Team

Prof. Dr. Xenia Kobeleva

Research Group Leader

Xenia Kobeleva is an assistant professor (tenure track) in Neurostimulation at Ruhr University Bochum (faculty of medicine). She is an expert in neurodegenerative diseases and brain modelling and affiliated with several leading brain research institutions, such as UPF’s computational neuroscience lab and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). As a physician by training, she identifies as a translational neuroscientist, attaining research questions from the bedside, studying them in the lab, and bringing solutions back to the bedside.

For more information on Xenia Kobeleva, please see her personal page.

Dr. Nikolai Syrov

Postdoctoral Associate

Nikolay Syrov joined the Computational Neurology Research Group as a postdoctoral researcher in 2025. He currently works on developing state-dependent personalized neurostimulation approaches aimed at efficiently modulating brain activity. He obtained his PhD in Physiology in 2022 from Lomonosov Moscow State University, where his research focused on brain-computer interfaces for motor rehabilitation. Following his doctorate, he studied mechanisms of action preparation and led projects investigating neuromarkers of sensorimotor network impairments after stroke, extensively employing EEG, fNIRS, and TMS techniques.

Shoto Yamada

PhD Candidate

Shoto Yamada is a PhD candidate at Ruhr University Bochum, co-supervised by Prof. Dr. Xenia Kobeleva and Prof. Dr. Robert Schmidt. He joined the Computational Neurology Research Group in late 2024, following his Master's thesis project that was also supervised by Prof. Kobeleva. Shoto holds a Master's degree in Cognitive Science from Ruhr University Bochum and focuses on the development and application of probabilistic machine learning techniques for the analysis of electrophysiology data. Currently, he is working on developing a Bayesian Hidden Markov Model to detect transient oscillations, contributing to advancements in understanding neural dynamics.

Franziska-Maria Fuchs

MD Candidate

Franziska-Maria Fuchs is a student of medicine at the University of Bonn and joined the Computational Neurology Research Group in 2023 for pursuing her doctoral thesis. She accompanies a clinical trial in the field of the hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSP), in which she investigates the treatment outcome of transcranial magnetic stimulation on patients suffering from HSP.

Briand Qeriqi

MD Candidate

Briand Qeriqi is a student of medicine at Ruhr University Bochum and joined the Computational Neurology Research Group in 2023 for pursuing his doctoral thesis. He conducts clinical-experimental research in the field of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), utilizing imaging techniques such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and brain modeling tools.

Sven Liebthal

Team Assistant

Sven Liebthal is the Computational Neurology Research Group's team assistant. After completing a commercial apprenticeship, he studied Economics with a focus on Logistics and then worked in this profession for over ten years in the private sector before joining Ruhr University Bochum. He greatly adds to the group by bringing in and applying his economic and managerial expertise.

Alumni

  • Sobhan Moazemi
  • Maher Zoubi
  • Julian Herrmann
  • Julian Schulte
  • Steven Geysen
  • Nahid Hasan
  • Dr. Riccardo Leone (PhD Student, 2022-2025)
  • Pegah Majlessi (Master's Student, 2024-2025)
‹ Go back to Prof. Kobeleva's profile Get acquainted with the group's publications ›