Congratulations to NRU postdoc Vibeke Dam who has received an international postdoc grant from the Independent Research Fund Denmark for her project: 'Cognitive contributions to depression - exposing the role of working memory deficits in depressive pathology'. The grant is worth 1.305.000 DKK and includes full postdoc salary for two years. Vibeke will be carrying out some of the research activities in the project at the School of Psychological Science at the University of Bristol under the supervision of professor Marcus Munafò in collaboration with professor Ian Pentok-Voak.
Project abstract: Working memory deficit is a common but often overlooked symptom in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). As a consequence, we know little about its role in the development and maintenance of depressive psychopathology. Using working memory data from established epidemiological cohort studies and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) neuroimaging studies, I here propose to address two fundamental questions about the role of working memory function in MDD: 1) does early-life working memory deficits constitute a risk factor in later development of MDD and 2) what is the involvement of serotonergic neurotransmission in working memory function and does it differ between the healthy and depressed brain? Results from these studies will not only contribute significantly to our understanding of working memory in MDD but could also help identify new treatment targets and perhaps guide future preventative strategies in MDD.
Project abstract: Working memory deficit is a common but often overlooked symptom in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). As a consequence, we know little about its role in the development and maintenance of depressive psychopathology. Using working memory data from established epidemiological cohort studies and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) neuroimaging studies, I here propose to address two fundamental questions about the role of working memory function in MDD: 1) does early-life working memory deficits constitute a risk factor in later development of MDD and 2) what is the involvement of serotonergic neurotransmission in working memory function and does it differ between the healthy and depressed brain? Results from these studies will not only contribute significantly to our understanding of working memory in MDD but could also help identify new treatment targets and perhaps guide future preventative strategies in MDD.
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A warm welcome to the new NRU staff members:
Junior faculty member Anjali Sankar, who will be working in BrainDrugs WP3.
Anjali holds a PhD degree in Psychological Medicine from King's College. Her research is dedicated to the study of mood disorders, both major depressive and bipolar disorders. An important focus is on identifying reliable biomarkers that can predict clinical response to treatments as well as negative outcomes such as suicide using multimodal neuroimaging techniques.
Congratulations to Hannah Eichhorn (Physics), who graduated in June and is back as Research Assistant (MoCo project).
Anjali Hannah
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Congratulations to Cyril Pernet who in connection to the OHBM 2021 Annual Meeting received acknowledgement as Fellow of OHBM. With the acknowledgement, the OHBM community wants to appreciate Cyril's continued hard work and dedication which is apparent to the success of OHBM.
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Dea Stenbæk and Sofi da Cunha-Bang have received funding from Helsefonden: Dea 500.000 DKK for the project 'Musikken som co-terapeut i psykedelisk terapi: hvordan kan vi forstå synergien mellem musik og effekter af psilocybin?' (Music as part of psychedelic therapy - how to understand the synergy between music and effects of psilocybin) and Sofi 300.000 DKK for 'Serotonergic neurotransmission in schizophrenia'. Furthermore, Sofi received 150.000 DKK from Jascha Fonden for the schizophrenia project. Congratulations to both Dea and Sofi.
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The Clinical Academic Group (CAG) of Brain and Technology has just been selected by the Capital Region of Denmark for a 2-year grant worth 2.3 millon DKK. The CAG Brain and Technology is led by Professor Troels Wesenberg Kjær and holds Louise Møller Jørgensen from NRU as 1 of 21 members representing DTU, UCPH and hospital departments in Region Hovedstaden and Region Sjælland.
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If you are interested in AI, then please have a look at the seminar entitled: "Values in AI, with DTU Professor Lars Kai Hansen" which is organized by the project "Bias and fairness in medicine" with Aasa Feragen from DTU Compute, NRU junior faculty member Melanie Ganz-Benjaminsen and Sune Hannibal Holm from Institut for Fødevare- og Ressourceøkonomi, Københavns Universitet.
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A warm welcome to our new staff member Dr. Cyril Pernet, who will be working as scientific software developer in the OpenNeuroPET Archive project, funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Dr. Pernet obtained a PhD in Cognitive Neuropsychology from the University of Toulouse III in France in 2004. He was then working with Prof. J.F. Demonet and Dr. P. Celsis on neurodevelopmental disorders using MRI, functional MRI and EEG. He next obtained a post-doc fellowship from the Fyssen Foundation to work in Finland with Prof. R. Salmelin on reading using MEG. He moved to UK in 2006, working in Glasgow with Prof. B. Belin as post-doc research assistant, working on auditory (voice) processing using fMRI and EEG. He joined the Brain Research Imaging Center, Edinburgh in 2007, as fMRI lead for SINAPSE (Scottish Imaging Network A Platform for Scientific Excellence) and became Senior Research Fellow & functional imaging scientific leader for Edinburgh Imaging in 2015.
Cf. his website: https://cpernet.github.io/index.html
Dr. Pernet obtained a PhD in Cognitive Neuropsychology from the University of Toulouse III in France in 2004. He was then working with Prof. J.F. Demonet and Dr. P. Celsis on neurodevelopmental disorders using MRI, functional MRI and EEG. He next obtained a post-doc fellowship from the Fyssen Foundation to work in Finland with Prof. R. Salmelin on reading using MEG. He moved to UK in 2006, working in Glasgow with Prof. B. Belin as post-doc research assistant, working on auditory (voice) processing using fMRI and EEG. He joined the Brain Research Imaging Center, Edinburgh in 2007, as fMRI lead for SINAPSE (Scottish Imaging Network A Platform for Scientific Excellence) and became Senior Research Fellow & functional imaging scientific leader for Edinburgh Imaging in 2015.
Cf. his website: https://cpernet.github.io/index.html

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Congratulations to Gitte Moos Knudsen for receiving a grant worth 850.000 DKK from the Research Council of Rigshospitalet for the project 'Molecular neuroimaging of synaptic plasticity in the human brain - Pharmacological modulations and stroke'.
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Congratulations to NRU faculty member Jens H. Mikkelsen who as of January 1st 2021 is Professor of Translational Neuropharmacology at the Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen.

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We are very delighted to announce that NRU has received several generous grants here in December 2020:
- Data Science Initiative from Novo Nordisk Fonden - 10 mio DKK for 'The OpenNeuroPET Archive - A Molecular Neuroimaging Archive' - Gitte Moos Knudsen.
- Post doc stipend from the Research Fund of the Mental Health Services - Capital Region of Copenhagen - 1.65 mio DKK for 'Serotonergic neurotransmission in schizophrenia' - Sofi da Cunha-Bang.
- PhD stipend from the Research Fund of the Mental Health Services - Capital Region of Copenhagen - 2 mio DKK for 'Brain neuroplasticity in response to drug treatment of major depressive disorder' - Kristian Reveles Jensen.
- Research equipment from Svend Andersen Fonden - 900,000 mio DKK for new equipment for the NRU experimental lab - Gitte Moos Knudsen.
- Scholar stipend from Novo Nordisk Fonden - 150,000 DKK for' Neuroplasticity in the human brain following acute ischemic stroke' - Gitte Moos Knudsen (student: Elisabeth Buck Pedersen).
- Scholar stipend from Novo Nordisk Fonden - 150,000 DKK for'The role of serotonin in compulsive behaviour in humans: Underlying brain mechanisms' - Gitte Moos Knudsen (student: Anna Søndergaard).
- Scholar stipend from Danish Society for Neuroscience - 140,000 DKK for'The role of serotonin in compulsive behaviour in humans: Underlying brain mechanisms' - Gitte Moos Knudsen (student: Ida Likaj Klausen).
- Scholar stipend from Danish Psychiatric Society - 140,000 DKK for'Inflammation and serotonergic neurotransmission: Pathophysiological implications for major depressive disorder' - Vibe Gedsø Frøkjær (student: Mette Clausen).
- Scholar stipend from RH - 110,000 DKK for'Neuropharmacological investigations of psilocybin-induced headache – a [11C] Cimbi-36] PET study' - Gitte Moos Knudsen (student: Inger Marie Sørensen).
- Research grant from Ivan Nielsen Fond for personer med specielle sindslidelser - 93,000 DKK for 'The role of sex-steroids in major depressive disorder: Mapping brain and biomarker signatures of peripartum transition, hormone sensitivity, and reversibility by short-term estradiol' - Vibe Gedsø Frøkjær
- Research grant from The Danish Association of Midwives - 50,000 DKK for 'Maternal Mental Health (MAMA) Study. Kortvarig behandling med østrogen som forebyggende strategi mod post partum depression hos kvinder i høj risiko' - Stinne Høgh
- Scholar stipend from the Novo Scholarship Programme - 42,000 DKK for 'Comparison of prospective and retrospective motion correction for Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the brain' - Hannah Eichhorn
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- NRU Christmas Symposium 2020
- Sapere Aude Starting grant to Mikael Palner
- The world's largest single-cell study of epilepsy published
- Staff News October 2020
- NRU researchers in the media
- OpenNeuroPET funded by the BRAIN Initiative
- EU funding for NRU
- Vibe Frøkjær appointed as Adjunct Professor
- NRU researchers awarded with ECNP Poster Awards
- Staff News, September 2020