Bo Hjorth Bentzen

Short presentation

Skilled ion channel electrophysiologist and pharmacologist with both academic and pharmaceutical training. I work on diagnosing, understanding and treating cardiac arrhythmia. To this end I take advantage of my knowledge on drug discovery, cell, tissue and animals experiments. I do basic research to understand the physiology of the heart and apply this to explore novel ways of diagnosing and treating cardiac disorders

Primary fields of research

• Ion channels
• Electrophysiology
• Cardiac arrhythmia
• pharmacology
• Novel ion channel targets for treatment of atrial fibrillation

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Work experience

• 2014 - (current position): Associate Professor, Project manager: "Safe and effective pharmacological treatment for atrial fibrillation", a joined project between KU and Acesion Pharma funded by the national InnovationsFonden
  Target-AF, Danish National Research Foundation Centre of Cardiac Arrhythmia, Københavns Universitet
• 2012 - (current position): Research scientist, Acesion Pharma
• 2013 - 2014: Associate Professor, BMI, KU
• 2012 - 2013
  Post doc, Danish National Research Foundation Centre of Cardiac Arrhythmia, University of Copenhagen.
• 2011 – 2012 Research scientist, NSDiscovery, NeuroSearch A/S.
• 2011-2013 External lecturer, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen
  
  
• 2010- 2011 Post doc, Danish National Research Foundation Centre of Cardiac Arrhythmia University of Copenhagen.

 
Education and training

• 2007- 2010
  Ph.D. Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen
  Ph.D. student in Prof. Dr. Søren-Peter Olesen’s laboratory, Danish National Research Foundation Centre of Cardiac Arrhythmia, University of Copenhagen
  Title of thesis: Pharmacological modulation of cardiac potassium channels
  
  My PhD focused on the use of hERG channel activators for the treatment of inherited long QT syndrome and on defining the role of BK channels in protecting the heart from ischemia-reperfusion injury.
  
  
•  2003-2006
  M.Sc. Human Biology, Faculty of Health Science, University of Copenhagen
  Master student in Prof. Dr. Søren-Peter Olesen’s laboratory, Dept. of Medical Physiology, University of Copenhagen.
  Title of project: Pharmacological modulation of KCNQ channels
  
  My work was focused on finding subtype selective KCNQ channel activators and to localize their possible binding sites.

• 2002-2003 
  Scholarship student, Dept. of Periodontology, University of Copenhagen
  Scholarship student in Prof. Dr. Palle Holmstrup’s laboratory.

• 1999-2002 School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  Qualification awarded: Bachelor degree in Dentistry
                           

International experience

• March 2009- July 2009, Scientific visit in PD Dr. Michael Brunner’s laboratory, Innere Medizin III –Kardiologie Freiburg University, Germany.
  
  
• June 2006 Scientific visit in Prof. Ursula Raven’s laboratory, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Dresden University of Technology, Germany.

Reviewer activities

• European heart Journal
• European Journal of Pharmacology
• Pflügers Archiv European Journal of Physiology

 
Patents

Three patent applications filled

Possible conflicts of interest

Employed at Acesion Pharma