Elena Taverna

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

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About

Elena Taverna is a pioneer at the intersection of developmental neurobiology and robotics, whose work is redefining how we study the building blocks of the brain. Her primary research focuses on neural stem and progenitor cells, seeking to understand how these single cells orchestrate the formation of complex brain tissue. Taverna’s most transformative contribution is the development of the "Autoinjector," a robotic platform that automates the delicate process of microinjection into single cells within living brain slices. This innovation, detailed in her highly cited 2019 paper (29 citations), overcomes the critical bottlenecks of low throughput and the need for expert manual dexterity, making a powerful technique accessible to more laboratories. By enabling precise, high-resolution labeling and manipulation of individual cells over time, her work directly addresses a central question in developmental neurobiology. Taverna’s research is not just a technical achievement; it provides the essential tools to watch, in real-time, how a single neural stem cell gives rise to the brain’s intricate architecture, marking her as a leading figure in automated cellular neuroscience.