Rolf Bjerkvig - Biography#

Professor Rolf Bjerkvig began his academic career at the University of California in San Francisco, where he worked at The Brain Tumor Research Center, Department of Neurosurgery from 1978-81. He returned to Norway in 1981 and worked until 1991 at the Gade Institute, Department of Pathology, University of Bergen. He completed his doctoral thesis in 1987 with the title "Experimental chemotherapy and invasion studies of malignant glioma-cells in culture." In 1992, he was appointed to the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Bergen, where he has been a professor since 1993. Bjerkvig has supervised more than 30 doctoral candidates and published 259 original articles indexed in Pub-Med

Bjerkvig has received international recognition for his groundbreaking work in the field of neuro-oncology focusing on uncovering and describing mechanisms causing and driving the progression of brain tumors. From basic research, his research group developed a new therapeutic molecule (CyPep-1) that led to the establishment of a biotechnology company Cytovation ASA (https://www.cytovation.com). Since 2018, the lead compound developed in his laboratory, has resulted in phase I clinical trials at international centers. See https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?term=cytovation. Since 2018, Cytovation has raised > 30 MEUR towards its clinical programs. Cytovation receives currently also support from the European Commission through the European EUROSTARS programme.

His recognition includes several awards, among others the King Olav V, cancer research prize in Norway.

He has acted as Head of the Oncology Department at the Luxembourg Institute of Health. He also holds an honorary professorship at Shandong University, China (http://brain.sdu.edu.cn/en/info/1047/1053.htm).

Bjerkvig has been a member of several Scientific Advisory Boards both at the national and international level. He has also participated in numerous evaluation panels for grants, in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and the European Commission.

He has received numerous grants from the Norwegian Cancer Society, The Norwegian Research Council, Fonds National de la Recherche (Luxembourg) as well as the European Commission.

His ISI Web of Science H-index is 63 and His Google Scholar H-index is 81.