Gonçalo Cotovio, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and clinical researcher at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, is using lesion network mapping to identify brain circuits causally linked to psychiatric symptoms. This method traces functional networks connected to focal brain lesions that can trigger syndromes like mania or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Cotovio aims to move psychiatry beyond descriptive diagnosis toward network-based treatments.
Key Details
- Earned his medical degree at NOVA Medical School (2014) and PhD in Biomedicine (2023), completing psychiatry residency in 2024.
- Trained with mentors including Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Michael D. Fox, and Daniel Press.
- His work includes applying MRI and connectivity-informed transcranial magnetic stimulation to personalize targeting based on individual connectivity profiles.
- He also studies cortical excitability and functional connectivity as potential biomarkers for treatment selection.
Background
Cotovio's father is a psychiatrist, which influenced his career path. He works at the Champalimaud Foundation, focusing on causal circuits in psychiatric symptoms. His interview appears in the journal Brain Medicine as part of the Genomic Press "Innovators and Ideas" series.