Queensland Brain Institute

Dr Odette Leiter

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Queensland Brain Institute
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Researcher biography

Dr Odette Leiter is a postdoctoral research fellow in the research group of Dr Tara Walker, investigating systemic brain rejuvenation. She was awarded a PhD in Neuroscience in 2018 by the Technische Universität Dresden in Germany. Her research focus lies on the regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis by physical exercise, a process critically involved in learning and memory.

To support her research at the Queensland Brain Institute, Dr Odette Leiter has received two postdoctoral fellowships, a postdoctoral fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service, followed by a Walter Benjamin Fellowship awarded by the German Research Foundation, allowing her to investigate the role of platelets in mediating neurogenesis-related learning and memory, and the capacity of platelet-released factors to restore cognitive function in ageing. More recently, Dr Leiter has been awarded a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) to investigate the precise mechanisms through which platelets interact with adult hippocampal neural stem cells following exercise.

Featured projects Duration
Research project: Preventing ferroptotic cell death in ageing and neurodegeneration
Research project: Do platelets mediate the exercise-induced reduction in cognitive decline in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease?

Publications

Journal Articles (13)

Journal Articles

Leiter, Odette, Brici, David, Fletcher, Stephen J., Yong, Xuan Ling Hilary, Widagdo, Jocelyn, Matigian, Nicholas, Schroer, Adam B., Bieri, Gregor, Blackmore, Daniel G., Bartlett, Perry F., Anggono, Victor, Villeda, Saul A. and Walker, Tara L. (2023). Platelet-derived exerkine CXCL4/platelet factor 4 rejuvenates hippocampal neurogenesis and restores cognitive function in aged mice. Nature Communications, 14 (1) 4375, 1-20. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-39873-9
Leiter, Odette, Zhuo, Zhan, Rust, Ruslan, Wasielewska, Joanna M., Grönnert, Lisa, Kowal, Susann, Overall, Rupert W., Adusumilli, Vijay S., Blackmore, Daniel G., Southon, Adam, Ganio, Katherine, McDevitt, Christopher A., Rund, Nicole, Brici, David, Mudiyan, Imesh Aththanayake, Sykes, Alexander M., Rünker, Annette E., Zocher, Sara, Ayton, Scott, Bush, Ashley I., Bartlett, Perry F., Hou, Sheng-Tao, Kempermann, Gerd and Walker, Tara L. (2023). Erratum: Selenium mediates exercise-induced adult neurogenesis and reverses learning deficits induced by hippocampal injury and aging (Cell Metabolism (2022) 34(3) (408–423.e8), (S1550413122000055), (10.1016/j.cmet.2022.01.005)). Cell Metabolism, 35 (6), 1085-1085. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2023.04.019
Leiter, Odette, Zhuo, Zhan, Rust, Ruslan, Wasielewska, Joanna M., Grönnert, Lisa, Kowal, Susann, Overall, Rupert W., Adusumilli, Vijay S., Blackmore, Daniel G., Southon, Adam, Ganio, Katherine, McDevitt, Christopher A., Rund, Nicole, Brici, David, Aththanayake Mudiyan, Imesh , Sykes, Alexander M., Rünker, Annette E., Zocher, Sara, Ayton, Scott, Bush, Ashley I., Bartlett, Perry F., Hou, Sheng-Tao, Kempermann, Gerd and Walker, Tara L. (2022). Selenium mediates exercise-induced adult neurogenesis and reverses learning deficits induced by hippocampal injury and aging. Cell Metabolism, 34 (3), 408-423.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2022.01.005
Blackmore, Daniel G., Steyn, Frederik J., Carlisle, Alison, O’Keeffe, Imogen, Vien, King-Year, Zhou, Xiaoqing, Leiter, Odette, Jhaveri, Dhanisha, Vukovic, Jana, Waters, Michael J. and Bartlett, Perry F. (2021). An exercise ‘sweet spot’ reverses cognitive deficits of ageing by growth hormone-induced neurogenesis. iScience, 24 (11) 103275, 1-25. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103275
Pötzsch, Alexandra, Zocher, Sara, Bernas, Stefanie N., Leiter, Odette, Rünker, Annette and Kempermann, Gerd (2021). L-lactate exerts a pro-proliferative effect on adult hippocampal precursor cells in vitro. iScience, 24 (2) 102126, 1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102126
Leiter, Odette and Walker, Tara L. (2020). Platelets in Neurodegenerative Conditions—Friend or Foe?. Frontiers in Immunology, 11 747, 747. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00747
Leiter, Odette and Walker, Tara L. (2019). Platelets: the missing link between the blood and brain?. Progress in Neurobiology, 183 101695, 101695. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2019.101695
Leiter, Odette, Bernas, Stefanie N., Seidemann, Suse, Overall, Rupert W., Horenburg, Cindy, Kowal, Susann, Kempermann, Gerd and Walker, Tara L. (2019). The systemic exercise-released chemokine lymphotactin/XCL1 modulates in vitro adult hippocampal precursor cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation. Scientific Reports, 9 (1) 11831, 11831. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-48360-5
Walther, Andreas, Wasielewska, Joanna Marta and Leiter, Odette (2019). The antidepressant effect of testosterone: an effect of neuroplasticity?. Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research, 32, 104-110. doi: 10.1016/j.npbr.2019.05.004
Leiter, Odette, Seidemann, Suse, Overall, Rupert W., Ramasz, Beáta, Rund, Nicole, Schallenberg, Sonja, Grinenko, Tatyana, Wielockx, Ben, Kempermann, Gerd and Walker, Tara L. (2019). Exercise-induced activated platelets increase adult hippocampal precursor proliferation and promote neuronal differentiation. Stem Cell Reports, 12 (4), 667-679. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2019.02.009
Bernas, Stefanie, Leiter, Odette, Walker, Tara and Kempermann, Gerd (2017). Isolation, culture and differentiation of adult hippocampal precursor cells. Bio-protocol, 7 (21). doi: 10.21769/bioprotoc.2603
Leiter, Odette, Kempermann, Gerd and Walker, Tara L. (2016). A common language: how neuroimmunological cross talk regulates adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Stem Cells International, 2016 1681590, 1-13. doi: 10.1155/2016/1681590
Overall, Rupert W., Walker, Tara L., Leiter, Odette, Lenke, Sina, Ruhwald, Susann and Kempermann, Gerd (2013). Delayed and transient increase of adult hippocampal neurogenesis by physical exercise in DBA/2 mice. PLoS One, 8 (12) e83797, e83797. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083797