Photo by Heleen Klop
The research I am currently conducting is funded by a Veni grant received from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO; 2018), a Talent Grant from Amsterdam Brain and Cognition (2017), and a public-private Enabling Technologies Hotels grant from ZonMw (2017).

Hi, welcome to my website!

From both a personal and professional point of view, I am pursuing the Human Potential. My aim is to enhance and optimize (cognitive) performance in healthy and safe ways. I believe this is important in dealing with the demands of our environment, which contributes to well-being and happiness.

This summer, supported by a KNAW van der Gaag Scholarschip (2017), I visited the Emotions and Quantitative Psychophysiology lab at The Ohio State University in the United States. In August, supported by an NWO Veni grant, I moved back to where it all started (Leiden University, Cognitive Psychology). Here, together with (national and international) collaborators and a number of amazing assistants and students, I am running studies aimed at delineating how gut bacteria influence physiological processes, our brains, and subsequent behavior, and how we may use that to enhance our well-being. For this work, I was recently awarded the Young Scientist award from the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 

I love sharing my experience, knowledge, and ideas, and giving people food for thought (read 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 addition, Dutch women's magazine Viva nominated me as one of the 400 most inspiring and ambitious women of 2018 (the Viva400 list). In January 2019, I will be one of the speakers at TedXAlkmaar on Design Your Future. 

Upcoming events:


​Artis Academy and Mind Mood Microbes present:

The Science of Gut Feelings
16 JANUARY 2019, Artis, Amsterdam
Tickets (€15) via Artis