Asla Pitkanen MD, PhD, DSci

Asla Pitkanen is a Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Eastern Finland. She did her postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute, CA, and a sabbatical at the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Her research focus is on investigating the molecular mechanisms of epileptogenesis. She has published about 250 peer-reviewed articles and edited 3 books. She has trained 21 Ph.D. students and 10 postdocs and served as a teacher in Baltic Summer School in Epilepsy and in San Servolo Course on Epilepsy. She is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Epilepsy Research. Dr. Pitkänen has received several awards, including The Jan Evangelista Purkyne Honorary Medal and the ASPET Award. In 2010, she was elected to the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. She has served in a variety of national and international committees, including the Finnish Epilepsy Society, Brain Research Society of Finland, EU, NIH-NINDS, ILAE, and FENS.