معرفی
Joana Pereira is a postdoctoral researcher at the University Medical Center Freiburg (University of Freiburg) in the Lab of Stereotaxy and Electrophysiology, with concurrent guest researcher status at Radboud University's Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. Her work centers on developing adaptive deep brain stimulation (aDBS) systems that integrate brain and behavioral signals to treat neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, while maintaining expertise in brain-computer interfaces for motor restoration.
Her educational foundation includes:
- PhD in Biomedical Engineering (2021) from Graz University of Technology, Austria
- MSc in Biomedical Engineering and Biophysics (2015) from University of Lisbon, Portugal
- BSc in Biomedical Engineering and Biophysics (2013) from University of Lisbon, Portugal
Dr. Pereira's research spans adaptive deep brain stimulation, brain-computer interfacing, cognitive neuroscience, and movement decoding, with emphasis on closed-loop neurotechnology systems. Current work focuses on identifying cortical neural markers for aDBS in psychiatric disorders and translating BCI frameworks to restore motor function in spinal cord injury through neuroprosthetics. Her methodology integrates electrophysiological data acquisition, real-time signal processing, and machine learning for neural decoding.
Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a clear research trajectory: early work concentrated on non-invasive EEG-based BCIs for robotic arm control and grasp neuroprostheses (2016-2021), while recent output pivots toward invasive closed-loop DBS systems for depression (2022-2025). Key thematic clusters include Dareplane software development for closed-loop research, electrophysiological characterization of DBS in depression, and fundamental movement decoding mechanisms. This evolution demonstrates strategic expansion from motor restoration applications to psychiatric neuromodulation.
Dr. Pereira secured competitive funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for a project commencing April 2023 to characterize cortical responses to DBS in treatment-resistant depression and OCD patients. While no formal advisees are documented, her collaborative framework involves Prof. Volker A. Coenen's neurosurgery team at Uniklinik Freiburg and Prof. Michael Tangermann's neurotechnology group at Radboud University, forming an interdisciplinary consortium spanning electrophysiology, machine learning, and clinical neurology.
Her primary laboratory affiliation is the Lab of Stereotaxy and Electrophysiology at University Medical Center Freiburg, where she investigates DBS mechanisms through intraoperative and chronic electrophysiological recordings. This work synergizes with the Donders Institute's cognitive neuroscience expertise, creating a transnational research pipeline from basic neural decoding to clinical implementation of adaptive neuromodulation therapies.
