Prof. Dr. med. Petra Ritter is Johanna Quandt Professor of Brain Simulation at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, where she heads the Brain Simulation Section in the Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology. After studying medicine at Charité, she completed clinical rotations and research stays at leading institutions in the US, including Harvard, UCLA, UCSD, and Mount Sinai. She completed her doctorate in neuroscience in 2004, followed by her habilitation in experimental neurology.

Her research focuses on the development of personalized brain simulations, known as The Virtual Brain. This digital model links various data sources such as EEG and fMRI and allows neurological diseases to be recorded on an individual level. The aim is to test therapies and interventions virtually in advance, thus enabling more precise, safer, and more efficient care.

In addition, Ritter coordinates several major European research projects, including TEF-Health, VirtualBrainCloud, and eBRAIN-Health, which deal with the certification of AI applications, data infrastructure, and the development of digital health solutions. Her work combines basic neuroscientific research, clinical application, and social discourse on the opportunities and risks of digital technologies in healthcare.

kennedy+swan (founded in 2013) comprises the work of the two artists Bianca Kennedy and Swan Collective. When working together, they explore the future of non-human intelligence and its impact on plants, animals, machines, and humans. These utopias are liberated from human supremacy, illuminating the ecological benefits of hybrid life forms, and addressing the twisted relationship between humans and biotechnology. kennedy+swan exhibit internationally in galleries, museums, and festivals. Exhibitions include the Lyon Biennial, Gropius Bau Berlin, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, CCBB Rio de Janeiro, and Sundance Film Festival. They were selected for a Studio Quantum residency from the Goethe-Institut in Ireland in 2023 and have been awarded a BIFOLD Residency for 2024/25. They live in Berlin.

 

Johanna studied futures studies at the Free University of Berlin and media studies and philosophy at University College Maastricht and Korea University. In her work, she examines the influence of new technologies on culture and society, as well as the role that art and design can play in helping us to engage critically and imaginatively with futures. She is currently leading a project on open-source chip design infrastructures at the German Informatics Society and is part of the Art and Computation working group. Previously, she researched and taught at the AI Lab at University of Art and Design Offenbach, was an associate researcher in the Public Interest AI research group at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, and worked as a curator and programme director in international projects at the interface of art, science and society. She has taught critical AI studies and futures studies at the Berlin University of the Arts, the HfG Offenbach and Mainz University of Applied Sciences.