Sonja Hochmeister

Sonja Hochmeister is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Medical University Graz, Austria, Dept. of Neurology. She is working in the field of neuroimmunology, animal models and histopathology since 2001. After graduating from medical school in Vienna, Austria in 2001, she studied molecular biology and did her PhD thesis from 2003-2006 at the Center for Brain Research, Dept. Neuroimmunology in Vienna (Head and PhD supervisor Prof. Hans Lassmann). Her PhD study focused on mechanisms of brain inflammation and blood brain barrier disturbance. In 2006 she switched to Medical University Graz, Austria and started a further training in clinical neurology, ending with the board certification in Neurology in 2012 and the postdoctoral lecture qualification in 2013. During this training and thereafter she pursued her research career with a focus on histopathology and animal models. Research time spent abroad at Charite Berlin/ Germany and Karolinska Institute in Stockholm/ Sweden helped to intensify the insights and knowledge on animal models. The current main research interest is firstly to provide a reliable animal model mimicking features typical for progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and secondly to use this model to elucidate the mechanisms behind the often seen cognitive decline of late stage MS patients. Testing out compounds believed to be neuroprotective and/or enhance repair processes in this cortical demyelination model is a further long-term aim of her work.