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"My aim is to figure out human being and how to make the most of it." |
It is a privilege to embark on that quest as a scientist; to gain knowledge starting by listening to (e.g. your) personal anecdotes, struggles, and questions, reflecting on those using theoretical and empirical insight from existing literature and discussion with colleagues, moving to the formulation of novel research questions and experimental design, to ultimately testing hypotheses and sharing the outcomes with those who inspire me (you, whoever you are!).
Since August 2018, supported by an NWO Veni grant, I am working as an assistant professor at Leiden University (2018-2019: Cognitive Psychology, Since 2020: Clinical Psychology). Here, together with (national and international) collaborators and a number of amazing assistants and students, I investigate how gut bacteria influence physiological processes, our brains, cognitions, and subsequent behavior, and how we may use that to support mental health and enhance our well-being. For this work, I was recently awarded the Young Scientist award from the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
The research I am currently conducting is funded by a project grant from the Gratama Stichting/Leiden University Fund (LUF; 2019) and a Veni grant received from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO; 2018). In the past, my work has been funded by a Talent Grant from Amsterdam Brain and Cognition (2017), a public-private Enabling Technologies Hotels grant from ZonMw (2017), and a van der Gaag Scholarship iof the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017).
Since August 2018, supported by an NWO Veni grant, I am working as an assistant professor at Leiden University (2018-2019: Cognitive Psychology, Since 2020: Clinical Psychology). Here, together with (national and international) collaborators and a number of amazing assistants and students, I investigate how gut bacteria influence physiological processes, our brains, cognitions, and subsequent behavior, and how we may use that to support mental health and enhance our well-being. For this work, I was recently awarded the Young Scientist award from the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
The research I am currently conducting is funded by a project grant from the Gratama Stichting/Leiden University Fund (LUF; 2019) and a Veni grant received from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO; 2018). In the past, my work has been funded by a Talent Grant from Amsterdam Brain and Cognition (2017), a public-private Enabling Technologies Hotels grant from ZonMw (2017), and a van der Gaag Scholarship iof the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017).
I love sharing my questions, experiences, knowledge, and ideas, and giving people food for thought (see more under 'Outreach & Media'). For example, in 2017/2018, together with Coen Verbraak, Patrick van Hees, and Jan Kuipers, I performed in a number of theaters in the Netherlands as part of our theater lecture series "Op Zoek naar Geluk". A combination of these outreach and scientific efforts resulted in me ending up in the top 25 'New Scientist Wetenschapstalent' election from the Dutch New Scientist in 2018. In addition, Dutch women's magazine Viva nominated me as one of the 400 most inspiring and ambitious women of 2018 (the Viva400 list) and in January 2019, I was one of the speakers at TEDxAlkmaar on Designing (Y)our Future.
