Detlev Arendt

Prof. Dr. Detlev Arendt is a group leader and Senior Scientist at the Developmental Biology Unit at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg and also holds a honorary professorship at the Centre for Organismal Studies at Heidelberg University. At EMBL, he is co-chair of the Planetary Biology transversal theme. His laboratory has established the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii as a molecular model for evolutionary and developmental research, with a major interest in the nervous system. Arendt has studied the evolution of eyes and brains and pioneered the new field of cell type evolution. He has received two consecutive European Research Council Advanced Grants and is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization member and of the Academia Europea.