Ivanka Savic Berglund (born 1953) is a
Serbian-Swedish neuroscientist
A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, Biological neural network, n ...
, a professor of
neurology
Neurology (from el, wikt:νεῦρον, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine), medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of co ...
and
chief physician at the
Karolinska Institute
The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...
in Sweden, and an adjunct professor in the neurology department at the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
[
*] Savic is best known for her
neurophysiology
Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience that studies nervous system function rather than nervous system architecture. This area aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of neurological diseases. Historically, it has been dominated b ...
and
neuroimaging
Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Incre ...
research relating to
epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
, sex differences,
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
,
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
, brain processing of odors and
pheromone
A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
s, and the effects of chronic stress on the brain. Savic is a co-founder of the
Stockholm Brain Institute and the editor of several medical books.
Education and career
Savic was born in
Belgrade, Serbia
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 millio ...
in 1953 to a family of high ranking military officers and academics. She began her medical studies at
Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...
in Sweden, graduated as a doctor at
Karolinska Institute (KI) in 1978 and became a certified doctor in 1980.
In 1984 she became a specialist in neurology and in 1991 in clinical neurophysiology. Savic received her PhD doctorate in 1992. In 1994–1996, she worked in a post doctoral position with Jerome Engel at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
(UCLA), which became a long standing collaboration. In 1996, Savic returned to research at KI, where she became an associate professor in 1999. The same year, she became chief physician at
Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge. In 1997–2003, she had a research assistant and a research position at the
Swedish Research Council
The Swedish Research Council ( sv, Vetenskapsrådet) is a Government agency in Sweden established in 2001, with the responsibility to support and develop basic scientific research. Its objective is for Sweden to be a leading nation in scienti ...
. In 2003–2009, she held an "elite position" as a research group leader at the Karolinska Institute. She was appointed professor of neurology in 2013 with a special focus on gender differences at Karolinska Institute, combined with a position as
chief physician at
Karolinska University Hospital
The Karolinska University Hospital ( sv, Karolinska universitetssjukhuset) is a teaching hospital affiliated with Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, with two major sites in the municipalities of Solna and Huddinge. The hospital network is ...
.
In 2016 she became an
adjunct professor
An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and
the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...
at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. Savic is a co-founder and member of the Stockholm Brain Institute's executive committee.
She is the editor and co-editor of two educational medical books on sex differences in the human brain, their underlying mechanisms and clinical implications.
Scientific research
Epilepsy
During her doctoral
thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
, Savic investigated the GABA benzodiazepine receptor's role in temporal lobe epilepsy and helped to develop a new and internationally used method to pre-surgically diagnose the epileptogenic region.
Pheromone and odour processing
Savic was the first scientist to show that humans process
pheromone
A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
stimuli in the brain, differently from other odours, and in a sexually differentiated manner.
Sexual orientation
Savic has carried out neuroimaging research to compare the brain structure of homosexual and heterosexual men and women. In 2008 Savic found both male and female homosexual persons in her samples had brain activation with pheromones, and amygdala's connections which resembled those of the opposite sex, i.e. gay men had a female-typical pattern, while lesbians had male-typical pattern.
Neuroscientist
Simon LeVay
Simon LeVay (born 28 August 1943 in Oxford, England) is a British-American neuroscientist.
He received a bachelor's degree in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge in 1966, a Ph.D. in Neuroanatomy at the University of Göttingen in ...
included her research in his book ''
Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why,'' and discusses its relevance to other neuroscience research related to sexual orientation.
Later research Savic carried out in 2018 and 2019 suggests that male homosexuality may be related to cerebral midline structures of the brain, which were not found in her sample of heterosexual females or males.
Gender identity
Savic has also studied the brains of transgender people. Her research suggests that transgender men and women have weaker connections between the two areas of the brain that process the perception of self and one's own body compared to
cisgender
Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of ''transgender''. The prefix ''wiktionary:cis ...
persons. Savic has said these connections seem to improve after the person receives cross-hormone treatment.
Savic has co-authored papers with the dutch neuroscientist
Dick Swaab
Dick Ferdinand Swaab (born 17 December 1944) is a Dutch physician and neurobiologist (brain researcher). He is a professor of neurobiology at the University of Amsterdam and was until 2005 Director of the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research ...
on the brain structure of transsexual and transgender people.
Her current interest is in the biology of self-identity.
Publications
Books
*
*
References
External links
Video interview with Ivanka Savic(In Swedish)
Savic's faculty webpagevia Karolinska Institute
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savic, Ivanka
Living people
Sexual orientation and science
Serbian neurologists
Swedish women neuroscientists
Karolinska Institute faculty
Karolinska Institute alumni
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA faculty
1953 births