its Cellular and Network Neurobiology Department. He is also Chairmen of the Neuroscience Department of the Péter Pázmány Catholic University in Budapest. He was elected President-elect of FENS in 2002, and will serve as President from 2004 till 2006.

He served as member of the Executive Committee of IBRO, and as Chairman of the IBRO Central and Eastern Europe Regional Committee from 1999 till 2003. He was member of the Program Committee of ENA for 6 years (1993-1998). He was chairman of the Quality of Life Committee of the National Research and Development Program (Ministery of Education, Hungary, 2000-2003), chairman of the Neuroscience Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1997-2002), secretary of the Neuroscience Committee of the Hungarian National Scientific Research Fund (1991-1996), Executive Committee member of the Hungarian Neuroscience Society since 1993, and its secretary between 1993 and 1997.

He is section editor of 2 international journals, and editorial board member of several others. He published over 160 peer-reviewed papers in international journals. He is member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and received several awards an honours in Hungary as well as abroad (Switzerland, USA, Italy). He receives research support from the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health (USA), Framework Program 6 of the EU, and the Philip Morris External Research Program.

His main scientific interest is the synaptic and molecular organization, functional architecture and physiology of neuronal circuits in the cerebral cortex and related structures, the network basis of behaviour-dependent population discharge patterns in the hippocampus, the changes in neuronal connectivity/chemical architecture underlying epileptic and ischemic brain damage, the mechanisms of endocannabinoid signaling and its relationship with anxiety.