Senior Researchers

Prof. Eni Becker; heads the Clinical Psychology department and is director of the Experimental Psychopathology and Treatment research programme of the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University. Her expertise is in the field of (changes in) cognitive processes in anxiety disorders. She was trained as a behavioural therapist at the Dresden Academy of Psychotherapy. Her research areas are in cognitive processes in anxiety and depression, cognitive bias modification, approach and avoidance behaviour, and (cognitive-)behavioural therapy for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

Gert-Jan Hendriks, MD, PhD; heads the Pro Persona Anxiety Disorder Care Programme and works as a psychiatrist-researcher with the Expertise Centre for Anxiety, OCD and PTSD (division of Pro Persona). His research areas are in anxiety disorders across the lifespan with an emphasis on late-life anxiety disorders, augmentation strategies (e.g. d-cycloserine) for cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), limiting, profiling and intensifying CBT protocols. 

Prof. Giel Hutschemaekers; has a chair in Mental Healthcare with Radboud University Nijmegen and is Head of Research with the Pro Persona Centre of Education and Science. His research focuses on the qualitative improvement of mental-healthcare services and the effects on professionalization in mental healthcare.

Nessa Ikani, PhD;

Mirjam Kampman, PhD; is a clinical psychologist, cognitive-behavioural therapist, researcher and programme leader with the Expertise Centre for Anxiety, OCD and PTSD (division of Pro Persona). Her research areas are in anxiety disorders, most particularly panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, brief intensive (cognitive-behavioural) therapies and multiphase studies.

Prof. Ger Keijsers; is a clinical psychologist and professor with the Psychology and Artificial Intelligence department and the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University. He heads the Health Psychology Master’s programme (MGZP). In his capacity of clinical psychologist, he also works at the RCSW Ambulatorium (the Radboud Centre for Social Science’s outpatient treatment clinic for adults). He is an endowed professor with the Clinical Psychological Science department of Maastricht University and head trainer of the Clinical Psychology Care Programme at RINO Zuid in Eindhoven. His research areas lie in obsessive-compulsive behaviours (OCD spectrum disorders), effects of psychotherapy, treatment motivation, and embitterment disorder.

Julie Krans, PhD; is a Senior Researcher at Pro Persona, an assistant professor with the Radboud University's Clinical Psychology Department, a guest researcher at the Behavioural Science Institute, and an assistant professor with the KU Leuven. Her research areas are in: autobiographical memory, mental imagery, PTSD, social anxiety, and depression.

Wolf-Gero Lange, PhD; is assistant professor at Radboud University’s Behavioural Science Institute. He teaches classes in psychopathology, anxiety disorders, clinical- and research skills. As a researcher his main interests lie in cognitive, hormonal and behavioural (dys)functions in social anxiety disorder as well as the use of Virtual Reality technology to research and treat psychopathologies. Since September 2017 he is also treating patients at the day clinic of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Radboud University.

Prof. Agnes van Minnen; holds an endowed chair in Anxiety Regulation and the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders with the Radboud University. She also is a member of the director board of PSYTREC, a clinic for the intensive treatment of PTSD. Her research areas are in (complex) posttraumatic stress disorder, (prolonged) exposure, dissociation and cognitive-behavioural therapy.

Prof. Mike Rinck; is an associate professor with Radboud University and professor at the Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. He trained as an experimental psychologist and now teaches classes within the Clinical Psychology programme. He also conducts research at the Behavioural Science Institute where his interests lie in experimental psychopathology, cognitive biases in mental disorders, and cognitive bias modification.

Prof. Karin Roelofs; holds a chair in Experimental Psychopathology with Radboud University’s Behavioural Science Institute and is principle investigator with the Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour where she heads the Affective Neuroscience programme. Her research areas are in the neurobiology of anxiety and aggression; social anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, conversion disorder, and stress hormones.

Prof. Bea Tiemens;

Prof. Marc Verbraak; is a clinical psychologist/psychotherapist/cognitive-behavioural therapist and endowed professor in Health Psychology with the Radboud University and is principal lecturer in the post-graduate Health Psychology training programme of the SPON/Radboud Centre for Social Sciences. He heads the following programs of Pro Persona: Child and Adolescent Care, Developmental Disorders and Personality Disorders. His research interests are in the (cost-)effectiveness of diagnostic and treatment procedures, anxiety disorders, stress and burnout, questionnaires, and cognitive-behavioural therapy.

Maartje Vroling, PhD; is a senior researcher with Amarum, the Expertise Centre for Eating Disorders (GGNet) and lecturer and researcher with the Radboud University’s Clinical Psychology department. Before this, she worked as a senior researcher and psychologist with Pro Persona. Her research areas are in eating disorders, anxiety disorders and treatment interventions. 
 

Junior Researchers

Naline Geurtzen, MSc; is currently doing her PhD research with the Behavioural Science Institute of the Radboud University, where she also earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and her Behavioural Science Research Master’s degree. In the past she worked as a psychologist (clinician) at the Ambulatorium, the Radboud Centre for Social Science’s outpatient treatment clinic, and as a medior researcher (post-doc) at Pro Persona. Her PhD research focuses on the adverse effects of approved mental-health treatment programmes, with an emphasis on care dependency. She is interested in uncovering the exact nature of this dependency and how it interrelates with, among other aspects, the client-therapist relationship, treatment duration, and the effectiveness of various treatments.

Lotte Hendriks, MSc; works as a Healthcare psychologist (in training as a specialist) and scientific researcher with the Expertise Centre for Anxiety, OCD and PTSD (division of Pro Persona). As an external PhD student she is currently conducting research on posttraumatic stress disorder in children, adolescents and adults at the Radboud University’s Clinical Psychology department.

Lisan Henricks, MSc; is a PhD-student at the Behavioural Science Institute of the Radboud University. Her PhD project focuses on social anxiety during adolescence and emerging adulthood. In particular, she is interested in the role of cognitive processes and social status. She examines how these factors contribute to the development and exacerbation of social anxiety in youths. Furthermore, she tries to reduce feelings of social anxiety in adolescents by changing distortions in cognitive processes using Cognitive Bias Modification paradigms.

Moniek Hutschemaekers, MSc; Works as a psychologist at the Expertise Centre for Anxiety, OCD and PTSD. She is currently following the post-master educational program for Healthcare psychologists at the Radboud Centre for Social Sciences. Additionally she works as an external PhD at the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University. She is examining the effects of Testosterone on (social) anxiety disorders. Her PhD project is a collaboration between the NijCa²re group and the Experimental Psychopathology & Affective Neuroscience lab. This career path is part of the newly developed Top Class program (Stichting Topklas Psychologisch specialisten in de Gezondheidszorg).

Boris van Passel, MD; works as a psychiatrist and cognitive-behavioural therapist (and member of VGCT, the Netherlands Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapy) with the Expertise Centre for Anxiety, OCD and PTSD (division of Pro Persona) and as an external PhD candidate with Radboud University’s Clinical Psychology department, where his research is aimed at the improvement of the psychological treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders.  

Associated Senior Researchers 

Prof. Guillen Fernandez; is Director of the Donders Centre for Neuroscience, head of the Cognitive Neuroscience department, and principal investigator with the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, all at Radboud University. He earned his MD and PhD from the University of Bonn and received his training in neurology and cognitive neurosciences at the universities of Bonn, Magdeburg and Stanford. In 2002 he was one of the cofounders of the Donders Institute, where he became one of the principal investigators. His research areas are in human cognitive neuroscience, where he investigates the neural bases of memory and emotion and their interactions. He adopts an interdisciplinary research approach, integrating neuroimaging, genetics, pharmacology and various clinical disciplines.

Prof. Indira Tendolkar; has an endowed chair in Psychiatry (University of Duisberg-Essen, Germany) and is a senior researcher with the Donders Institute and RadboudUMC’s Psychiatry department, where she also heads the Psychiatry intern/residency training programme. Her research areas are in the neurocognitive bases of anxiety and depression.