As a cognitive neuroscientist and neuropsychologist, I have many years of experience in neurocognitive and patient-centered clinical research and clinical practice. In my work, I pay particular attention to the creative development of new methodological procedures for diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system and implementing these procedures in daily clinical practice. I am nationally and internationally acknowledged as an expert in the field of human cognition and work as specialized consultant and speaker on a worldwide scale.
My distinct enthusiasm to develop and promote new ideas led to my decision to found the COGITO Center for Applied Neurocognition and Neuropsychological Research in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2015. This center is considered unique in Germany, mainly because we offer neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric diagnostics as well as outpatient training concepts, which go beyond the often tightly-scheduled standard offers of clinical care. This enables us to give the individual patient much more room to describe his actual symptoms and to adapt the treatment to his individual needs. It is of particular concern to me that patients, with all their worries and fears that can arise in the context of neurological diseases and the accompanying symptoms, are treated well, feel well cared for and are taken seriously.
Specific characteristics of the center.
By developing and applying our own disease-specific and sensitive diagnostic and therapeutic methods, we help patients not only to understand their cognitive problems better and more thoroughly, but also to recognize the effectiveness of non-pharmacological therapy approaches. These can be used in a prophylactic and preventive as well as therapeutic manner.
The core competencies of the COGITO Center are
- Development of new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in digital and conventional form
- Neurocognitive research (with methods such as MRT, OCT, PET, biobanking)
- Conducting large clinical studies and IITs
Team
As director of the center, the quality of the services we offer is essential to me. Therefore, I select my staff very carefully, not only on the basis of the grades obtained, but also and especially on the basis of personal qualities and passion for the profession. In my opinion, the latter are indispensable for the contact with people who suffer from an illness.
University connection
In October 2016, I was appointed extraordinary professor at the Department of Neurology at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf including the following responsibilities:
- Leading member of the Multiple Sclerosis Unit
- Neuropsychological expert for clinical assessments of patients with various CNS disorders
- Head of translational research projects
- Teaching medical students in the field of cognitive neuroscience
Specialized training
Together with my team, I regularly organize advanced training events for physicians who are interested in neuropsychological matters. By providing specialized training within this subject, we aim at highlighting the relevance of neuropsychiatric symptoms for daily clinical practice.