Management

Education

• 1985:  M.D., University of Copenhagen
• 1996:  D.M.Sc. (doctorate in medical sciences)
• 1996:  Authorization as specialist in neurology from the Danish Health Authority

Current positions

• 2001-:  Professor of Clinical Neurology, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen
• 2001-:  Senior staff neurologist, Dept. of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen.
• 2007-:  Chair, the Danish Dementia Research Centre (Nationalt Videnscenter for Demens), Dept. of Neurology, Rigshospitalet.
• 2013-:  Coordinating professor, The Neuroscience Centre, Rigshospitalet

Research

I established the Danish Dementia Research Centre and the Copenhagen Memory Clinic, which I chair. The centre employs >100 staff members, receives >2000 referrals of new patients per year and has a neurogenetic research laboratory, a clinical trial unit, a biobank, and a national education and referral center, funded in part by the Danish Ministry of Health.

My own major research interests include dementia epidemiology, global health, early diagnostic markers, clinical cohort studies and pharmacological and complex interventions in dementia. I have supervised or mentored more than 30 PhD students, postdocs and master students.

My group has attracted external funding from EU, NIH, national research councils, as well as other public and private foundations amounting to appr. DKK 180 mio. during the past 10 years. 

International distinguished services and positions of trust (selected positions)

• 2022-:  President, BioMedical Alliance in Europe
• 2001-:  Member of European Alzheimer’s Disease Research Consortium (EADC), since 2019 member    of the EADC executive committee.
• 2001-:  Member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel (MSAP) of ADI 
• 2015-:  Member of the expert advisory panel, Alzheimer Europe
• 2006-2014:  EFNS board (vice-president, chairman for Liaison committee)
• 2009-2014:  EFNS-ENS transitional task force to create the EAN
• 2014-2018:  Management group, the Scientific Panel on Dementia (EAN)
• 2017-:  World Federation of Neurology (WFN) research group Neurology in Migrants
• 2018-:  Member of WFN standards evaluations committee.
• 2019-:  Member of Editorial board, European Journal of Neurology

National distinguished services and positions of trust (selected positions)

• 1991-2016:  The Danish Alzheimer Ass. (co-founder, vice-president, chair of research comm.)
• 2019-:  Medical lead for the dementia center, Trial Nation Denmark
• 2016-:  Deputy chair, Dementia Council, Capital Region of Denmark.
• 2000-:  Advisor, the National Legal Medicine Council (Retslægerådet), Danish Ministry of Justice
• 2020-:  Member of the Research Council, Rigshospitalet 
• 2011-:  Board of Trustees, Lundbeck Foundation (since 2014 chair of the Research and Prize Committee).

Awards

• 1995: The Hede Nielsen research award
• 2006: The Alzheimer research award (The Danish Alzheimer Foundation)
• 2007: “The Golden Scalpel” for best performance in Danish Medicine during 10 y
• 2011: The Codan/SEB pension research award
• 2012: The Niels A. Lassen brain research award
• 2014: Honorary member, the European Academy of Neurology
• 2017: The Monrad – Krohn Prize for research in neurology
• 2018: The Nordic Medicine Research Prize
• 2019: The Marie and August Krogh Prize

• 2020: The WHO prize for Research in Health Care for the Elderly and in Health Promotion (State of Kuwait - His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize 2020)

Publication statistics (March, 2022)

408 scientific peer-reviewed papers (incl. 383 PubMed indexed scientific papers) and 41 books or book chapters. Web of Science: H index 65; 14.583 citations. Google Scholar: H index 88; 26.248 citations.

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0293-220X

Main research interests include diagnosis and pathophysiology of dementia disorders. He has a leading role in several international research collaborations and was the principal investigator in a recent Danish multi-center trial on physical exercise in AD.

Main research areas are genotype-phenotype correla­tions of inherited neurodegenerative disorders, especially SCA, HD, spastic paraplegias and hereditary forms of Parkinson’s disease, AD and FTDs.