Departmental research covers clinical neurosurgery and forms a matrix of neurosurgical diseases crossed by research methods. The disease groups could be visualized as an x-axis of the matrix, while methodologies cross from the y-axis. This virtual matrix is PERNS, the personalized neurosurgery research group. PERNS is the overarching structure for clinical and translational research in neurosurgery and an integrated part of the Department of Neurosurgery. PERNS connects clinical neuroscience to preclinical sciences.
Pre- and postgraduate neurosurgeons interact with collaborators to cover clinical aspects, epidemiology, psychology, subjective suffering, and pre-clinical science relevant for each disease. The borders between groups are flexible and researcher collaborate to contribute skills and experience to combine efforts when needed to develop specific fields or address research questions.
The main disease entities comprise three major fields of neurosurgery. One is neuro-oncology with three different themes: gliomas, pediatric brain tumors and meningiomas along with skull base tumors and surgical anatomy. Another large group is cerebrospinal fluid related pathology and physiology including hydrocephalus and clinical aspects of glymphatic flow; much of this is studied within the CSF study group. Cerebro-vascular disease is the third, while a special theme of CNS-compartmentalization and blood-brain barrier function is linked to both previous groups. We also develop research into neuro-trauma and functional neurosurgery.
The main methodologies comprise clinical research, qualitative methodology, epidemiology, and neuropsychology which are primarily headed by departmental researchers while imaging, cellular, molecular and genetic studies, pathology and macro-anatomy are covered through integration of our collaborators in joint projects.
The major neurosurgical disease groups are addressed through structures such as the Copenhagen CSF Study Group, The personalized Meningioma Management Group, The Oncology Group, the Qualitative Research Group, The Danish Chronic Subdural Hematoma Study-group, and others to cover all aspects of trauma, vascular and functional disease in neurosurgery; structures that are either fixed or formed ad hoc to produce evidence and insight for management of neurosurgical patients.