Ms. Maria Eriksdotter

MD, PhD, professor in geriatric medicine at Karolinska Institutet (KI) and senior consultant at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm. Former Dean of Karolinska Institutet and chair of the KI department of Neurobiology. Currently, appointed Advisor to the KI president. She serves as the Scientific Advisor for Cognitive Disorders to the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. A member of the Executive Board of Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm, and a member of the Board of the Silviahemmet Foundation (chaired by Her Majesty Queen Silvia). Eriksdotter is the founder and former director of the Swedish national quality registry on cognitive/dementia disorders, SveDem. Her research focuses on the prognosis and treatment of Alzheimer´s disease. Maria Eriksdotter pioneered the first clinical trial in the world on the implantation of encapsulated cells releasing nerve growth factor (NGF) directly into the forebrain of patients with Alzheimer´s disease. She has contributed to increased knowledge on the long-term cognitive and survival effects of cholinesterase inhibitors as well as the influence of comorbidities on cognition and survival in the dementia population.