Even the healthy brain runs short of oxygen

I developed bioluminescence oxygen imaging (BOI), which uses the luminescent protein GeNL as an oxygen sensor, and led the study that found hypoxic pockets: brief, local oxygen shortfalls in the awake cortex.

Dr. Felix Beinlich, Assistant Professor at the Center for Translational Neuromedicine, University of Copenhagen. My group works within the Maiken Nedergaard Lab.

Explore the research Publications
Oxygen in the cortex of a mouse under ketamine–xylazine anaesthesia, imaged with GeNL (Green enhanced Nano-lantern) once per second for 20 minutes and played back 60× faster. Brighter regions carry more oxygen.
12
Peer-reviewed papers
3
As first or co-first author
3
As corresponding or co-corresponding author
2
As last author

Authorship record as of September 2026. All publications · Google Scholar · ORCID

Understanding how the brain breathes

The brain stores almost no oxygen, so it depends on a supply that never pauses. My group images that supply in the living cortex and asks what happens when it briefly fails.

The method: bioluminescence oxygen imaging

GeNL turns oxygen into light. Imaged in awake mice, bright regions carry more oxygen and dark patches are hypoxic pockets, so we can watch supply and demand play out across the cortex.

How BOI works

Next questions

  • Brain metabolism

    What do brief oxygen shortfalls do to the energy use and function of neurons?

  • Aging and Alzheimer's disease

    How does the oxygen supply change with age and in Alzheimer's disease, and does hypoxia help drive neurodegeneration?

  • Blood–CSF exchange

    How do molecules cross between venous blood and cerebrospinal fluid in the living brain?

  • New sensors

    Which other molecules can we watch the same way? We are developing genetically encoded lactate sensors.

Behind the program

Funding

Member of the Lundbeck Foundation Investigator Network, 2024–2028. LFIN Seed Grants in 2025 and 2026.

Awards and funding

Shared openly

The GeNL AAV is available from VVF Zurich (ID v1050); the OxygenDynamics analysis software is on GitHub (v3.0).

Resources

Supervision

Two MSc theses defended in my group in 2026, and three thesis projects open now.

Student projects

Published in Science

All publications
Science 2024

Co-first and co-corresponding author

Oxygen imaging of hypoxic pockets in the mouse cerebral cortex

We established GeNL, a luminescent protein not previously used to sense oxygen, as a genetically encoded oxygen sensor and used it to image cortical oxygen tension in awake, behaving mice. This revealed brief, spatially confined “hypoxic pockets” linked to stalled local capillary flow — and exercise reduced their burden by 52% compared with rest.

Read the hypoxic-pockets paper
Science 2023

Co-first author

A mesothelium divides the subarachnoid space into functional compartments

Describes SLYM, a fourth meningeal layer that divides the fluid space around the brain, encases blood vessels and harbors immune cells.

Read the SLYM paper

News

All news

Two master's theses defended

Congratulations to Stefanie Gregoriades and Mads U. E. Hansen, who both successfully defended their master's theses in my group this July.

Group

Questions about the work? Email me.

Reviewers, prospective students, collaborators and journalists reach me directly at felix.beinlich@sund.ku.dk.

Email me Contact details