Merab Kokaia is currently a Professor Emeritus at Lund University, Sweden, and Chair of the Epilepsy Center. He began his academic journey at Tbilisi State University, Georgia, where he completed his undergraduate studies. Subsequently, he earned his PhD from the Institute of Physiology at the Georgian Academy of Sciences. His academic accomplishments led to the title of Docent (Lecturer) from Lund University, Sweden.

Kokaia has been a coordinator of large European Commission-funded FP7 project Consortium EPITARGET, and has actively contributed as a partner member in various European Commission-funded Consortia, including the Marie Curie actions.

Prof. Merab Kokaia and his research team are dedicated to exploring the impact of neuropeptides and neurotrophic factors on the modulation of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission and epileptogenesis in the brain. Their work encompasses experimental epilepsy models, including transgenic mice and in vitro techniques like patch-clamp studies in animal and human brain slices. A significant aspect of their research revolves around the investigation of direct and indirect gene therapy as an alternative approach to epilepsy treatment. Prof. Kokaia has been a pioneer in the application of optogenetic and chemogenetic methods in epilepsy research. Recently, he has incorporated human stem cell therapy into animal models and conducted studies using human temporal lobe tissue resected from patients suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy.

Prof. Kokaia is an author of over 150 scientific publications, and three approved patents. His research efforts have led to the establishment of the Epilepsy Center at Lund University, and have resulted in the founding of three spin-off companies specializing in innovative disease treatments: MaasBiolab LCC, CombiGene AB, and Abliva AB. In addition, Prof. Kokaia has successfully supervised and guided numerous PhD students and postdoctoral fellows who have gone on to establish their own research groups and make significant contributions of their own to the field of epilepsy research.

Prof. Kokaia is an Elected Member of Royal Physiographic Society in Lund, Elected Member of Academia Europaea, and Honorary Elected Member of Georgian Academy of Sciences.
Prof. Kokaia’s translational research aims to enhance our understanding of epileptogenesis and epilepsy mechanisms, with the ultimate goal of developing new gene therapy-based strategies to address the needs of patients resistant to currently available treatments.