Dr. Ken Berglund is Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine. His primary research focus is optogenetic and chemogenetic tool development for neuroscience research. Since he joined Emory University in 2014, he and his colleagues have applied molecular neuromodulation he developed as experimental treatments for various neurological disease conditions in rodents, including epilepsy, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and peripheral never injury. His expertise also includes genetic functional and cellular imaging in mouse models. He has developed genetically encoded indicators for calcium and chloride, which revealed various physiological and pathological activity at cellular and subcellular levels in the mouse brain.

Dr. Berglund was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. He obtained his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 2002 and completed postdoctoral training at Duke University. His background gave him aspirations for international collaborations between the US and Japan. He has given invited talks in Japan in various occasions, including an annual meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society. He has contributed book chapters to books by Japanese editors, both in English and Japanese. He has initiated international collaborations through JSPS and NIH bilateral programs. He is an avid DIYer and tinkering lab equipment at work when he has free time or his automobiles when he is not in the lab.