Danzl Group
High-Resolution Optical Imaging for Biology
How can we decode the molecular and cellular architecture of biological systems? How can we analyze cells and tissues across spatial scales? The central aim of the Danzl lab, an interdisciplinary team of physicists, biologists, computer scientists, and neuroscientists, is to develop optical imaging technologies that allow addressing problems of biological and medical relevance in unprecedented ways.
The Danzl group explores and extends the possibilities of optical imaging, reaching from the organ level to the subcellular nanometer range, at much better resolutions than the limits of classical light microscopy. With their technological developments, the group aims to access novel qualities of information from biological specimens. The group works toward reconstructing the brain and other cells/tissues with structural and molecular detail at nanoscale resolution, employing an integrated multi-disciplinary approach spanning from optical physics and advanced data analysis to biological application.
Group Leader
Administrative Support
Team
Eder Miguel Villalba
Research Technician/Software Engineer
+43 2243 9000 7128
Current Projects
Synapse-level reconstruction of brain tissue | Optical imaging of cell and tissue ultrastructure | Molecular characterization in spatial tissue context
Publications
Watson J, Vargas Barroso VM, Morse R, Navas Olivé AC, Tavakoli M, Danzl JG, Tomschik M, Rössler K, Jonas PM. 2025. Human hippocampal CA3 uses specific functional connectivity rules for efficient associative memory. Cell. 188(2), 501–514.e18. View
Gallei MC, Truckenbrodt SM, Kreuzinger C, Inumella S, Vistunou V, Sommer CM, Tavakoli M, Agudelo Duenas N, Vorlaufer J, Jahr W, Randuch M, Johnson AJ, Benková E, Friml J, Danzl JG. 2025. Super-resolution expansion microscopy in plant roots. The Plant Cell., koaf006. View
Michalska JM, Lyudchik J, Velicky P, Korinkova H, Watson J, Cenameri A, Sommer CM, Amberg N, Venturino A, Roessler K, Czech T, Höftberger R, Siegert S, Novarino G, Jonas PM, Danzl JG. 2024. Imaging brain tissue architecture across millimeter to nanometer scales. Nature Biotechnology. 42, 1051–1064. View
Dunajova Z, Prats Mateu B, Radler P, Lim K, Brandis D, Velicky P, Danzl JG, Wong RW, Elgeti J, Hannezo EB, Loose M. 2023. Chiral and nematic phases of flexible active filaments. Nature Physics. 19, 1916–1926. View
Danzl JG, Velicky P. 2023. LIONESS enables 4D nanoscale reconstruction of living brain tissue. Nature Methods. 20(8), 1141–1142. View
ReX-Link: Johann Danzl
Career
Since 2017 Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2012 – 2016 Postdoc, Department of NanoBiophotonics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
2010 – 2011 Postdoc, Institute for Experimental Physics, University of Innsbruck, Austria
2010 PhD, University of Innsbruck, Austria
2005 MD, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria
Selected Distinctions
2018 Otto-Kraupp Prize for the best medical habilitation of 2017 in Austria, Society of Physicians in Vienna
2012 – 2014 Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship
2011 PhD Thesis selected as one of the four best in the years 2009 and 2010 by the AMO (Atomic, Molecular, Optical) section of the German Physical Society
2009 Liechtenstein Prize
2006 Scholarship for Intellectually Highly Gifted Persons, Rotary Club Innsbruck
