Personalized treatment strategies

Invited talks Session 4 – Tuesday 12th December – 15:30 – 17:30


Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Combination of neurotechnologies for upper limb motor recovery in stroke patients with severe hemiparesis

Friedhelm Hummel is Professor of Neuroengineering at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Adjunct Professor in the Clinical Neuroscience Department of the University Hospital Geneva (HUG) and Fullprofessor and Director of the Defitech Chair of Clinical Neuroengineering. He is a systems neuroscientist and trained neurologist, with more than 15 years of experience in clinical neurology, and a pioneer in non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance recovery from neurological disorders. His scientific interests are in the understanding of motor and cognitive behavior and learning in healthy aging and after stroke using multimodal systems neuroscience methods and neuro-technologies for the development of innovative interventional strategies to enhance behavior and recovery. His work has been published in a number of manuscripts at Brain, Science Advances, Current Biology and Neurology, and discussed in the media.


University Hospital Frankfurt

Brain connectivity and network modulation after stroke

Dr. Christian Grefkes-Hermann underwent diverse academic training, completing his medical studies in 2004 after a global academic journey spanning Sydney, London, and Germany. He earned his doctorate in 2005, focusing on the human cerebral cortex. His expertise in Neurology expanded through specialized training in Aachen and Cologne, augmented by qualifications in Intensive Care Medicine and Rehabilitation. Presently, he holds the position of Professor of Neurology at Goethe University Frankfurt and serves as Director of the Neurology Department at the University Hospital Frankfurt. Dr. Grefkes-Hermann’s research is centered on brain plasticity and reorganization post-brain injuries, notably stroke, employing non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for neurological deficit management. His leadership extends to overseeing significant research initiatives and editorial roles in leading neuroscientific journals, showcasing his dedication to advancing neurological science.


University of Tübingen

Brain state-dependent and closed-loop stimulation for individualized modification of human brain networks

Ulf Ziemann serves as the Director of the Department of Neurology & Stroke and Co-Director of the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He holds the prestigious role of Editor-in-Chief for “Clinical Neurophysiology” and is the Deputy Editor for “Brain Stimulation.” His research primarily focuses on the motor cortex, plasticity, brain state-dependent stimulation, and TMS-EEG neuropharmacology. In the clinical realm, Dr. Ziemann is recognized for his expertise in stroke, neuroimmunology, and clinical neurophysiology. Dr. Ziemann’s outstanding contributions have been acknowledged with awards, including the Richard-Jung Prize from the German Society of Clinical Neurophysiology. Notably, he has been recognized as a Clarivate Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher from 2020 to 2023. His extensive body of work is reflected in over 480 peer-reviewed publications, 42 book chapters, and 8 books. The cumulative Impact Factor (IF) of his publications exceeds 2600, and his Google Scholar h-index stands at an impressive 120.


Santa Lucia Foundation

Emerging Non Invasive Brain Stimulation treatments for cognitive impairment in the Alzheimer’s disease continuum


Giacomo Koch is a neurologist and neuroscientist leading the non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) lab at Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome. He is also Full Professor of Human Physiology, at the Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, University of Ferrara, Italy. He obtained an MD and PhD in Neurophysiology at the University of Rome, Italy. He completed his residency in Neurology and trained in Human Cortical Neurophysiology at the University College of London. His main expertise is in the application of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), mainly used with a multidisciplinary approach in combination with structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and with electroencephalography (TMS/EEG). He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in the field of clinical neurophysiology of motor and cognitive functions. His research is characterized by an innovative and translational approach for neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia) and stroke rehabilitation. Over the last years, he ran several research studies in the field of dementia, with the main goals in understanding the mechanisms underlying cortical plasticity and cortical connectivity impairment and in developing novel therapeutic approaches for recovery of neurological functions. His work paved the way for clinical application of dopamine agonists in patients with AD. Prof. Koch recently developed a novel approach based on the personalized stimulation of the default mode network (DMN) to slow disease progression in patients with AD. He is author of 320 original papers with an H index of 65 (Scopus).