Professor Jensen is a world-leading expert in applying magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study the human brain. He joins Oxford from the University of Birmingham where he is Professor in Translational Neuroscience and Co-Director of the Centre for Human Brain Health. Professor Jensen, who starts October 1st, says:
I am delighted to be joining Oxford in this exciting and wide-ranging role. I look forward to working with teams in the Departments of Psychiatry and Experimental Psychology to accelerate research in cognitive neuroscience and further our understanding of the human brain and behaviour.
I hope to develop and utilise new tools for human electrophysiology and brain imaging based on the Optically Pumped Magnetometers technology. This is a new exciting technique that allows for improved functional brain imaging being particularly advantageous for paediatric electrophysiological recordings. I aim to develop our research on the mechanisms of attention in children. I will apply the insight to investigate neurodiversity including disorders associated with attention and reading problems.
I am very much looking forward to developing my research programme in collaboration with experts on brain imaging, neurodiversity and developmental neuroscience at Oxford.”
Professor Jensen started his career with an MSc in Electrical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark, followed by a PhD in Neuroscience, specialising in computational modelling of oscillatory networks, at Brandeis University in the US. He then went onto apply the use of MEG to study the brain at the Helsinki University of Technology and Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, before joining Birmingham in 2016.
Professor Matthew Rushworth, Head of the Department of Experimental Psychology, says: “Ole Jensen is a leading figure in human cognitive neuroscience and it is fantastic news that he is coming to Oxford. As well as making real advances in our understanding of oscillatory activity and its role in communication in the brain, Ole is at the forefront of developing new approaches for magnetoencephalography that are having an impact in many domains.”
Professor Belinda Lennox, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, says: "We are thrilled to have Ole join us in this important post. A world-leading and innovative cognitive neuroscientist, he brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our team here at Oxford. We are looking forward to working with him to advance our understanding of the human brain and translate ground-breaking scientific research into tangible benefits for patients.”