SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS
Britta Engelhardt, PhD
Professor of Immunobiology & Director, Theodor Kocher Institute, University of Bern.
Dr Engelhardt is a leading expert in the field of blood-brain barrier research. Her research has important implications for the development of new therapies for neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and brain tumours. She has published over 300 articles that are highly cited. She is an opinion leader in her field and serves as President of the International Brain Barriers Society. Learn more
Benoît Vanhollebeke, PhD
Professor of Molecular Biology & Laboratory Director, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) Neuroscience Institute.
Dr Vanhollebeke has a long-standing interest in neurovascular development and blood–brain barrier (BBB) biology. His lab’s research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern brain vascularization and barrier function, with the aim of contributing to the development of new therapeutic approaches for brain disorders. Dr Vanhollebeke is the Founder and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at Neuvasq Biotechnologies, where he helps guide the scientific strategy behind its BBB-targeted therapeutic platform. Learn more
Stefan Leibner, PhD
Research Group Leader, Institute of Neurology (Edinger Institute), Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main.
Dr Liebner’s research focus is on understanding regulation of blood-brain barrier function and malfunction in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. He has published in several prestigious international journals. He has been invited as keynote speaker to the biannual Cerebral Vascular Biology Meeting in 2013 and has contributed to the organization of numerous scientific conferences. Learn more
Harald Junge, PhD
Associate Professor & Research Director, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences, University of Minnesota.
Dr Junge’s research focuses on understanding neurovascular signaling and leveraging this knowledge to identify pathways for pharmacological intervention. He has over 20 years of experience studying the fundamental biology of Norrin signaling and currently investigates the pharmacodynamic effects of Norrin mimetics in retinal and neurological diseases. Dr Junge holds the Mary and Marian Robinson Chair in Macular Degeneration at the University of Minnesota. Learn more
Jane Sowden, PhD
Professor of Developmental Biology & Genetics, UCL (University College London) Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.
Dr Sowden’s research aims to increase knowledge of genetic causes of childhood eye conditions and to develop novel stem cell and gene-based therapies for inherited causes of childhood blindness and conditions causing deaf blindness. She has published over 150 articles that are highly cited. In a 2023 study, a team of researchers led by Dr Sowden were able to reduce the progressive hearing loss in a Norrie disease model by gene therapy for the first time. Learn more
Corné Kros, MD, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Dr Kros qualified as a medical doctor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and trained in physiology at the University of Cambridge, UK, where he gained a PhD for his pioneering study recording ionic currents from inner hair cells in the cochlea. He devoted his research career to study sensory transduction by hair cells in the inner ear. Dr Kros’s key contributions that have potential clinical implications include the discovery that developing inner hair cells fire spontaneous action potentials before the onset of hearing, to be replaced by graded potentials when the auditory system matures, as well as the discovery that aminoglycoside antibiotics such as gentamicin, which are ototoxic, enter the hair cells through their mechano-electrical transducer channels. Learn more
Head, Division of ENT and Head-and-Neck Surgery, University Hospital Geneva.
Paediatrician-Neuropaediatrician in private practice, Geneva.