What we do?

Kuopio Brain & Mind operates as a regional one-stop operator to enhance regional collaboration in neuroscientific research between universities, hospitals, companies and other ecosystem actors.

We bring together a large community of different career-stage basic and clinical researchers, health care professionals, and experts in law, ethics, business, and innovations.

We have a decades’ long expertise in clinical, basic, and translational research in different brain disorders and utilize unique, well-characterized patient cohorts, which include biological samples and detailed clinical, genetic, and biomarker data, as well as a wide variety of different in vitro and in vivo model systems. Kuopio Brain & Mind researchers also have outstanding national and international research networks.

As part of the Wellbeing Services County of North Savo, KUH houses KUH NeuroCenter, consisting of Neurology and Neurosurgery, and KUH Epilepsy Center, which is a full member of the European Reference Network (ERN) for Rare and Complex Epilepsies EpiCARE. KUH also provides services in clinical neurophysiology, neuropathology, brain imaging and adolescent and general psychiatry.

UEF hosts the Brain Research Unit for clinical trials and research, including UEF Biomarker Laboratory. Essential key infrastructures for biomedical research at UEF are provided by Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit, which is part of the European-level infrastructure EuroBioimaging, Genome Center of UEF, Single Cell Genomics Core Facility, UEF Bioinformatics Center, Stem Cell Core Facility of Biocenter Kuopio, Phenotyping Center of model organisms, Cell and Tissue Imaging Core Facility, National Virus Vector Laboratory, and In Vitro and Ex Vivo Electrophysiology Core Facility. Adolescent and general psychiatry research are also an essential part of UEF´s Neuroscience research actions.

Within Kuopio Brain & Mind, neuroscience research also utilizes Finnish Biobanks, including Biobank of Eastern Finland, as well as data available at FinnGen and national registries.

Kuopio Brain & Mind also participates in training of new generations of experts in neurology and neuroscience at KUH and in the UEF Doctoral Programs in Molecular Medicine and Clinical Research as well as in EU-funded doctoral and postdoctoral training programs combining biomedical research and ethics, law, business and innovations, and data sciences.

We aim to:

• Bring together a multidisciplinary group of experts working on brain health; translational (basic and clinical) researchers, doctors, other health care professionals and multi professional groups, organizations, patient associations etc.

• Enable new openings that come to life as interdisciplinary research and development cooperation.

• Find co-operators for research in neuroscience.

• Organize regional, national and international events and scientific conferences with different parties.

• Grow and facilitate neuroscience networks.

• Maintain multi-channel communication to bring neuroscience research and information of brain health closer to people.