Speakers of the Public Brain Health Day

Kailash Bhatia is a Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Department of Clinical and Movement Neuroscience of the Institute of Neurology, UCL, Queen Square, London.
Prof. Bhatia has been an active member of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS) over the past 22 years and has served on various committees. He was privileged to receive honorary membership of the MDS in 2021 and was also honored to be invited to deliver the Stanley Fahn Oration in 2022 at the MDS congress in Madrid. He is the current co-chair of the EAN Coordinating Panel on Rare Diseases and served as the special EAN liaison for the EAN/IAN (Indian Academy of Neurology) collaboration in 2021-22. He has accepted and trained a number of fellows from various countries under the EAN’s fellowhip programmes, has taken part in numerous EAN schools and workshops, and contributed to the EAN online web forums.

Antoinette Maassen van den Brink is Professor of Neurovascular Pharmacology at the Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She studies the neurovascular aspects of migraine, with a special interest in the role of female sex hormones on its pathophysiology. Her research is translational in origin, including animal in vivo experimental models, human isolated tissue models, as well as human in vivo clinical models. She is President of the European Headache Federation and past board member of the Federation of European Pharmacological Societies. Further, she is a board member of the Dutch Headache Society and founding board member of the Dutch Society for Gender and Health. She has >230 scientific publications in international, peer-reviewed journals and received many prestigious research grants and awards from the American Headache Society, National Headache Foundation (USA), International Headache Society, Dutch Heart Foundation, Dutch Brain Foundation, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development, as well as the Dutch Research Council.

Max Josef Hilz specialized in Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology, Neuro-Intensive Care Medicine, Disorders of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), but is also certified in Psychotherapy. He was Professor of Neurology, Medicine, and Psychiatry at New York University, New York, NY, Chair in Autonomic Neurology at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK, and until April 2019 Professor of Neurology at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. He is also Adjunct Professor of Neurology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, and Honorary Professor at the University of Transylvania, Romania, and the University of Zhengzhou, China. He chaired several autonomic societies and sections, e.g. at the World Federation of Neurology, the European and American Academies of Neurology, or the European Federation of Autonomic Societies. He serves as editorial board member and associate editor of five neurological journals and contributed to developing the American UCNS Autonomic Disorders subspecialty examination. He co-authored several guidelines and published more than 360 articles and book-chapters. He is particularly interested in the central autonomic network and the impact of neurological disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, traumatic brain injuries, or stress on autonomic regulation of cardiovascular and other bodily functions.

Amelia Hursey joined the Parkinson’s Europe team in January 2022 as Research Manager, progressing to Strategic Director from Jan 2025. She has delivered the Parkinson’s Europe’s Research Strategy, embedded a volunteer Steering Groups into the organisation and helped to increase Parkinson’s Europe research reputation. She has also brought new initiatives to the table, such as the Parkinson’s Europe’s Engagement Network, which connects the Parkinson’s community across Europe. Parkinson’s Europe is now a partner member of EUPATI, the Non–Profit coalition to support advancements of Disease Modifying Treatments for Parkinson’s and the Critical Path for Parkinson’s. She co-developed Parkinson’s Europe's new 2025-2028 strategy and is leading its delivery. She has been working in the field of Neurodegenerative research since 2009, is a Patient Organisations board member with EUPATI and a member of EAN’s Guidance Production Group and is co-author on several publications about Parkinson’s and patient engagement. She worked for NIHR’s DeNDRoN delivering clinical trials 2009-2015 and then at Parkinson’s UK as Research Participation Lead 2015-2022.  She was responsible for initiatives to increase research participation for people affected by Parkinson’s, HCP’s and researchers, and created the innovative Parkinson’s UK Take Part Hub and co-produced the Staying Connected toolkit.

Reetta Kälviäinen is the Full Professor and Chair of Neurology at the University of Eastern Finland and the Director of the Kuopio Epilepsy Center at the Kuopio University Hospital. She leads an active clinical epilepsy research group and large epilepsy biomarker study. She serves in the executive committee of the European Reference Network for rare and complex epilepsies EpiCARE (of which Kuopio Epilepsy Center is a full member) and in the management group of the Epilepsy Scientific Panel of the European Academy of Neurology, a member of EAN Communication Committee and Programme Committee. She has been one of the initiators of Finnish Brain Council and Neurocenter Finland with the aim of promoting brain health.

Eino Solje, MD, PhD is a neurologist by training and works as an Associate Professor of Clinical Research at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and as a Deputy Chief Physician at the Neurology Clinic of Kuopio University Hospital, responsible for neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, he leads the Brain Research Unit at the UEF. Solje has a particular focus on early-onset dementia and serves as the principal investigator for Finland in several major international research networks in the field. He has led multiple research projects funded by the EU, the Research Council of Finland and various foundations. Previously, he has also worked as a visiting researcher at the University of Brescia in Italy and has received several awards for his work.

Katariina Suomu has worked as Executive Director the Alzheimer Society of Finland (Muistiliitto) since 2019. The mission of the Society, based in Helsinki, is to campaign for the rights of people with dementia and their caregivers, raise awareness of dementia and brain health, disseminate information and offer advice. Katariina has completed her Master’s degree in Social Sciences and has also studied pedagogy, coaching and has qualifications in leadership and management. She has 25 years of work experience in different NGO’s and has a big interest in human rights and equality issues. What motivates her in the work, is to bring in the voice of people with dementia. Currently, Katariina is a board member of Alzheimer Europe, member of Human Rights Delegation of The Human Rights Centre in Finland, a board member in Finnish Brain Council and a council member of SOSTE, the Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health, the umbrella organization of 200 social affairs and health NGO’s in Finland.

Anne Takamäki is the current chair of Finnish Society for Music Therapy and is networking with different instances and individuals regarding social and health field, cultural wellbeing and scientific communities. Takamäki is Doctoral Researcher of Music Therapy at University of Jyväskylä, with the interest of music therapy of autistic children and adolescents. She is also Master of Arts in Music Therapy, Music Therapist, Early Childhood Music Teacher (B.A.), Licensed Practical Nurse, VIBRAC Practitioner and Neuropsychiatric Coach. Takamäki is from Hämeenlinna, Finland and is working as private health care practitioner of music therapy for Social Insurance Institution of Finland (’Kela’) for demanding medical rehabilitation and adolescents´ psychotherapy. She is also offering services for Kanta-Häme Wellbeing Services County and insurance companies etc. Takamäki works mostly with autistic and other neuropsychiatric individuals as well as clients with intellectual disabilities and clients suffering from stroke, TBI or psychiatric conditions. Formerly she has worked for a long period as vocational teacher of music for social and health students and is still offering lectures. In her interactive lecture at EAN conference´s National Brain Health Day Takamäki will offer the participants an interactional glimpse of music therapy activities with neurological patients.