Dr. med. Omid Shirvani

Dr. Omid Shirvani is a Clinician Scientist at the Department of Neurology and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). He is committed to incorporating approaches from systems medicine into the field of neurology. His research focuses on pathological alterations of the nervous system resulting from interactions with other organs and environmental influences.

In collaboration with an international team, Dr. Shirvani is conducting research as part of the European Union-funded project "NeuroCOV" to investigate the potential persistent effects of SARS-CoV-2 infections on both the immune and the nervous system. For this purpose, Dr. Shirvani contributes to a collaborative observational study taking place in Bonn and Berlin. This study, conducted together with DZNE scientists Prof. Petzold and Prof. Schultze, as well as clinical partner at the Charité, aims to delve into the potential underlying mechanisms contributing to long-lasting neurocognitive deficits following COVID-19. To deeply phenotype their patients, they employ state-of-the-art high-throughput sequencing methods that allow detailed tracking of gene expression alterations within individual cells. DNA analysis, single-cell epigenomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics enable them to explore associations between the virus infection and neurocognitive impairment. To identify possible pathological patterns in these extensive datasets, they implement machine-learning methods.

Dr. Shirvani's integrative approach aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex interactions between our modern environment, the immune system, and the nervous system.