Diagnostic and care activities
I graduated in medicine in June 2004 from the University of Hamburg, Germany, and went on to specialise in neurology in December 2010. From 2004 to 2008, I worked as a practitioner in the Department of Neurology at Harburg Hospital, Hamburg, and then in the Department of Psychiatry at North Hospital, Hamburg, from 2008 to 2009. Subsequently, from January 2010 to August 2016, I was a neurologist at the Department of Neurology and the Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis (INIMS), University of Hamburg. From September 2016, I was a mobility researcher at the CRMBM-CEMEREM, Aix-Marseille University, before becoming a senior neurologist in the Department of Neurology at the University of Hamburg, from October 2017 to August 2019.
Since 2019, my clinical work concerns diagnostic neuroradiology at the Department of Neuroradiology at the Hôpital de la Timone, APHM, Marseille.
Research
Since 2010, I have been involved in multimodal and translational research adressing neurological diseases, in particular neuroinflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica or MOGAD. I am particularly interested in the use of MRI to analyse the functional and structural connectivity of the brain as an indicator of neurodegeneration, repair and plasticity. I focus on the visual system and visual information processing up to higher order cognitive functions using a multimodal approach including advanced vision testing with full sensitivity function, OCT and MRI functional and structural brain imaging. Since arriving in Marseille in 2019, I have focused my research on the translational imaging aspect and have extended my research topics to paediatric brain tumours, mild head trauma in high-level sports and neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. I aim to develop and use new findings and methods of image analysis in the wider context of neurological disease, but with an emphasis on ecological validity and patient relevance.
My current focus is on ultra-high field functional MRI at 7T which can be considered as a breakthrough technology to pave the way for individual functional brain imaging. Other research activities include the design, development and organisation of investigator-initiated phase I to II trials. My latest translational research projects involve developing a low-field MRI at 0.055T for clinical application in intensive care, mobile practices and ambulances.
Teaching
I have experience in university teaching in Germany and France. I am currently involved in undergraduate to postgraduate teaching and have taught several courses for DES students. My teaching portfolio spans undergraduate, masters and PhD programmes, covering topics such as fMRI at the Manipulators School and neuroimaging in addictology at M2 level. In addition, I have contributed to PhD programmes and courses at institutions such as the École Polytechnique. Within the faculty, I am responsible for the PhD programme in neuroscience. I have also been actively involved in supervising a number of scientific theses since 2010, and have supervised DES theses in radiology.