Neurology

The main focuses of the Danish Veterinary Neurology Group are clinical research and education of veterinary students, our platform is the University Hospital for Companion Animals Neurology Referral Clinic. Our research focus is central nervous system (CNS) diseases and we work within the field of translational research - the exciting interface between basic science and clinical medicine.

While we help animals (and thereby their owners) by diagnosing and treating CNS diseases, we additionally collaborate with other groups in veterinary and human neuroscience to study basic disease mechanisms including neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, genetics and biomarkers.

We study ischemic stroke, dementia, epilepsy and neuropathic pain which occur as spontaneous conditions in dogs. Here we have a unique opportunity to study disease events as they develop naturally (which is not the case in studies of experimental animals), and perform post mortem CNS tissue studies. This research is possible only because dedicated owners donate their dog’s body to research when incurable CNS disease and suffering, motivates a decision of euthanasia. For this we are truly grateful. As the clinical picture and many of the disease mechanisms in dogs, also resemble those in human neurological disease, the results may also benefit human medicine.

Currently, our group consists of Professor Mette Berendt, DVM, PhD, Assistant professor Hanne Gredal, DVM, PhD, 4 PhD students, 1 Senior Clinician and associated Master students. Among others we collaborate with partners in human medicine at the University of Copenhagen, the Center of Functionally Integrated Neuroscience, Arhus University Hospital, the University of Southern Denmark, Rigshospitalet DK, Lundbeck A/S, LUND University Sweden and the University of Oxford in England.