Join us for a Summer School on environmental and computational neuroscience!

Prof. Gunter Schumann, Distinguished Professor and Director, Centre for Population Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS) at ISTBI, Fudan University, Shanghai, China and Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin Germany

Prof. Gunter Schumann MD PhD, Distinguished Professor and Director, Centre for Population
Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS) at ISTBI, Fudan University, Shanghai and Charite University Medicine Berlin is an internationally renowned scientist who is shaping and coordinating European and global mental health research on prediction and neurobiological characterisation of mental disorders. In his research programmes he develops and applies population neuroscience and precision medicine in Europe and globally. His innovative approaches have led to the identification of disease mechanisms and biomarkers for prediction and stratification. They have been published in leading journals, including in Nature, Nature Medicine and Science. Professor Schumann conceived and is coordinating the environMENTAL Horizon Europe project aimed at reducing the impact of major environmental challenges on mental health. He also leads the IMAGEN project, a ground breaking imaging genetics study of 18 European partners initially funded by the European Commission, the STRATIFY study, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), and the Indian cVEDA study. He directs the Zhangjiang International Biobank at ISTBI, Fudan University. He is a recipient of prestigious awards, including an Advanced Grant of the ERC, a Humboldt Prize of the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He received a Chinese National 1000 talent award and a NSFC Research Award for International Senior Scientists. He has attracted over 40 million Euro in grant funding.

 

Prof. Viktor Jirsa, Director of the Inserm Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes at Aix-Marseille-Université in Marseille, France

Viktor Jirsa is Director of the Inserm Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes at Aix-Marseille-Université in Marseille, France. Dr. Jirsa received his PhD in 1996 in Theoretical Physics and has since then contributed to the field of Theoretical Neuroscience, in particular through the development of large-scale brain network models based on realistic connectivity. His work has been foundational for network science in brain medicine and the use of personalized virtual brain models in epilepsy. He is Scientific Director of the clinical trial EPINOV, evaluating the use of virtual brain technology in epilepsy surgery. Dr. Jirsa serves as Chief Science Officer of the European digital neuroscience infrastructure EBRAINS (https://ebrains.eu) and lead investigator in the Virtual Brain Twin Project (https://www.virtualbraintwin.eu/). Dr. Jirsa has been awarded several international prizes for his research including the first HBP Innovation prize (2021) and Grand Prix de Recherche en Provence (2018) and has published more than 160 scientific articles.

Dr. Sven Twardziok, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Center of Digital Health

Sven Twardziok leads a data management team at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, where he drives the development of robust data infrastructures to support biomedical research. With over 15 years of experience in managing and processing large-scale biological datasets across academia and industry, he specializes in making complex data systems more accessible and usable for researchers. His work is rooted in the FAIR principles—ensuring that data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable—and he plays a pivotal role in shaping national and international data ecosystems. Dr. Twardziok is actively engaged in several strategic initiatives, including de.NBI, ELIXIR, DZPG, DZKJ, NCT, and MII, contributing to the advancement of data-driven science and collaborative research networks. His publications are listed at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oGXcaOIAAAAJ

 

Dr. Marcel Jentsch, Dr. rer. nat. Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Marcel Jentsch received a Master of Science in Bioinformatics from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany in 2011, a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) at the Institute of Biology from the Technical University Darmstadt in 2019. He worked at Max-Planck Institute for Human Development and until 2010, at the Humbolt University Berlin at the Institute for Informatic in 2011. Between 2012 and 2013 he worked at the Charite on a navigation system for open liver resection. From 2013 till 2019 he has joint the group of Alexander Löwer at the Max-Delbruck Center that moved to the Technical University Darmstadt there I worked on the systems biology of the stress response. From 2020 to 2021 he worked as a full stack developer at Museum of Natural History, Berlin. In 2021 he returned to the Charite working for the Centre for Population Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine and the department of Digital Health at the Berlin Institute of Health. His career spans a wide range of research areas, from computational biology to clinical applications in surgical navigation and data management. His work as a developer has strengthened his expertise in data-driven solutions and digital infrastructures for biomedical research. This broad interdisciplinary experience bridge biology, medicine, and computer science in both academic and applied settings.

 

Dr. Elli Polemiti

TBC

Prof. Gunter Schumann, Distinguished Professor and Director, Centre for Population Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS) at ISTBI, Fudan University, Shanghai, China and Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin Germany

Prof. Gunter Schumann MD PhD, Distinguished Professor and Director, Centre for Population
Neuroscience and Stratified Medicine (PONS) at ISTBI, Fudan University, Shanghai and Charite University Medicine Berlin is an internationally renowned scientist who is shaping and coordinating European and global mental health research on prediction and neurobiological characterisation of mental disorders. In his research programmes he develops and applies population neuroscience and precision medicine in Europe and globally. His innovative approaches have led to the identification of disease mechanisms and biomarkers for prediction and stratification. They have been published in leading journals, including in Nature, Nature Medicine and Science. Professor Schumann conceived and is coordinating the environMENTAL Horizon Europe project aimed at reducing the impact of major environmental challenges on mental health. He also leads the IMAGEN project, a ground breaking imaging genetics study of 18 European partners initially funded by the European Commission, the STRATIFY study, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), and the Indian cVEDA study. He directs the Zhangjiang International Biobank at ISTBI, Fudan University. He is a recipient of prestigious awards, including an Advanced Grant of the ERC, a Humboldt Prize of the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He received a Chinese National 1000 talent award and a NSFC Research Award for International Senior Scientists. He has attracted over 40 million Euro in grant funding.

Prof. Viktor Jirsa, Director of the Inserm Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes at Aix-Marseille-Université in Marseille, France

Viktor Jirsa is Director of the Inserm Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes at Aix-Marseille-Université in Marseille, France. Dr. Jirsa received his PhD in 1996 in Theoretical Physics and has since then contributed to the field of Theoretical Neuroscience, in particular through the development of large-scale brain network models based on realistic connectivity. His work has been foundational for network science in brain medicine and the use of personalized virtual brain models in epilepsy. He is Scientific Director of the clinical trial EPINOV, evaluating the use of virtual brain technology in epilepsy surgery. Dr. Jirsa serves as Chief Science Officer of the European digital neuroscience infrastructure EBRAINS (https://ebrains.eu) and lead investigator in the Virtual Brain Twin Project (https://www.virtualbraintwin.eu/). Dr. Jirsa has been awarded several international prizes for his research including the first HBP Innovation prize (2021) and Grand Prix de Recherche en Provence (2018) and has published more than 160 scientific articles.

 

Prof. Pierpaolo Sorrentino, Principal Investigator, French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM)

Prof. Pierpaolo Sorrentino is a medical doctor and neurologist by training. He completed his residency in Neurology between Naples and Amsterdam, where he used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study neurodegenerative diseases. He earned a Ph.D. in Telecommunication Engineering between Naples and Brisbane, focusing on brain signal processing—particularly MEG—and applying the framework of criticality to characterize brain dynamics.
After his Ph.D., he joined the Theoretical Neuroscience Group in Marseille as a postdoctoral researcher, where he worked on the modeling of large-scale brain data. Previously, he served as scientific director of the MEG facility at the University of Naples.
Currently, Prof. Sorrentino is a principal investigator at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), in Marseille, and a tenured Associate Professor in Psychometrics at the University of Sassari, Italy. His research focuses on computational neuroscience, brain network modeling, and the development of personalized Virtual Brain Twins to improve diagnosis and therapy in neurological disorders.

Prof. Jianfeng Feng, Dean & Distinguished Professor, Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University Dean, School of Data Science, Fudan University

Jianfeng Feng is the Professor of Computer Science at Warwick University, the chair professor of Shanghai National Centre for Mathematic Sciences, the Dean of Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence and the School of Data Science in Fudan University. Feng has spent much of his career working on developing new mathematical, statistical and computational theories and methods to meet the challenges raised in neuroscience and mental health researches. He has made considerable contributions on modelling single neurons and neuronal networks, brain-inspired machine learning algorithms, stochastic control and causality analysis with many publications on Nature Medicine, Nature Human Behaviours, Nature Aging, Nature Mental Health etc. His recent research interests are mainly in exploring human brain based upon data and experiments, carrying out the simulation of the entire human brain (86B neurons), monkey brain and zebrafish brain, and developing brain-inspired AI algorithms for applications in automatic car and medicine. He was awarded the prestigious Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, and invited to deliver 2019 Paykel Lecture at the Cambridge University. In 2023, he was awarded Humboldt Research Award.

Dr. Johanna Bayer

TBC

PD Dr. Sören Hese, PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. Remote Sensing, Institute for Geography, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany

Sören Hese received a Master of Science in Remote Sensing from the Department of Electronic Engineering and Physics, University of Dundee, United Kingdom in 1995, a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) at the Institute of Landscape and Environmental Planning from the Technical University Berlin and since 2011 holds the German post-doctoral lecturer qualification. He worked at Lund University (Sweden) for forest damage assessment and deforestation mapping and until 2001 at the German Aerospace Center at the Institute for Planetary Exploration. Between 2002 and 2005 he worked as postdoc as project coordinator of the SIBERIA-II EU FP5-project “Multi-Sensor Concepts for Greenhouse Gas Accounting of Northern Eurasia” and co-developed the CARBON-3D mission and sensor concept. Since 2003 Sören Hese holds a permanent position at the Department for Earth Observation at Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena as expert in spatial very high-resolution data analysis using UAV systems, airborne scanner data and orbital systems for applications in change detection, object-oriented image analysis and using deep learning data classification techniques. Thematic applications range from flood modelling, oil spill contamination mapping, urban high resolution object classification and urban structure mapping scenarios as well as UAV point cloud analysis of vegetation and UAV based forest degradation analysis. Sören Hese has 20 years of teaching experiences in the field of image processing, remote sensing, GIS and physical basis of Earth observation and applied remote sensing theory and lectures for the BSc/MSc course level. Sören Hese was supervisor of the winning author group of the international GRSS data fusion contest in 2012. In 2020 he took an interim professorship at Martin-Luther University Halle and from 2021 to 2022 he worked as a professor for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics at the Free University Berlin.

Prof. Mel Slater, Distinguished Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Mel Slater is a Distinguished Investigator at the University of Barcelona in the Institute of Neurosciences, and co-Director of the Event Lab (Experimental Virtual Environments for Neuroscience and Technology). He was previously Professor of Virtual Environments at University College London in the Department of Computer Science. He has been involved in research in virtual reality since the early 1990s, and has been first supervisor of 40 PhDs in graphics and virtual reality since 1989. He held a European Research Council Advanced Grant TRAVERSE 2009-2015 and has now a second Advanced Grant MoTIVE 2018-2023. He is a Research Award Winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2021, and was elected to the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy in 2022. He is Field Editor of Frontiers in Virtual Reality, and Chief Editor of the Human Behaviour in Virtual Reality section. His publications can be seen on http://publicationslist.org/melslater.