CURRICULUM VITAE
Personal information
Name: BLANKE, Olaf
Academic degree: M.D., Ph.D.
Actual position: Assistant Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience (Tenure-Track)
Laboratory Director
Professional address: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience (LNCO)
Brain Mind Institute
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
1015 Lausanne
Phone: +41-21-693-96-21
Fax: +41-21-693-96-25
E-mail:
Web: lnco.epfl.ch
Department of Neurology
University Hospital
24, rue Micheli-du-Crest
1211 Geneva 14
Phone: +41-22-372-83-39
Fax: +41-22-372-83-58
Education
1989 - 1991 Preclinical medical studies (Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany)
1991 - 1996 Clinical medical studies (Free University, Berlin, Germany; Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, France;University of Geneva, Switzerland)
1996 M.D. (Free University, Berlin, Germany)
1999 Ph.D. in Neurophysiology (Free University, Berlin, Germany)
(Title: “Guidance of saccadic eye movements by tactile and proprioceptive stimuli”)
Professional positions
1990 Research assistant (Institute of Chemical Physiology, Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany) (Prof. Dr. A. Hasilik)
1993 - 1996 Ph.D. student (Institute of Neurophysiology, Free University, Berlin, Germany (Prof. O.-J. Grüsser)
1996 - 2001 Medical and Neurology Residency (Department of Neurology: Presurgical Epilepsy Unit, EEG Unit, Neurology Clinic and Policlinic, Emergency room)(Prof. T. Landis, Prof. De Tribolet, Prof. M. Seeck)
1/2002 –9/2002 Research Fellow (Functional Brain Mapping Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of Geneva, Switzerland) (Prof. C.M. Michel)
10/2002-8/2004 Chef de Clinique Scientifique (Department of Neurology, University of Geneva, Switzerland) (Prof. T. Landis)
since 9/2004 Assistant Professor (Tenure Track); Director (Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, EPFL, Lausanne)
9/2004-3/2005 Consultant Neurologist (Department of Neurology, University of Geneva, Switzerland) (Prof. T. Landis)
since 4/2005 Chargé de Cours (Department of Neurology, University of Geneva, Switzerland) (Prof. T. Landis)
Honors for Research
2003 Leenaards Price (with P. Maeder & C. Mohr)
2004 Pfizer Price (with M. Seeck)
National and international collaborations
· Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, England (Dr. U. Leonards, Dr. C. Mohr)
· Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland (Prof. P. Maeder)
· Neuropsychology Unit, Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland (PD P. Brugger)
· Laboratory for Magnetic Brain Stimulation Harvard Medical School, Boston, U.S.A. (Prof. A. Pascual-Leone)
· Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland (Prof. T Landis, Prof. CM Michel, PD M Seeck, Dr. G Thut)
· Department of Philosophy, University of Mainz, Germany (Prof. T. Metzinger)
· ASL3, EPFL, CH (Prof. A. Billard)
· Virtual Reality Laboratory, EPFL, CH (Prof. D. Thalmann; Dr F. Vexo)
Research Funding
· Neural correlates of pathological motion perception in cortical motion blindness and motion deafness (Principal Investigator; Swiss National Science Foundation, 200.000 CHF)
· Neural correlates of Out-of body experiences (Principal Investigator; Leenaards Foundation, Lausanne, Switzerland; 240.000 CHF)
· When objects glow (Co-investigator (PI U Leonards); Swiss National Science Foundation, 350.000 CHF; declined due to leaving of U Leonards for the UK)
· Spatio-temporal limits of cognitive processing in atheletes (Co-Principal Investigator with M Herzog; Sport and Rehabilitation Engineering, EPFL; 200.000 CHF)
· Imitation behavior in robots and neurological patients (Co- Investigator with A Billard; Sport and Rehabilitation Engineering, EPFL; 200.000 CHF)
· Inducing corporeal illusions to understand self and subjectivity: Combining Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Neuroscience (Principal Investigator; Cogito Foundation, 80.000 CHF)
Reviewer:
· European Journal Neuroscience, Cognitive Brain Research, Science, NeuroImage, European Neurology, Neuropsychologia, Neurocase, Brain, Experimental Brain Research, British Journal of Psychology, Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology, Brain Research Reviews, Psychological Bulletin and Review, Psychological Science, European Science Foundation.
Public understanding of Science
(Radio, TV, newspaper reports about published articles; artistic collaborations)
2002
Radio: 60 min; WDR, Cologne, Germany; 9/2002
Radio: 30 min; BBC, London United Kingdom ; 11/2002
Journal: La Recherche (France), 9/2002
Journal: Campus (Switzerland), 9/2002
Newspaper: Le Matin (Switzerland), 9/2002
Newspaper: Tagesanzeiger (Switzerland), 9/2002
Newspaper: Daily Herald (United Kingdom), 9/2002
Journal: The Economist (United Kingdom), 9/2002
Newspaper: Boston Globe, USA (front page); 9/2002
Journal: TIME magazine, USA; 9/2002
Newspaper: Die Welt (Germany); 9/2002
Journal: L’Express (France), 9/2002
2003
Television: 5 min, M6 (e=m6), Paris, France ; 1/2003 (Reportage).
Television: 5 min, RTL (Focus TV), Munich, Germany; 1/2003 (Reportage).
2004
Radio: 30 min; RSR, Lausanne, CH ; 3/2004 (Reportage).
Television: 5 min, TSR, Geneva, CH ; 3/2004 (Reportage).
Journal: The Economist (United Kingdom), 4/2004
Art Exposition: L’Espace cache/representé; Geneva, CH; 2-3/2004
Journal: New Scientist (United Kingdom) 9/2004 (25 Sept 2004; page 17)
2005
Art & Performance: Benjamin de Bouilly (3-months collaboration with the dancer/choreographer Foofwa d’Imobilité (Festival Art et Cité; Geneva and Lausanne, CH, 2-5/2005)
Journal: Bild der Wissenschaft (Germany); 6/2005
Newspaper: Der Tagesspiegel (CH); 2/2005
Newspaper: Le Temps (CH); 5/2005
Journal: Polyrama (CH) 6/2005 (pp 41-42)
Journal: Quo (Spain) 8/2005
Television: Nouvo; TSR, Geneva (CH ) 10/2005 (Reportage).
Journal: Science et Vie (France) 12/2005
Television: SF1, Zurich (CH ) 11/2005 (Reportage).
2006
Journal: Focus (Germany) 1/2006