Team Leader


	Rupert Lanzenberger, MD PD
	rupert.lanzenberger[@]meduniwien.ac.at tel: +43-1-40400-3825	Publications
		CV
		Talks & Lectures

Main research areas are multimodal neuroimaging with PET and fMRI in psychiatric and neurological patients compared to healthy controls, neuroimaging in psychopharmacology, psychoneuroendocrinology including gender medicine, cognitive neuroscience, genetic neuroimaging, experimental neuronuclear medicine. Currently, we are focused on the serotonergic system by investigating pharmacological effects on the serotonin transporter, the main inhibitory (5-HT_1A) serotonergic receptor subtype, and task-specific brain activation. New multimodal neuroimaging approaches combining pharmacological MRI (phMRI) and PET have been developed and are advanced methods in psychopharmacology to evaluate the effects of drugs in the brain of healthy subjects and patients. By combining molecular and functional imaging, the relation between neurochemical, structural and functional alterations in psychiatric and neurological disorders are in the focus of research.

Researchers

Christoph Spindelegger, MD

christoph.spindelegger[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Dr. Christoph Spindelegger joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group as medical student and wrote his doctoral thesis about influences of steroid hormones on serotonergic receptors. He graduated (MD) in January 2006 and is now resident at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. He is involved in several PET and fMRI studies of the group regarding the serotonergic system and alteration of this system in patients suffering from affective mood disorders.

Patrycja Stein, MD

patrycja.stein[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Dr. Patrycja Stein joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group as a doctoral student in 2006. In May 2008, she graduated at the Medical University of Vienna with a thesis about sex differences in the serotonin-1A receptor distribution of the human brain. Dr. Stein is mainly interested in the etiopathology of female-specific mood disorders and the influence of sex hormones on affective states. Currently, she is involved in a PET study examining the effects of hormone replacement therapy on the serotonergic system. In May 2008, she was awarded with the Theodor-Körner-Preis. She started her medical training in psychiatry in Dec. 2008.

Elena Akimova, MD

elena.akimova[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Elena Akimova came from Moscow to study medicine in Vienna, where she graduated (MD) in June 2007. In February 2008 she joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group and is involved in several projects on the serotonergic system and its role in anxiety and affective disorders. Elena has been a resident in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy since October 2008.

Martin Fink, MD

martin.fink[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Martin Fink studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna where he recieved his doctoral degree (MD) in april 2008. His research focuses on cortical serotonergic receptor distribution with regard to physiological functions in healthy individuals and patients with affective disorders. He is involved in the assessment and analysis of PET data, anatomical labeling and contributes to the development of novel approaches towards automated data processing. He started his clinical career at the Department of Psychiatry in July 2008.

Ulrike Moser, MD

ulrike.moser[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Dr. Ulrike Moser studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. Since her graduation in May 2005 she is member of the Functional Neuroimaging Group. In March 2006 she began her residency at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. She is responsible for the medical attendance of patients and healthy subjects in several PET and fMRT studies of the group.

Irmgard Hofer-Irmler, MD

irmgard.hofer-irmler[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Irmgard Hofer-Irmler studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. She received her doctoral degree in september 2005 and joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group in April 2009. She is involved in several PET studies regarding the serotonergic system and is mainly responsible for patient screening and selection of volunteers.

Alexander Holik, Mag.

alexander.holik[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Alexander Holik received his MSc in Physical Anthropology from the University of Vienna in 2003 and focused mainly on Cognitive Neurosciences and Evolutionary Psychology. He is applying fMRI to questions of Social Cognitive Neuroscience as relevant in the psychiatric context. His current focus lies on visual reward-anticipation in anxiety and depression using systematically computer-manipulated facial stimuli.

Markus Savli, MSc

markus.savli[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Markus Savli studied Biomedical Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien. Currently, he is writing his doctoral thesis (Dr. tech.) on multi-tracer imaging of the serotonergic system at the Vienna University of Technology. He is an expert in PET modeling and focused on the analysis of molecular and functional neuroimaging data. Besides his expertise in brain imaging he speaks Chinese and Spanish.

Andreas Hahn, MSc

andreas.hahn[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Andreas Hahn joined the group through the accomplishment of his master's thesis. He graduated in June 2008 in the field of biomedical engineering carrying out parts of his studies in Valencia, Spain, and Helsinki, Finland. The emphasis of his work lies on the establishment of automated analysis methods as well as pre-processing and evaluation of data sets from PET and fMRI. His current activities include the implementation of new algorithms for segmentation and combined multimodal data analysis.

Georg Kranz, Mag

georg.kranz[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Georg Kranz received his Mag.rer.nat. in Psychology from the University of Vienna in November 2008 with a master's thesis about the neural correlates of prosocial behavior. He is specialized in Biological Psychology and EEG measurement. Research interests are concerning the neural basis of consciousness, visual perception and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). He is co-author of several peer reviewed articles in the field of neurology. Additionally to his work in the Neuroscience Lab he works at the private archives of the Viktor Frankl Institute in Vienna (http://logotherapy.univie.ac.at/).

Christoph Kraus, MD

christoph.kraus[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Dr. Christoph Kraus joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group after graduating from Medical University in Vienna in Sept. 2009. Enrolled in the doctoral programme "Clinical Neurosciences", his main focus is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). He is further involved in current PET and fMRT studies, and DNA/RNA-analysis.

Anna Höflich, MD

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Anna Höflich studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, graduating in March 2010. She joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group in April 2010 and is enrolled in the doctoral programme "Clinical neurosciences". She is further involved in current PET studies and DNA/RNA Analysis.

Pia Baldinger, MD

[@]

Dr. Pia Baldinger studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, where she received her doctoral degree in July 2009. She joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in April 2010. Besides her studies in the doctoral programme "Clinical Neuroscience", she is involved in different PET-studies examining the serotonergic system. She started her clinical training in psychiatry in July 2010.

Steven Müller, BSc.

[@]

Steven Müller received his bachelor's degree in Computer Science (2008) from the University of Paderborn, Germany. After moving to Vienna he attended the Medical Informatics master's program at the Medical University in Vienna with a specialization in Bioinformatics. He joined the group to finish his studies by accomplishing his master's thesis in the field of neuroimaging. He is currently involved in analysis of fMRI and PET data next to writing his thesis about the influence of gene variants on the serotonergic system.

External Fellows

Undergraduate Students

Philipp Angleitner

[@]

Philipp Angleitner is studying medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. He is currently researching the relationship between sex hormones and region-specific neural activation. He is involved in PET studies investigating drug receptor occupancy in major depression and anxiety disorders.

Former Coworkers

Christian Windischberger, PD DI Dr.tech.

christian.windischberger[@]meduniwien.ac.at

7 Tesla MR

Veronica Witte, PhD

The neuroscientist Dr. Veronica Witte studied biology and psychology in Bielefeld, Germany. She received her PhD (Dr.rer.nat.) in experimental neuroanatomy and investigated epigenetic influences on the aging brain in Münster, Germany. She joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group in Vienna in Jan. 2008. Her research focus comprised the involvement of serotonin and the endocrine system on behavioural qualities and cognitive functions using PET and fMRI. Based on her work in Vienna, she published two papers in high-ranked journals. In 2009 Dr. Witte started her work with Prof. A. Floel at the Department of Neurology, Charité Berlin.

Leonhard-Key Mien, PhD

leonhard-key.mien[@]meduniwien.ac.at

The radiopharmacist Dr. Mien is specialized in [¹¹C] and [¹⁸F] radiochemistry especially relevant for the quantification of neuroreceptors and transporters. He was working in the research group of his mentors Associate Prof. Markus Mitterhauser (Head of Radiopharmacy and QC PET), Mag. Dr. Wolfgang Wadsak (Head of Radiochemistry and Production Manager for PET-Radiopharmaceuticals) and Prof. DDr. Kurt Kletter (Professor for Experimental Nuclear Medicine) at the PET centre of the Department of Nuclear Medicine (Head: Prof.Dr. Robert Dudczak). In February 2010 he left the MUW.

Stefan Tögel, PhD

stefan.toegel[@]univie.ac.at

As a pharmacist, Stefan Tögel graduated in 2007 with a doctoral thesis on the pre-clinical evaluation of bone seeking radiotracer formulations, realized by a cooperation between the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, University Vienna and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University Vienna. He was involved in radiopharmaceutical studies related to the collaboration with the PET Centre Vienna, providing his expertise on biopharmaceutical models and gene expression analysis. Since February 2010 he is working at the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Vienna.

Simon Hackhofer, MD

simon.hackhofer[@]meduniwien.ac.at

Simon Hackhofer studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, graduating in march 2009. He joined the Functional Neuroimaging Group in May 2009 and was involved in several PET studies regarding the serotonergic system. He was responsible for the selection of volunteers and patient screening. In April 2010 he started his training in psychiatry in a rural region of switzerland following his girlfriend.

Florian Gerstl, MD

florian.gerstl[@]meduniwien.ac.at