The Neuro-SysMed Junior Scientist Symposia

Place: Auditorium 4, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Friday March 21, 2025 at 09.00-13.00

Shamundeeswari Anandan is academic responsible for the symposium series. 

Chair: Ida Herdlevær

Lecture language: English

Program: .

09:00–09:10    Welcome and introduction
09:10–10:10    “Practical use of AI in research and your daily work” by Cecilie Nordbotten, UIB AI-Core team, University of Bergen
10:10–10:30    Coffee break
10:30–10:55    "Wearable Devices in the DARK.DEM Trial: Implications of Measurement Accuracy” by Valentina Casadei, Neuro-SysMed Care Node/Center for Elderly and Nursing Home Medicine, UiB
10:55–11:20    “Decoding Death and Dying” by Kamilla Gjerland Haugland-Pruitt, Neuro-SysMed Care Node/Center for Elderly and Nursing Home Medicine, UiB 
11:20–12:00   Lunch
12:00–12:25   "Advanced glycation end products as novel potential biomarker for Parkinson’s disease” by Marine Brognaux, Neuro-SysMed PD Node, UiB
12:25–12:50   "Elucidating the neuroprotective effects of NAD replenishment therapy in a mouse model: preliminary behavioral observations and further investigations" by Andrea Gremes, Neuro-SysMed PD Node, UiB
12:50–13:00   Concluding remarks

Who: mainly intended for PhD candidates and other students, but also available for other researchers who would like to listen to the lectures.

Welcome!

Place: Conference room, BB building (right opposite the auditoria)

Time: Friday May 23, 2025 at 09.00-13.00

Shamundeeswari Anandan is academic responsible for the symposium series. 

Lecture language: English

Who: mainly intended for PhD candidates and other students, but also available for other researchers who would like to listen to the lectures.

Chair: Sepideh Mostafavi

Program: 

09:00 – 09:10 Welcome and introduction

09:10 – 10:10 “Incomplete Data and Artefacts - Understanding the Human behind the Images” by Frank Riemer, Neuro-SysMed, University of Bergen

10:10 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 11:00 "Nutrition and hydration in chronic complex conditions”, by Zoya Sabir and Annelise Elde, Neuro-SysMed Care Node/SEFAS, UiB

11:00 – 12:00 Lunch

12:00 – 12:25  "Causative link between periodontitis and Alzheimer's disease” by Marta Kaminska, Department of Clinical Science, UiB

12:25 – 12:50  "Digital phenotyping using sensing technologies for people with dementia: activity and behavioral monitoring" by Lydia Dawn Boyle, Neuro-SysMed Care Node/SEFAS, UiB

12:50 – 13:00 Concluding remarks

 Welcome!

Academic responsible: Shamundeeswari Anandan and Yola Gerking

Coordinators: Håkon Olsen

Time: Friday October 17, 2025 at 09.00-13.00 (A light lunch will be served!)

Place: Auditorium 4, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Program

09:00 – 09:10 Welcome and introduction

09:10 – 10:10 “Bioengineering of Extracellular Vesicles for Regenerative Medicine” by Carlos Jesus, PhD candidate at the faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra & Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology - University of Coimbra (SNEV-ISEV Society)

10:10 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 10:55 Elisabeth Claire Evjenth: “Ultra-rapid elimination of B cells directly after intravenous infusion of anti-CD20 therapy”

10:55 – 11:20 Julia Nienhuis: “Finding a diagnostic biomarker for Parkinson's disease”

11:20 – 12:00 Lunch (included)

12:00 – 12:25 Connor Langworth-Green: “Immune Dysregulation and Innate-Adaptive Interplay Across Parkinson’s Disease: From Biomarker Discovery to Targeted Immune Intervention”

12:25 – 12:50 Max Korbmacher: “Accelerated grey matter degeneration in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis”

12:50 – 13:00 Concluding remarks

Academic responsible: Shamundeeswari Anandan and Yola Gerking

Coordinators: Håkon Olsen and Casper Eugen Sandvik

Time: Friday, December 5, 2025 at 09.00-13.00 (A light lunch will be served!)

Place: Conference room, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Program:

09:00–09:10    Welcome and introduction
09:10–10:10    “Beyond the Lab: Navigating Your Career with Purpose” workshop by Ellen Hagen and Kristin Miskov Nodland from the UiB Ferd career center for early-stage researchers 
10:10–10:30    Coffee break
10:30–10:55    Andrea Kyvik Habbestad: “EBV and MS: My PhD Project Plan”
10:55–11:20    Marie Ytterdal: “Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Extracellular Vesicles as Therapeutic Tools in Multiple Sclerosis”
11:20–12:00    Lunch (included, just remember to register within Dec. 2 at 11:00 AM)
12:00–12:25    Connor Langworth-Green: “Immune Dysregulation and Innate-Adaptive Interplay Across Parkinson’s Disease: From Biomarker Discovery to Targeted Immune Intervention”
12:25–12:50    Jonas Bull Haugsøen: “Immune Remodeling after Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in RRMS”
12:50–13:00    Concluding remarks

Explore new frontiers with the young Neuro-SysMed researchers in this excellent arena to obtain valuable skills in presentation techniques, engage in scientific discussions and take advantage of peer reviews and comments. Learn about current research within MS, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and ALS! Senior researchers are also welcome. Lunch is included.

Place: Auditorium 4, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Friday March 22, 2024 at 09.00-13.00

Chairs: Irene Flønes

For ECTS registration, remember to register in Studentweb for the subject NEUROSYSM910 for the spring term as well, deadline in Studentweb for all subjects is February 1.

Lecture language: English

Program:

09.00-09.10: Welcome and introduction

09.10-10.10: "Ups and downs of the PhD" by Andreas Hillestad Schei, psychologist at the UiB occupational health service

10.10-10.30: Coffee break

10.30-10.55: Anna Stylianou Lerpold: "Elucidating the molecular effects of NAD-replenishment therapy in Parkinson's disease"

10.55-11.20: Enny Stulien Lauen: "Identifying mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle in patients with Alzheimer’s disease"

11.20-12.00: Lunch

12.00-12.25: Shridar Amogh Patil: "Systematic meta-analysis of genome-wide transcriptomics of Parkinson’s disease brain"

12.25-12.50: Tina Emilie Johnsen: "Gray Matter Microstructure and Genetic Risk in Adolescents with Anxiety"

12.50-13.00: Concluding remarks

Contact: Any questions, please contact Shamundeeswari Anandan: samanandhan@gmail.com

Explore new frontiers with the young Neuro-SysMed researchers in this excellent arena to obtain valuable skills in presentation techniques, engage in scientific discussions and take advantage of peer reviews and comments. Learn about current research within MS, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and ALS! Senior researchers are also welcome. Lunch is included.

Place: Auditorium 4, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Friday May 31, 2024 at 09.00-13.00

Chairs: Sepideh Mostafavi and Eirik Solheim. Shamundeeswari Anandan is academic responsible for the symposium series.

Lecture language: English

Program:

09:00 – 09:10 Welcome and introduction

09:10 – 10:10 “Complex I deficiency stratifies idiopathic Parkinson’s disease” by Irene Flønes, from the Parkinson’s disease group - NSM, UiB

10:10 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 10:55 "A dynamic systems approach to digital phenotyping in dementia and PD" by Monica Patrascu, from the Centre for Elderly and Nursing Home Medicine (SEFAS), UiB

10:55 – 11:20 “Unbiased molecular stratification of PD” by Synne Geithus, from the Parkinson’s disease group - NSM, UiB

11:20 – 12:00 Lunch

12:00 – 12:25 "Deciphering MS pathophysiology. The role of blood patelets and circulating exosomes” by Karina Maciak, from the University of Lodz, Poland

12:25 – 12:50 "GDF-15 as a potential stratification biomarker for mitochondrial dysfunction in idiopathic PD" by Simon Kverneng, from the Parkinson’s disease group - NSM, UiB

12:50 – 13:00 Concluding remarks

Explore new frontiers with the young Neuro-SysMed researchers in this excellent arena to obtain valuable skills in presentation techniques, engage in scientific discussions and take advantage of peer reviews and comments. Learn about current research within MS, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and ALS! Senior researchers are also welcome. Lunch is included.

Place: Room 3B109F, the "konferanserom" across the auditoria, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Friday, October 18, 2024, at 09.00-13.00

Shamundeeswari Anandan is academic responsible for the symposium series. Håkon Olsen is chair for this symposium.

Lecture language: English

Program: 

09:00-09:10 Organizers: Welcome and introduction

09:10 – 10:10 Oliver Vanderpoorten, MSCA Fellow, Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø:

“NANOSPACER: Nanofluidic sizing of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and biomacromolecules in solution”

10:10 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 10:55 Vladan Milosevic, Department of Clinical Medicine, UiB: "The use of imaging mass cytometry for in depth profiling of the tumour microenvironment”

10:55 – 11:20 Brit Ellen Rød, Neuro-SysMed, UiB: “Comparative effectiveness of rituximab vs cladribine in patients with relapsing-remitting MS”

11:20 – 12:00 Lunch

12:00 – 12:25 Amy van den Hooven, Neuro-SysMed, UiB: "Clinic of the Future: Designing Dialogues for Care” 

12:25 – 12:50 Emma Rigg, Department of Biomedicine, UiB: "Influence of miR-146a-5p in brain metastatic development"

12:50 – 13:00 Organizers: Concluding remarks

Welcome!

Explore new frontiers with the young Neuro-SysMed researchers in this excellent arena to obtain valuable skills in presentation techniques, engage in scientific discussions and take advantage of peer reviews and comments. Learn about current research within MS, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and ALS! Senior researchers are also welcome. Lunch is included.

Place: Aud. 4, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Friday, November 29, 2024, at 09.00-13.00

Shamundeeswari Anandan is academic responsible for the symposium series.

Lecture language: English

Chair: Ida Herdlevær

Program: 

09:00–09:10 Welcome and introduction

09:10–10:10 “How to make it in science.” Keynote session by Yamila Nicole Torres Cleuren, Senior Scientific Advisor, Neuro-SysMed

10:10–10:30 Coffee break

10:30–10:55 "PROMising: Patient Recorded Outcome Measures predict multiple sclerosis trajectories better than brain, blood and genotyping” by Max Korbmacher, Neuro-SysMed

10:55–11:20 “Parkinson's disease in women and men. Sex differences in cognitive symptoms, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia” by Julia Saltyte Benth, Neuro-SysMed

11:20–12:00 Lunch break

12:00–12:25 "Immune Reconstitution after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Sclerosis” by Jonas Bull Haugsoen, Neuro-SysMed

12:25–12:50 "Improving Diagnostics in Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndromes: Optimization of a Cell-Based Assay for SOX1 Antibody Detection" by Kjell Inge Erikstad, Neuro-SysMed

12:50–13:00 Concluding remarks

We start the very first Neuro-SysMed Junior Scientist Symposium off with an entire Mini Symposium! Simply click the sessions you wish to attend in the registration form. Preferably all!

Mini Symposium January 18, 2023

Place: The auditorium in Bikuben, Jonas Lies vei 69 (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Wednesday January 18 at 10:00 - 16:20

Program 

10.00-11.00: Neuro-SysMed activities by Kjell-Morten Myhr, Director and Charalampos Tzoulis, Co-director, Neuro-SysMed
11.00-12.00: Lunch (free of charge, register within Thursday January 5 at 11.00)
12.00-13.00: Seminar: “Microglia in multiple sclerosis – pathogenesis and imaging” by Prof. Laura Airas, University of Turku. Chair: Kjell-Morten Myhr
13.00-13.15: Break 

Junior Symposia kick-off:
13.15-13.30: Introduction 
13.30-14.00: “Our experience of great benefits for students attending Junior Symposia at CCBIO”. Keynote lecture by Prof. Lars A. Akslen, Director at CCBIO, UiB
14.00-14.15: Coffee break
14.15-14.40: “Respiratory chain integrity in Parkinson’s disease skeletal muscle” by Simon Ulvenes Kverneng
14.40-15.05: “Towards older age at Multiple Sclerosis onset?” by Andrea Habbestad
15.05-15.20: Coffee break
15.20-15.45: “Wearable sensing technology in research for Parkinson’s disease: experience from the field” by Haakon Reithe
15.45-16.05: “Research stay abroad. My experiences from Amsterdam” by Ingrid Anne Lie
16.05-16.20: Concluding remarks 

Lecture language: English

Explore new frontiers with the young Neuro-SysMed researchers in this excellent arena to obtain valuable skills in presentation techniques, engage in scientific discussions and take advantage of peer reviews and comments. Learn about current research within MS, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and ALS! Lunch is included.

This time, we will learn about the challenges and opportunities of disease modelling, explained by Katrin Kleinmanns; Christopher Kvistad will discuss whether mesenchymal stem cells can promote regeneration in multiple sclerosis, per results in the SMART-MS study; Katarina Lundervold will show the link between Parkinson’s disease and the gut; Magne Solheim will explain how he is studying ALS using health registries; Brit Ellen Rød will tell us about B-cell depletion therapy in multiple sclerosis; and Haakon Berven will talk about NAD clinical studies in Parkinson’s disease.

Place: Auditorium 4, BB-building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Friday April 28, 2023 at 09.00-13.00

Program:

Session chairs – Ida Herdlevaer and Sepideh Mostafavi

09.00 - 09.10: Welcome and introduction 

09.10 – 09:40: “Disease modelling – challenges and opportunities” by Katrin Kleinmanns 

09.40 – 10.10: “SMART-MS – Can mesenchymal stem cells promote regeneration in multiple sclerosis?” by Christopher Kvistad 

10.10-10.30: Coffee break 

10.30 – 10.55: “Parkinson’s disease and the gut” by Katarina Lundervold 

10.55 – 11.20: “Studying ALS using health registries - An introduction to my PhD project” by Magne Solheim 

11.20 – 12.00: Lunch 

12.00 – 12.25: “B-cell depletion therapy in multiple sclerosis” by Brit Ellen Rød

12.25 – 12.50: “NAD clinical studies in Parkinson’s disease” by Haakon Berven 

12.50 – 13.00: Concluding remark

Lecture language: English

Open to all, also senior scientists, just remember to register.

Place: Auditorium 4, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Friday October 20, 2023 at 09.00-13.00

Chairs: Yola Gerking and Fiona Dick

For ECTS registration, remember to register in Studentweb for the subject NEUROSYSM910 for the fall term as well, deadline in Studentweb for all subjects is September 1.

Lecture language: English

Program:

09.00-09.10: Welcome and introduction

09.10-10.10: “Life after PhD: Career guidance and how to build your academic CV” by Cecilie Nordbotten

10.10-10.30: Coffee break

10.30-10.55: “Phosphorous MRS in neurodegenerative disorders” by Magnus Svensen

10.55-11.20: “Mitochondrial dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis” by Tale Bjerknes

11.20-12.00: Lunch

12.00-12.25: “Using multi-omics to discover new pathways controlled by the cerebellar degeneration-related proteins” by Eirik Solheim

12.25-12.50: “Stratification of idiopathic Parkinson's disease based on mitochondrial dysfunction: the mitoPD subtype” by Anna Rubiolo

12.50-13.00: Concluding remarks

Contact: Any questions, please contact Shamundeeswari Anandan: samanandhan@gmail.com

This time, Paulo Rodrigues Santos will give us an immunologist view of neuroscience research online from the University of Coimbra, Portugal. Sonia Gavasso will provide us with neuroimmunological insights from high dimensional analysis, Peder Lillebostad will give a talk on SNceg, automated segmentation of the substantia nigra pars compacta from multiparametric MRI, and Karine Eid will give us a summary of findings from her PhD thesis “Childhood abuse, adult abuse, and the risk of perinatal depression in women with multiple sclerosis.” Yola Gerking will explain application of imaging mass cytometry to compare microglia activation in various brain regions in paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration, and Gard Skulstad Johanson will give an ovierview of the N-ADAPT study: a Randomized Double-blind Trial of NAD Replenishment Therapy for Atypical Parkinsonism.

Place: Auditorium 4, BB building (campus Haukeland University Hospital)

Time: Friday December 1, 2023 at 09.00-13.00

NOTE: Professor Santos' lecture will be online, and is opened up to a larger audience - so tune in on Zoom from 09.00.

Students: For ECTS registration, remember to register in Studentweb for the subject NEUROSYSM910 for ech term as well, within the term deadline (Sept. 1 for fall term, February 1 for spring term).

Chairs: Katarina Lundervold and Brit Ellen Rød

Lecture language: English

Program:

09.00-09.10: Welcome and introduction

09.10-09.40: Keynote: Paulo Rodrigues Santos – An immunologist view of neuroscience research (University of Coimbra, Portugal, online)

09.40-10.10: Keynote: Sonia Gavasso – Neuroimmunological insights from high dimensional analysis (University of Bergen, Norway)

10.10-10.30: Coffee break

10.30-10.55: Peder Lillebostad – SNceg: automated segmentation of the substantia nigra pars compacta from multiparametric MRI

10.55-11.20: Karine Eid – Summary of findings from my Ph.d. thesis: Childhood abuse, adult abuse, and the risk of perinatal depression in women with multiple sclerosis

11.20-12.00: Lunch

12.00-12.25: Yola Gerking – Application of imaging mass cytometry to compare microglia activation in various brain regions in paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration

12.25-12.50: Gard Aasmund Skulstad Johanson – The N-ADAPT study: a Randomized Double-blind Trial of NAD Replenishment Therapy for Atypical Parkinsonism

12.50-13.00: Concluding remarks

Contact: Any questions, please contact Shamundeeswari Anandan: samanandhan@gmail.com

Shamundeeswari Anandan holds academic responsibility for the symposia.