Athina Tzovara

Prof. Athina Tzovara is a Professor at the University of Bern, leading the Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (CCN) research group within the Institute of Computer Science (Faculty of Science) with a dual affiliation in the Department of Neurology (Faculty of Medicine). Her research integrates computational modeling, machine learning, and neural recordings to study cognitive processes and neurological conditions. Key areas include sleep dynamics, coma prognosis, AI-driven healthcare solutions, and neural mechanisms underlying consciousness.

Education: BEng in Electrical & Computer Engineering (National Technical University of Athens, 2009), PhD in Neuroscience (University Hospital Centre Lausanne, 2012). Postdoctoral roles at University of Zurich and University College London preceded her current position.

Research focuses on: (1) Sleep-wake disorders using EEG and causal inference approaches, (2) Predictive neural coding models for auditory processing in coma patients, (3) Ethical AI frameworks for automated medical diagnostics, and (4) Data-driven phenotyping of neurological conditions.

Recent work emphasizes translating computational neuroscience insights into clinical tools - such as EEG-based coma outcome prediction and bias-aware sleep scoring algorithms. Her lab collaborates internationally on initiatives like SPHYNCS (narcolepsy cohort study) and Brain Mappers for open neuroscience communication.

Advocates for inclusive scientific practices through gender bias mitigation strategies and multilingual dissemination efforts. Active in Open Science initiatives like Open Humans platform development.