CGA

Mathematical modeling · Neurodegeneration · Brain networks

Christoffer Gretarsson Alexandersen, PhD

I use mathematical models and computational methods to study neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

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Research

Toward a quantitative theory of neurodegeneration

My research addresses questions such as why some brain regions are more vulnerable to disease than others and how disease progresses throughout the brain. I use dynamical systems, network science, Bayesian inference, and multimodal data to connect biological mechanisms with clinical and experimental observations.

Current work focuses on activity-driven initiation of tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease, molecular and cellular vulnerability in prion-like alpha-synuclein propagation, and whole-brain models that bridge neuronal dynamics with disease progression.

Research program

Models that explain mechanisms and make predictions

Disease initiation

I study how regional neuronal activity and amyloid-beta can promote tau seeding, helping explain why Alzheimer's disease often begins in the entorhinal cortex and why onset varies across individuals.

Disease progression

I model prion-like spreading of pathological proteins across brain networks, with an emphasis on predicting how pathology evolves under new biological and experimental conditions.

Regional vulnerability

I integrate anatomical connectivity, spatial transcriptomics, cell-type composition, neuroimaging, and histopathology to identify why some brain regions are more vulnerable than others.

Selected publications

View full publication list on Google Scholar

Background

Training across mathematics, biology, and complex systems

I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Complex Systems Lab at the Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, led by Prof. Dani Bassett.

Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania from 2024 to 2026, under the mentorship of Prof. Dani Bassett. I completed my PhD in Mathematics at the University of Oxford under Prof. Alain Goriely and Prof. Christian Bick, funded by Aker Scholarship. Before that, I completed my MSc in Computational Biology at NTNU under Prof. Eivind Almaas.

Contact

Get in touch

Contact me at

christoffergretarsson.alexandersen [at] yale.edu

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