CGA

Mathematical modeling · Neurodegeneration · Brain networks

Christoffer Gretarsson Alexandersen, PhD

I develop mathematical models that explain where neurodegenerative disease begins, how pathology spreads through the brain, and how neuronal dynamics shape disease progression.

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Research

Toward a predictive quantitative theory of neurodegeneration

My research addresses two linked questions: why pathology begins in particular brain regions, and how it progresses through the brain over time. 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 at the Complex Systems Lab at UPenn, led by 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 Biotechnology at NTNU under Prof. Eivind Almaas.

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