PhD Courses in Denmark

Coenzyme Q10 at the crossroads of metabolic pathways – unveiling the essential role in health

Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen

Aim and content

This course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD Students from NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at a Danish university, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. This also applies to PhD students from NorDoc member faculties. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list.

Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:

1. Obtain knowledge about the importance of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) in relation to health and disease
2. Obtain knowledge about measurement on CoQ redox states (hands-on)
3. Obtain knowledge about CoQ biosynthesis and bioavailability

Content
The first day of the course will be an introduction to coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) and why it is relevant for metabolism, this day will be made as a master class in the morning and early afternoon, where Professor David Nicholls will be teaching, this will be followed by hand-on experiments in how CoQ redox state can be measured (www.oroboros.at). The following days will be lectures combined with short student presentations as well as poster presentations. Many different topics will be covered, ranging from CoQ and its relevance in cardiovascular disease and heart failure, cognitive deficiency, physical activity and aging. Students will present their own work as short presentations or poster presentations.

Participants
There are no required qualifications, but knowledge and interest in mitochondrial physiology is beneficial.

Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD students from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:

Basic and Clinical Research in Musculoskeletal Sciences

Basic Metabolic Research

Molecular Mechanisms of Disease

Language
English

Form
Short student presentations, poster presentations, lectures, hand-on exercise (see program)

Course director
Steen Larsen, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, stelar@sund.ku.dk

Teachers
Professor Emeritus David Nicholls, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, USA (confirmed)
Professor Erich Gnaiger, CEO Oroboros Instruments, Austria
Professor Artur Osyczka, Jagiellonian University, Poland (confirmed)
Adjunct Professor Franklin Rosenfeldt, Swinburn University, Australia (confirmed)
Professor Guillermo Lopez Lluch, Pablo de Olavide University, Spain (confirmed)
Associate Professor Steen Larsen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (confirmed)
Professor Luca Tiano, Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy (confirmed)
Associate Professor Madeleine Nankivell, Swinburn University, Australia
Professor Leonardo Salviati, Padova University, Italy
Professor Anna Gvozdjakova, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
Professor Urban Alehagen, University of Linköping, Sweden
Professor Alice Zemljic-Harpf, University of California, USA
Professor Maria Luisa Genova, University de Bologna, Italy (confirmed)
Professor Ian Hargreaves, John Moores University, UK (confirmed)
Professor Makoto Kawamukai, Shimane University, Japan
Professor Keiichi Higuchi, Shinshu University, Japan

Dates
16-19 of June 2025

Course location
Mærsk Tower, Blegdamsvej 3b, 2200 Copenhagen N

Registration
Please register before May 1, 2025

Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules.
Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrolment.

Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor.