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Justin Schneiderman

Professor

Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Mail
justin.schneiderman@neuro.gu.se
Visiting address
Klinisk neurofysiologi, Blå stråket 5, plan 3, Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset
413 45 Göteborg
Postal address
Klinisk neurofysiologi, Blå stråket 5, plan 3, Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset
413 45 Göteborg

About Justin Schneiderman

 

Research

Professor Schneiderman’s research focuses on developing and translating advanced medical technologies that improve how brain function is measured, analyzed and used in healthcare. The central thread is next-generation neuroimaging: bringing physics, sensor technology, signal analysis and AI together with clinical neurophysiology, neuroscience and healthcare innovation. Much of this work has focused on magnetoencephalography (MEG), especially on-scalp MEG, where advanced sensors are placed closer to the head to enable higher-resolution measurements of brain activity. A broader aim is to turn advanced neurotechnology into clinically meaningful tools, validated workflows and scalable innovation pathways.

Research and development highlights

  • Leading development of next-generation on-scalp MEG systems for high-definition functional neuroimaging, with the aim of improving spatial resolution and extending MEG to a broader patient spectrum.

  • Building research and innovation environments for medical technology translation, including the West Sweden MedTech Arena and NeuroXTek – The Swedish Neurotechnology Alliance.

  • Leading an initiative to reintroduce MEG into clinical routine together with the epilepsy surgery team at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

  • Contributed to the first epilepsy-patient evaluation using the group’s on-scalp MEG system.

  • Contributed to early demonstrations of high-temperature superconducting SQUID-based MEG recordings of spontaneous human brain activity.

  • Developing methods and system-design principles for practical next-generation MEG sensor arrays, including evaluation of realistic on-scalp MEG layouts.

  • Coordinated technical aspects of MEG-based neurophysiological studies in autism spectrum disorders and stress-related cardiovascular disease risk.

  • Introducing AI-based methods into MEG and neuroimaging analysis workflows.

  • Contributing to research on trust, stakeholder perspectives and implementation of AI tools in clinical radiology.

  • Contributed to development of rapid and sensitive point-of-care diagnostic technology for influenza.

  • Constructed and tested an ultra-low-field MRI system.


Teaching

Professor Schneiderman’s teaching is shaped by the same cross-disciplinary logic as his research: advanced medical technology depends on people who can work across physics, engineering, medicine, neuroscience, and healthcare. His teaching therefore focuses on the principles that underlie how information about the central nervous system is generated, processed, analyzed, and interpreted, with particular emphasis on the human brain in health and disease. A recurring goal is to help engineering students understand clinical needs and to help medical and health-science students understand the possibilities, limitations, and physical principles of advanced technology.

Teaching highlights

  • Teaches engineering, medical, and health-science students about neuroimaging, medical technology, signal analysis, and the structure and function of the central nervous system.

  • Emphasizes a shared vocabulary between medical and technical professionals, enabling better collaboration in the development and implementation of advanced medical technology.

  • Develops teaching approaches that connect technical fundamentals with clinical applications, especially in areas such as MRI, MEG, biomedical engineering, and neurotechnology.

  • Has supervised 11 doctoral students as of June 2026, including 3 as main supervisor and 8 as co-supervisor.

  • Served as Deputy Director of Postgraduate Studies at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

  • Has co-created, examined, and co-led doctoral-level courses at the interface between engineering and health, including courses within the Gothenburg Research School of Health Engineering.

  • Holds docent competence in both medical engineering from Chalmers University of Technology and experimental clinical neurophysiology from the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska Academy.

  • Has completed formal higher-education pedagogical training, including courses in teaching and learning in higher education, postgraduate supervision, subject-field pedagogy, and applied pedagogical analysis.

  • Has been repeatedly invited to lecture across the University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska Academy, Chalmers University of Technology, and Sahlgrenska University Hospital on topics spanning medical technology, neuroimaging, MEG, MRI, and healthcare innovation.Justin has supervised 11 PhD students (main supervisor of 3 PhD students, secondary supervisor of 8 PhD students) as of June 2026.


Utilization and outreach

Professor Schneiderman’s utilization and outreach work focuses on turning advanced research into patient, healthcare, and societal value. He works across universities, healthcare, regional innovation structures, industry, and public-facing communication to help move medical technology from research ideas toward validated use. This includes building cross-sector environments for medical technology and neurotechnology, supporting healthcare innovation, and communicating how physics, AI, quantum technologies, and advanced neuroimaging can contribute to future healthcare.

Utilization and outreach highlights

  • Project Manager at the Innovation Platform at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Västra Götalandsregionen, where he works with healthcare innovation, medical technology, AI, quantum technologies, and financing.

  • Coordinates West Sweden MedTech Arena, a regional arena for medical technology collaboration across healthcare, academia, and innovation actors.

  • Initiated the Swedish Neurotechnology Alliance and coordinates NeuroXTek – The North Star for Neurotechnology, an initiative to build a national research and innovation environment for responsible neurotechnology.

  • Contributed expert input to national and European policy processes, including institutional consultation responses to Sweden’s research and innovation funding system after the FoFIN inquiry and EU-level discussions on the Medical Device Regulation, medical-device innovation, and responsible pathways from research to clinical implementation.

  • Helped build early medical-technology collaboration environments in Gothenburg, including founding the MedTech West seminar series, designing and launching the first MedTech West public website, and co-coordinating the “BoIC: A Building of Opportunities” conference.

  • Organizes conferences, seminars, and cross-disciplinary meetings that bring together researchers, clinicians, engineers, healthcare actors, innovation experts, and industry representatives.

  • Contributes to innovation and entrepreneurship through industrial collaborations, intellectual-property-related activities, market-verification work, proof-of-concept funding, and research-to-innovation initiatives.

  • Has an active role in public and policy-facing communication on how advanced technologies can create value for patients, healthcare, and society.

  • Communicated research and innovation through media and public-outreach channels, including coverage on quantum technology in healthcare, neurotechnology, MEG, AI, and medical technology translation.

  • Contributed to public discussion of how frontier physics and engineering can be translated into practical healthcare tools, including quantum sensor-based neuroimaging and other medical-technology applications.

Media outreach (selection)

Personal biographical summary: from physics to health innovation

My career has been driven by a long-standing interest in both physics and medicine: how fundamental physical principles, advanced sensors, imaging systems, and data analysis can be turned into tools that help us understand the human body and improve healthcare. I am especially interested in the point where research becomes practically useful—where new technologies move from the laboratory into clinical testing, healthcare workflows, innovation systems and, ultimately, patient and societal benefit. This has shaped my career from quantum computing hardware through next-generation neuroimaging technologies and AI-enabled analysis to healthcare innovation.

Before entering undergraduate studies, I made an active decision to build a foundation in both physics and medicine, studying for a BSc in physics while also completing the so-called pre-med coursework required for medical school in the US. By the end of those studies, I chose physics as my route to impact: new technologies benefit people at scale, whereas clinical practice would primarily have allowed me to help one person at a time. This led me to the University of Southern California and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where early quantum computing hardware was under development. During my PhD studies there, I was highly motivated by quantum computing’s potential to address computationally intractable problems in biology and medicine, including protein folding and other complex bio- and health-related challenges.

Upon completing my PhD in 2007, I wanted to move from a long-horizon technology frontier toward R&D with a nearer route to societal value. Quantum computing remains scientifically compelling, but its potential impact at the time clearly depended on advances that would require sustained development over decades. I therefore turned toward quantum sensor technologies with a post-doc position at Chalmers University of Technology. In 2010, I moved closer to impact and clinical applications at the Institute for Neuroscience and Physiology at Sahlgrenska Academy, the University of Gothenburg. There, I connected physicists and engineers from Chalmers to neuroscientists and neurophysiologists, as well as Sahlgrenska University Hospital-based clinicians and healthcare partners. In multidisciplinary collaboration that fit my interests perfectly, I led pioneering work on what is now called on-scalp magnetoencephalography (on-scalp MEG), a next-generation functional neuroimaging approach based on advanced sensor technology.

Since 2017, I have worked with AI-based approaches for analyzing and interpreting the high-dimensional data generated by MEG and related neuroimaging systems. In 2021, I joined the Innovation Platform at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Västra Götalandsregionen, where I work with healthcare innovation, medical technology, AI, quantum technologies and financing. Today, I combine my roles as Professor in experimental multimodal neuroimaging, Project Manager at the Innovation Platform, and Coordinator of West Sweden MedTech Arena. In 2025, I initiated the Swedish Neurotechnology Alliance and now coordinate NeuroXTek – The North Star for Neurotechnology, its proposal for an Excellence Cluster in Groundbreaking Technologies.