{{short description|Swedish neuroscientist and physician}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Ivanka Savic | birth_name = | birth_place = Belgrade, Serbia | death_date = | death_place = | fields = Neurology, Neurophysiology | workplaces = Karolinska Institute<br/> University of California, Los Angeles | alma_mater = Karolinska Institute<br/> Upsala University | doctoral_advisor = | influences = | known_for = | awards = | post-nominals = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|12|27}} | footnotes = | image = | caption = Savic in 2013 }} '''Ivanka Savic Berglund''' (born 1953) is a Serbian-Swedish neuroscientist, a professor of neurology and chief physician at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and an adjunct professor in the neurology department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |author=Anders Nilsson |title=Från cell till samhälle |publisher=Karolinska Institutet |date=2013|section=Neurobiologiska skillnader mellan könen |trans-section=Neurobiological differences between the sexes |url=https://issuu.com/karolinska_institutet/docs/cts13/45|access-date=2020-08-24|via=Issuu|pages=44–45|language=sv|quote="I was born in Belgrade in 1953".}} *{{cite web |author=Anders Nilsson |date=2013 |title=Neurobiologiska skillnader mellan könen |website=Karolinska Institutet |url=https://ki.se/en/node/2670 |language=sv}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Ivanka Savic Berglund {{!}} Medarbetare|url=https://staff.ki.se/people/ivasav|access-date=2020-07-18|website=staff.ki.se|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Nicholson |first=Lucy |date=2017 |title=Researchers explore the science of gender identity |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/researchers-explore-science-gender-identity-n789246 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Savic is best known for her neurophysiology and neuroimaging research relating to epilepsy, sex differences, sexual orientation, gender identity, brain processing of odors and pheromones, and the effects of chronic stress on the brain. Savic is a co-founder of the Stockholm Brain Institute and the editor of several medical books.<ref name=":2" />
== Education and career ==
Savic was born in Belgrade, Serbia in 1953 to a family of high ranking military officers and academics. She began her medical studies at Uppsala University in Sweden, graduated as a doctor at Karolinska Institute (KI) in 1978 and became a certified doctor in 1980.<ref name=":2" /> In 1984 she became a specialist in neurology and in 1991 in clinical neurophysiology. Savic received her PhD doctorate in 1992. In 1994–1996, she worked in a post doctoral position with Jerome Engel at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), which became a long standing collaboration.
In 1996, Savic returned to research at the Karolinska Institute, where she became an associate professor in 1999. The same year, she became chief physician at Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge. In 1997–2003, she had a research assistant and a research position at the Swedish Research Council. In 2003–2009, she held an "elite position" as a research group leader at the Karolinska Institute. She was appointed professor of neurology in 2013 with a special focus on gender differences at Karolinska Institute, combined with a position as chief physician at Karolinska University Hospital.<ref name=":2" /> In 2016 she became an adjunct professor at UCLA.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lisboa|first=Margarida Vieira|date=2017|title=Scientific Lectures {{!}} Ivanka Savic-Berglund MD PhD|url=http://revistafrontal.com/imed-conference-9-0/scientific-lectures-ivanka-savic-berglund-md-phd/|access-date=2020-08-24|website=FRONTAL|language=pt-PT}}</ref>
Savic is a co-founder and member of the Stockholm Brain Institute's executive committee.<ref name=":2" /> She is the editor and co-editor of two educational medical books on sex differences in the human brain, their underlying mechanisms and clinical implications.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.elsevier.com/books/sex-differences-in-neurology-and-psychiatry/lanzenberger/978-0-444-64123-6 |title=Sex Differences in Neurology and Psychiatry, Volume 175 - 1st Edition |date=2010 |website= |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=978-0-444-64123-6 |editor-last=Savic |editor-first=Ivanka |access-date=2020-08-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.elsevier.com/books/sex-differences-in-the-human-brain-their-underpinnings-and-implications/savic/978-0-444-53630-3 |title=Sex Differences in the Human Brain, their Underpinnings and Implications, Volume 186 - 1st Edition |date=2010 |website= |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=978-0-444-53630-3 |editor-last=Savic |editor-first=Ivanka |edition=1st |access-date=2020-08-24}}</ref>
== Scientific research == thumb|MRI scans of the human brain are a key technology in Savic's research.|alt=
=== Epilepsy === During her doctoral thesis, Savic investigated the GABA benzodiazepine receptor's role in temporal lobe epilepsy and helped to develop a new and internationally used method to pre-surgically diagnose the epileptogenic region.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
=== Pheromone and odour processing === Savic was the first scientist to show that humans process pheromone stimuli in the brain, differently from other odours, and in a sexually differentiated manner.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2001-08-30|title=The Scented Brain: Pheromonal Responses in Humans|journal=Neuron|language=en|volume=31|issue=4|pages=512–514|doi=10.1016/S0896-6273(01)00406-8|pmid=11545709|issn=0896-6273|doi-access=free|last1=Sobel|first1=N.|last2=Brown|first2=W. M.}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
=== Sexual orientation === Savic has carried out neuroimaging research to compare the brain structure of homosexual and heterosexual men and women. In 2008 Savic found both male and female homosexual persons in her samples had brain activation with pheromones, and amygdala's connections which resembled those of the opposite sex, i.e. gay men had a female-typical pattern, while lesbians had male-typical pattern.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Coghlan|first=Andy|title=Gay brains structured like those of the opposite sex|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14146-gay-brains-structured-like-those-of-the-opposite-sex/|access-date=2020-07-18|website=New Scientist|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Berglund|first1=Hans|last2=Lindström|first2=Per|last3=Savic|first3=Ivanka|date=2006-05-23|title=Brain response to putative pheromones in lesbian women|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=103|issue=21|pages=8269–8274|doi=10.1073/pnas.0600331103|issn=0027-8424|pmc=1570103|pmid=16705035|bibcode=2006PNAS..103.8269B |doi-access=free}}</ref> Neuroscientist Simon LeVay included her research in his book ''Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why,'' and discusses its relevance to other neuroscience research related to sexual orientation.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=LeVay |first=Simon |url=https://archive.org/details/gaystraightreaso0000leva_e5c2/mode/1up?view=theater |title=Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-029737-4 |edition=second |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=112}}
Savic and her colleagues also carried out research on brain activity in gay and straight men in response to "putative human pheromones".<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=|pages=115-116}}
Later research Savic carried out in 2018 and 2019 suggests that male homosexuality may be related to cerebral midline structures of the brain, which were not found in her sample of heterosexual females or males.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Manzouri|first1=Amirhossein|last2=Savic|first2=Ivanka|date=2018-10-02|title=Multimodal MRI suggests that male homosexuality may be linked to cerebral midline structures|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=13|issue=10|article-number=e0203189|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0203189|issn=1932-6203|pmc=6168246|pmid=30278046|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1303189M|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Manzouri|first1=A.|last2=Savic|first2=I.|date=2019-05-01|title=Possible Neurobiological Underpinnings of Homosexuality and Gender Dysphoria|url= |journal=Cerebral Cortex|language=en|volume=29|issue=5|pages=2084–2101|doi=10.1093/cercor/bhy090|pmid=30084980|issn=1047-3211|pmc=6677918}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fausto-Sterling|first=Anne|date=2019-03-15|title=Gender/Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Identity Are in the Body: How Did They Get There?|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00224499.2019.1581883|journal=The Journal of Sex Research|volume=56|issue=4–5|pages=529–555|language=en|doi=10.1080/00224499.2019.1581883|pmid=30875248|s2cid=80624574|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
=== Gender identity === Savic has also studied the brains of transgender people. Her research suggests that transgender men and women have weaker connections between the two areas of the brain that process the perception of self and one's own body compared to cisgender persons. Savic has said these connections seem to improve after the person receives cross-hormone treatment.<ref name=":0" /> Savic has co-authored papers with the Dutch neuroscientist Dick Swaab on the brain structure of transsexual and transgender people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Shawna |date=1 March 2018 |title=Are the Brains of Transgender People Different from Those of Cisgender People? |url=https://www.the-scientist.com/features/are-the-brains-of-transgender-people-different-from-those-of-cisgender-people-30027 |access-date=2020-08-21 |website=The Scientist Magazine® |language=en}}</ref>
== Publications ==
=== Books === * {{Cite book|url=https://www.elsevier.com/books/sex-differences-in-neurology-and-psychiatry/lanzenberger/978-0-444-64123-6|title=Sex Differences in Neurology and Psychiatry|publisher=Elsevier|year=2020|isbn=978-0-444-64123-6|editor-last=Savic|editor-first=Ivanka|volume=175|edition=1st}} * {{Cite book|url=https://www.elsevier.com/books/sex-differences-in-the-human-brain-their-underpinnings-and-implications/savic/978-0-444-53630-3|title=Sex Differences in the Human Brain, their Underpinnings and Implications|publisher=Elsevier|year=2010|isbn=978-0-444-53630-3|editor-last=Savic|editor-first=Ivanka|volume=186|edition=1st}}
== References == {{Reflist}} <references responsive="1"></references>
== External links ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey5CY2e5ZVY Video interview with Ivanka Savic] (In Swedish) * [https://staff.ki.se/people/ivasav Savic's faculty webpage] via Karolinska Institute * {{ResearchGate|Ivanka_Savic}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savic, Ivanka}} Category:Living people Category:Sexual orientation and science Category:Serbian neurologists Category:Swedish women neuroscientists Category:Academic staff of the Karolinska Institute Category:Karolinska Institute alumni Category:David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA faculty Category:1953 births