Prof. Suzanne Dickson

PRESIDENT

Professor Suzanne L Dickson is a neurobiologist and Professor of Neuroendocrinology at the University of Gothenburg. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Neuroendocrinology from the University of Cambridge in 1993, where she later became Senior Lecturer in Physiology. She is a leading figure in neuroendocrinology and works within many European Union and international organisations and societies to promote research, facilitate grant funding and training of Early Career Scientists. Her research into the neurobiology of appetite aims to unravel neurobiological pathways that respond to orexigenic signals, such as the hormone, ghrelin, and that drive feeding behaviours, not only food intake but also food choice, food anticipation, food reward and food motivation. This work involves mostly preclinical studies and includes behavioural tasks, viral vector mapping, chemogenetics and RNAscope. She is Secretary and Executive Board member of the European College for Neuropsychopharmacology, and also chairs ECNP’s Workshop for Early Career Scientists in Europe. She also is founder and co-chair of ECNP’s nutrition network and EBRA’s BRAINFOOD cluster.

Prof. Claudio Bassetti

VICE-PRESIDENT

Professor Claudio Bassetti has been full professor and chair of neurology at the University Hospital in Bern since 2012. He received his medical degree in Basel and trained in neurology in Bern and Lausanne. In 2000, he became professor and vice-chair of neurology in Zurich. In 2009 he founded the Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland.

He completed his research fellowships in basic neurophysiology in Basel and sleep in Ann Arbor, Boston and Madison. His major scientific interests are the relationship between sleep and neurological disorders, narcolepsy, and the teaching of general neurology. He uses clinical and experimental approaches and has published more than 500 articles and eight books.

Prof. Bassetti has previously served as president of the European Neurological Society, European Sleep Research Society and Swiss Neurological Society, and founded the Swiss Federation of Clinical Neurosocieties. He is an elected member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, which he served as board member for eight years. He has been president of the European Academy of Neurology since 2020 and was appointed Dean of the Medical Faculty in Bern that same year.

Prof. Sameer Zuberi

VICE-PRESIDENT

Professor Sameer Zuberi is a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow and Honorary Professor within the School of Medicine and School of Health & Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow leading the Paediatric Neurosciences Research Group. His other national and international roles include Clinical Lead of the Scottish National Genetic Epilepsy Service, National and International roles include Member of the ILAE Terminology Commission, Member of the Executive Committee of the European Brain Council, Board Member of the European Paediatric Neurology Society and Member of the Women & Children’s Health Innovation Leadership Group and Steering Group Member of the UK National Epilepsy Research Collaborative.

Professor Zuberi was President of the European Paediatric Neurology Society from 2018 until early 2022, and Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Paediatric Neurology from November 2014 until early 2021. He chaired the International League Against Epilepsy Commission on Classification and Terminology from 2013-17. His term concluded with the publication of updated position papers on seizure types and epilepsy classification, the first since 1989.

Professor Zuberi’s primary research interests are in epilepsy, movement disorders, channelopathies and neurological sleep disorders. During his MD he studied the emerging field of the ion channelopathies and has built a research career and team identifying genetic aetiologies of neurological disorders, defining genotype phenotype relationships and undertaking RCTs of new medications through national and international collaborations.

Professor Zuberi has been leading on the development of a secure video transfer technology to aid diagnosis, classification & management in neurology patients. vCreate Neuro has been funded nationally in Scotland across all paediatric and adult neurology centres, as well as numerous additional centres across the United Kingdom and Internationally.

Prof. Peter Falkai

TREASURER

Prof. Dr. Med. Peter Falkai has been working in the field of psychiatry for 30 years. His main research interest is focused on the neurobiology of psychotic disorders, namely schizophrenia. He holds the position of Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University of Munich and is currently President of the European Psychiatric Association.

Prof. Falkai has been leading multidisciplinary teams of researchers, allowing the use of techniques ranging from functional imaging to gene expression in human post-mortem-tissue. His clinical and research expertise focuses continuously on the neurobiological origins and pathomorphological aspects as well as on causal treatment options of psychotic disorders.

Dr Orla Galvin

Dr. Orla Galvin came to patient advocacy with a PhD in Medicine and background in drug discovery and design in both academic and industry environments.  Transitioning to advocacy work at the umbrella patient organisation Retina International, Orla led high impact, multi-stakeholder socio-economic studies, patient preference studies, and accessibility studies across the globe assessing both rare and common conditions.

Orla is an internationally invited speaker to both research and clinical learned societies (for example EURORDIS, EU Retina, ERN-EYE), patient organisations, and industries on topics such as:

• Patient and public involvement in advocacy, research and policy,
• Research in advocacy and policy/evidence-based advocacy,
• Education in advocacy,
• Generation of real-world data,
• Patient reported outcomes, and
• Health economics

She is currently Executive Director of the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA).

Péter Kéri

Péter Kéri is a peer-support professional with background in education, public relations, and mental health advocacy. Graduating as a teacher, he earned his first diploma. His journey continued as he pursued a second diploma in PR at the Metropolitan University.

Currently serving as the head of international relations, grants, and innovations at the Awakening Foundation in Hungary, Kéri Péter plays a pivotal role in fostering global connections and driving innovative initiatives. Kéri Péter holds the position of President at GAMIAN-Europe, the continent’s leading organization dedicated to supporting patients struggling with mental health challenges. He further contributes to the field as a Board Member of the European Psychiatric Association.

Since 2013, Kéri Péter has been at the forefront of exploring innovative approaches that complement traditional research methodologies. His commitment to enhancing patient care is evident through his role as the project leader of the Expert by Experience pilot project initiated by the foundation. His focus revolves around empowering patients within the social and healthcare systems, advocating for their involvement in decision-making processes. He is dedicated to identifying both facilitators and barriers related to patient participation and effectively communicating these findings to decision-makers on both national and international fronts. Beyond his organizational roles, Kéri Péter is a speaker, and contributor to scientific publications in the field of mental health. His passion for driving positive change is reflected in his numerous international presentations, research endeavors, and contributions to scientific discourse.

Dr José L. Lanciego

José L. Lanciego is a Senior Scientist at the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) and Associate Professor of Neurosciences at the University of Navarra Medical School, Pamplona, Spain. Originally trained as a Medical Doctor (University of Salamanca, June 1990), he received his PhD in Neuroscience with honors at the University of Salamanca (October, 1994). Later on he joined the Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences of Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit, as a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Dr. Floris. G. Wouterlood. Upon return from Amsterdam he was recruited by the University of Navarra (February, 1997) to further lead the Laboratory of Functional Basal Ganglia Neuroanatomy. His ongoing research interest included a number of projects dealing with the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease using non-human primate animal models. At present, he is serving as Associate Editor of Frontiers in Neuroanatomy and Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience as well as a member of the Editorial Board of Brain Structure and Function, International Journal of Medical Sciences and Frontiers in Neuropharmacology. Between 2017 and 2023 he joined the Council of the International Basal Ganglia Organization (IBAGS). He was a former member of the Board of the Committee for Higher Education and Training of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS-CHET; 2020-2022). In parallel, he was appointed as a Board Member of the International Brain Research Organization Pan-European Committee (IBRO-PERC) between 2020 and 2022, later on being appointed as Chair of IBRO-PERC until the end of 2025. José L. Lanciego’s current research focuses on gene therapy approaches for neurodegenerative diseases, with a main focus on Parkinson’s disease and related synucleinopathies. He has published more than 130 papers in international scientific journals with an h index of 48.

José L. Lanciego’s current research focuses on gene therapy approaches for neurodegenerative diseases using non-human primate models. He is the Chair of the International Brain Research Organization Pan-European Committee, a Board Member of the European Brain Council and the International Basal Ganglia Society Council. He has published 132 papers with an h index of 48. Since December 2006 his research team has been recognized as “group of excellence” by the Spanish Ministry of Health, therefore joining the so-called Research Network Center in Neurodegenerative Disorders (CiberNed) as a founding member. In September 2019, he has co-founded Handl Therapeutics B.V. for pushing forward the development of novel gene therapies for Parkinson’s disease.

Prof. Tomás Ryan

Tomás Ryan originally graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2005 with a BA in genetics. He completed his PhD in molecular neuroscience under the supervision of Seth Grant at the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK in 2009. His thesis work was supported by a Wellcome Trust PhD Fellowship. Following a year as Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, University Cambridge, he relocated to the USA to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the group of Susumu Tonegawa (Nobel Laureate, 1987) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT he was centrally involved in the development of novel genetic methods that allow for the labelling and manipulation of specific memory engrams in the rodent brain. This work was supported by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and RIKEN Brain Sciences Institute, Japan. He started his research group in 2017 at Trinity College Dublin, where he is an Associate Professor in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology and a Principle Investigator at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. Tomás also holds a joint faculty position at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research team has been supported by the European Research Council (ERC), Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Irish Research Council (IRC), the Jacobs Foundation, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). He is Chair of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Advocacy Committee, and a member of the US Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Government and Public Affairs Committee.

Dr. Katrin Rabiei

As the first woman of refugee background to become a neurosurgeon in Sweden, Katrin Rabiei is constantly breaking barriers and setting an example not only for women but also for minorities.

Rabiei is a board-certified neurosurgeon and current chair of the Spine Section at NU Hospital Group. She did her neurosurgical training at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, and a paediatric neurosurgery fellowship at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. She received her medical diploma and her master’s degree in advanced dental science from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg. In 2016, she concluded her PhD studies at the same institution. Her thesis project studied the epidemiology, morphology, and surgical outcome of arachnoid cysts, for which she received the Swedish Neurosurgical Society´s award for Ph.D. Thesis of the Year in 2017.

Since 2016 she has worked as a researcher at the Centre for Ageing and Health (AgeCap) and in the neuropsychiatric epidemiology research unit (EPINEP) at the University of Gothenburg. Over the years, her research has focused on arachnoid cysts as well as hydrocephalus. She has several publications in important journals and book chapters. She is not only an author but a reviewer for different neurosurgical journals such as Acta Neurochirurgica (where she also serves as social-media editor) and World Neurosurgery.

Rabiei is a recurrent invited speaker for national and international meetings and courses including the European Association for Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) and the Swedish Neurosurgical Society. She also boasts numerous abstracts and presentations in international conferences, which have granted her awards such as the EANS Aesculap Award for Best Clinical Paper in 2016, Best Clinical Presentation at the 60th International Conference of Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida in 2016, and the Swedish Neurosurgical Society’s Award for Best Poster Presentation in 2014. Not only have her research projects won awards, her work as a physician and mentor has been repeatedly recognised. She received the Employee of the Month Award from the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne in 2018, the Swedish Iris Award for Distinguished Achievements in 2016, and the Interns’ Award for Best Clinical Instructor from Sahlgrenska University Hospital in 2015. Rabiei has also received numerous scholarships and grants. Despite her busy agenda as a dedicated neurosurgeon, Dr. Rabiei finds time to help the community as a part-time physician for the Rosengrenska Network, which provides healthcare for uninsured asylum-seekers in Sweden.