Swebags board consists of the following roles and members:
Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski, Professor KTH
EBRAINS contact and Chair
I’m a Professor in Neuroinformatics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The main focus of my research is to use computational modeling and simulations to understand the basal ganglia. The levels of investigation range from simulations of large-scale neural networks, using both biophysically detailed as well as abstract systems level models, down to kinetic models of subcellular processes. For most of my projects interdisciplinary collaborations with experimental labs are crucial, and I also have a research group at Karolinska Institute.
Angela Cenci Nilsson, Professor LU
Translational research representative, Vice chair
I am a Professor of Experimental Medical Research at Lund University. After studying Medicine and Neurology in Italy, I moved to Sweden to pursue basic and translational research on basal ganglia disorders (particularly on Parkinson’s disease). To this end, our group developed rodent models reproducing key features of human movement disorders and used these models to uncover basic disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. I have commissions of trust at several national and international organisations that support translational research on Parkinson’s disease and related disorders.
Arvind Kumar, Associate Professor KTH
Computational science and machine learning research representative, Education representative
In my research group we are investigating dynamics and information processing in biological neuronal networks and building model-driven data analyses tools. We are also developing mathematical models of brain diseases (e.g. Parkinson’s disease) to understand the disease mechanisms and to devise means to control the brain activity dynamics. Besides, neuroscience I spend my time either playing Cricket or analyzing Cricket related data. I believe neuroscience is a good model to understand cricket.
Daniel Vare, Project manager KTH
Secretary
I am a Project leader / Project manager at KTH supporting several different EU projects e.g. the Human Brain Project (HBP)/EBRAINS as a community builder and EPiGRAM-HS. I have a background with a PhD in molecular genetics with focus on DNA crosslinks.
Filip Bergquist, Professor/Chief Physician GU
Swemodis representative
Objective measurements of movements in Parkinson’s disease have been at focus of my research since 2008 when I returned from a post doc position at the University of Edinburgh. I now hold a position as professor in pharmacology and senior consultant in neurology at Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg and I am a board member in the Swedish Movement Disorder Society and SWEPAR. I have an interest in experimental basal ganglia pharmacology and neurology. In my research group we study how passive movement measurements and digital support systems can be used to improve clinical outcomes of established pharmacological treatments for Parkinson’s disease. We are also investigating dopamine agonist induced impulsivity in rodents with the aim to develop treatments for this complication.
Gilad Silberberg, Professor KI
Neurophysiology research representative, Education representative
I am a professor of Neurophysiology at the Department of Neuroscience. In my lab we are interested in the functional organization of neuronal circuits in the basal ganglia underlying sensory and motor functions. We use various electrophysiological, optical, and morphological methods to study the local and long-range synaptic connectivity of these circuits.
Gilberto Fisone, Professor KI
IBAGS relationship representative
We study molecular and signal transduction mechanisms underlying neurotransmission in the basal ganglia. During the last two decades we identified key molecular events involved in the effects of various classes of drugs, including addictive substances and antipsychotic medications. We are also studying signal transduction abnormalities linked to motor and psychiatric complications caused by prolonged administration of antiparkinsonian drugs. More recently, we developed models of Parkinson’s disease to study the molecular and network alterations at the basis of non-motor symptoms, which include cognitive and affective disorders.
Peder Svensson, Director of Computational Chemistry & Biology IRLAB
SME relationship representative
I have over 25 years of experience in research and research management in the pharmaceutical industry. I hold a PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry and started as a computational chemist at Astra Hässle in 1992. 2013 I co-founded IRLAB. I have been involved in drug discovery research in many different indication areas and in the recent years focused mainly on CNS disorders. I’m involved in our early discovery projects utilizing IRLAB’s systems pharmacology-based CNS drug discovery platform, ISP, where I contribute with a broad range of computational, data analysis and modelling tasks. I am also responsible for coordinating IRLAB’s networking activities and research and innovation grant applications.
Per Peterson, Associate professor UMU
Behavioral and system neuroscience representative
The way neural circuits process information and control behaviours has captivated me throughout my academic life. In my research group, we have therefore made great efforts to design recording techniques to follow neuronal dynamics in highly distributed networks during behaviour. Applying these methods, we investigate how the basal ganglia interact with other brain structures in the control of movements, and how disease conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, affects these processes.
Åsa Mackenzie, Professor UU
Affective and associative functions representative
I am a professor in Molecular Physiology at Uppsala University, Dept of Organism Biology. I am interested in how emotions and affective memory guide motivation and behavioral output (what we do, how we behave in different contexts), and how these functions can be disturbed in certain neuropsychiatric conditions such as anxiety, compulsivity, and addiction, as well as in Parkinson´s disease. To understand these processes, we work in my lab with decoding neurocircuitry of reward and aversion with a particular focus on the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA). We use transgenic and optogenetic approaches in combination with behavioral recordings as well as molecular and histological techniques.
