Keynote speakers & invited faculty

Picture of Yoichiro Kamatani

Yoichiro Kamatani

Prof. Yoichiro Kamatani focuses on analyzing human biological big data, such as genomics and omics, based on statistical genetics and learning theory. We aim to approach the question of what complex traits are through data analysis. Traits are the properties inherent to organisms, characterizing individuals. Examples of traits include physical appearance, personality, blood test values, or diseases. Traits not explainable by a few genes are referred to as complex traits. By analyzing data, we strive to elucidate biology and medicine, contributing to the advancement of medical care in Japan and nurturing talent engaged in research that serves this purpose.

Website of Kamatani’s research group

Picture of Christopher Kellner

Christopher Kellner

Dr. Christopher Kellner is a dual-trained cerebrovascular neurosurgeon in the Mount Sinai Health System in New York. He was educated and trained at Harvard and Columbia before beginning his career at Mount Sinai as the Director of the Intracerebral Hemorrhage Program where he has focused on improving outcomes for patients presenting with spontaneous ICH by optimizing the full continuum of care from triage and systems of care, to working out technical details for minimally invasive endoscopic hematoma evacuation, also referred to as SCUBA, to developing a digital platform for remote patient monitoring in the outpatient setting, and applying chronic stroke recovery devices to this patient population.

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Tim Darsaut

Dr. Tim Darsaut is a dual-trained (open and endovascular) neurosurgeon from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with a busy clinical practice. Involved in the design, conduct, and reporting of randomized clinical trials that address fundamental questions about common neurovascular diseases, including ruptured aneurysms (ISAT-2), unruptured aneurysms (CAM, CURES) and brain arteriovenous malformations (TOBAS).

Picture of Susanna Narkilahti

Susanna Narkilahti

Dr. Susanna Narkilahti leads the TUNI NeuroGroup that focuses on producing both neuronal and glial cells from human pluripotent stem cells. The aim is to characterize the produced cells by their gene and protein expression and specifically study the cells’ maturation and electrophysiological functionality both in single cell and network levels. Co-culture systems containing several cell types in 2- or 3D utilizing biomaterials are also established. The group focuses on applications in e.g. in vitro modeling of biological processes and neurological diseases, graft development, and neurotoxicity screening platforms.

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Mark van Gils

Mark van Gils is Professor of Digital Healthcare, leading the research group Decision Support for Health, at Tampere University and Adjunct Professor in physiological signal processing at Aalto University. Activities in his over 25-year career in health data analysis have ranged from AI-driven patient monitoring in critical care to preventive approaches during daily living. He has special interest in data-driven approaches that take into account real-life challenges, such as dealing with imperfect data, heterogeneity of data sources, and ambiguity in outcomes. He has worked tightly with renowned university hospitals and health tech companies, and he has obtained extensive experience in carrying out leading roles, including coordination, in multi-disciplinary international research consortia, such as in EU projects.

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Ali Alaraj

Dr. Ali Alaraj, MD, MHA, is an attending Endovascular Neurosurgeon at the University of Illinois Health and a Tenured Professor of Neurological Surgery at the College of Medicine, the University of Illinois Chicago. He is the medical director of the neurosurgery intensive care unit, the co-chair of the comprehensive stroke program, and the director of neurosurgical clinical operations at the University of Illinois Health. He has more than 240 published peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters. He serves on the editorial board of Neurosurgery, Interventional Neuroradiology, and Neurological Research journals and is an ad-hoc reviewer for more than 40 peer-reviewed medical journals. His research interests include clinical outcomes of brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, and intracranial stenosis. In addition to basic understanding of quantitative cerebral flow measures and hemodynamic changes in cerebrovascular disease, and arteriovenous malformations.

Picture of Jeroen Boogaarts

Jeroen Boogaarts

Jeroen Boogaarts is a professor of open and endovascular neurosurgery at Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc) in Nijmegen, Netherlands. After completing his medical studies at the University of Utrecht, he pursued neurosurgical training at Radboudumc under the mentorship of André Grotenhuis. He further specialized in clinical epidemiology at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. Since joining the Radboudumc staff in 2009, Professor Boogaarts has focused his research on neurovascular diseases, with a particular emphasis on aneurysm treatment.

In addition to his academic and clinical roles, he serves as the director of the open and endovascular neurosurgical fellowship program at Radboudumc. Nationally, he chairs the Netherlands Neurosurgical Quality Organization, contributing to the advancement of neurosurgical standards and practices across the country.

Picture of Philipp Taussky

Philipp Taussky

Dr. Philipp Taussky from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA is a dual trained (open and endovascular) neurosurgeon and a skull base surgeon. His research efforts are centered on novel treatment options for cerebrovascular diseases and complication analysis.

Picture of Fabian Arnberg Sandor

Fabian Arnberg Sandor

Senior consultant, MD PhD, Neurointerventional unit Dept. Neuroradiology Karolinska University Hospital.

Clinical expertise in endovascular treatment of arteriovenous malformations in the CNS. Senior researcher in preclinical development of endovascular techniques and clinical studies of neurointerventional treatments.