Nóra Melinda Lenkey graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Semmelweis University and later obtained her PhD in neuropharmacology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine (Budapest, Hungary). During her first postdoctoral period, she trained in synaptic neurophysiology (HUN-REN IEM), and subsequently acquired expertise in systems neuroscience at the University of Oslo (UiO, Norway). In the autumn of 2025, she returned to Hungary with her family and is currently an independent researcher at the BrainVisionCenter.
As a medical student, Nóra was fascinated by the complexity of the human brain, and was particularly interested in neurological disorders and their treatments. Therefore, she joined the laboratory of Árpád Mike (HUN-REN IEM), where she investigated the mechanisms of action of drugs used in central nervous system diseases. By the end of her studies (during which her first child was born), she managed to publish a first-author paper. In her final university years, she won first place in the biology section of the National Scientific Students’ Associations Conference (OTDK), and she also received the “Excellent Student Researcher of Semmelweis University,” the “Award for First-Author Publication,” and the prestigious Pro Scientia Gold Medal. As a PhD student, in collaboration with two pharmaceutical companies, she developed protocols for high-throughput automated patch-clamp systems, enabling detailed investigation of the mechanisms of action of drugs used in psychiatry and neurology.
After completing her PhD, her interest turned towards understanding the organization and functioning of neuronal networks in the healthy brain. She spent her first postdoctoral research period in Zoltán Nusser’s laboratory (HUN-REN IEM), where she studied hippocampal neural circuits, focusing on a specific inhibitory neuron type. The results of this work were published in two high-impact journals, for which she received the “Young Talented Researcher of the Year” award from HUN-REN IEM, as well as the Bolyai Scholarship.
Subsequently, she received the prestigious Marie Curie International Fellowship, and joined the research group of Koen Vervaeke at the University of Oslo. where she investigated how inhibitory neurons modulate spatial navigation in mice. This period resulted in publications in high-impact journals. In addition to her research activities, she actively contributed to strengthening the local neuroscience community.
During her time in Norway, she gave birth to two daughters, giving her the opportunity to experience the Scandinavian approach to supporting employees with young children.
In September 2025, Nóra and her family moved back to Hungary, and she is currently a researcher at BrainVisionCenter, where her goal is to establish her own research group.
